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Alec Davis finishes State Championship round at +11
FRANKLIN -- Two days at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Indiana was the reward for 100 individuals and 15 teams at the IHSAA Boys' State Golf Finals.
Among the pack of individual golfers, Alec Davis finished in a tie for 40th place with a two-day total of +11, shooting rounds of 76 and 79 Tuesday and Wednesday for a total of 155.
Medalist honors were split by teammates Christian Fairbanks and Michael VanDeventer after both shot 141 over the two days. The duo helped Columbus North run away with the team title with a total of 591, 11 strokes better than second-place Westfield.
While the two days proved to be taxing on all of the competitors in the field, Greencastle head coach Steve Paquin said that Davis ground out two solid rounds.
"For being at the state tournament for the first time, he handled himself well," Paquin said. "He never gave up, even at times when he wasn't playing well and you say want to say to heck with this.
"He kept on going and worked hard. There was no quit in him."
Davis' opening round was no more than a tee shot in before neck problems forced him to alter his swing.
The Tiger Cub senior had mixed results in the opening five holes, bogeying the second hold before getting the shot back with a birdie on the third.
A pair of double bogeys on four and five, along with another bogey on seven, sent Davis into the turn at +5.
Davis found a groove on the back nine with birdies on the 10th and 13th holes with only a bogey on the 17th putting a dent in the scorecard that ended at +4.
After his opening day exertions, Davis was encouraged by the round.
"I had two bad swings that cost me on the front nine," Davis said. "On the first tee shot, I felt a twinge in my neck and had trouble making a full turn after that.
"I didn't feel comfortable on the front nine but by the back nine, it started to loosen up. I started with a birdie, two pars and another birdie.
"There were a couple of weird swings that kept me from shooting low but I was pretty pleased," Davis added. "All the pressure to play was at the regional and I felt like I had fun out there."
Wednesday proved to be more troublesome as Davis bogeyed the first four holes, double bogeyed eight and added two more bogeys on the 10th and 12th hole to sit at +8 through 12 holes.
Davis did rally through the final six holes, sinking a birdie on the 15th green to add a little cheer to the day and finished out the rest of the round with pars to conclude his final campaign for the Tiger Cubs.
A lack of focus was the biggest culprit to the slow start, Davis admitted.
"I missed some landing spots by a little bit but that cost me," Davis said. "The greens were faster (Wednesday) and I never really got adjusted until the back nine.
"I wasn't really mentally in it during the first nine and it took me awhile to get going. I finally got a putt to drop on the 15th for my sole birdie of the day."
Davis' arrival at the state finals was the missing piece from a career that earned him multiple wins, two WCC medalist rounds as a sophomore and junior and a Putnam County medalist honor as a junior.
With Luke Brotherton having made it to the state finals last year and claiming the WCC and Putnam County honors this season, it looked as if Davis would have an uphill climb to advance out of the regional.
Instead, the golfers swapped roles and Paquin said that it was a great to watch Davis stay focused after missing out on the in-season awards and get his just reward.
"He handled things well this year," Paquin said. "It's poetic justice, you could say. He doesn't let things bother him, so to him he was not a No. 1 or a No. 2 but a golfer and a part of the team.
"He ended up making it here to the state meet and all the more power to him. He started out as a young freshman and improved every year. His ball striking was better this year and we'll miss him a lot."
Davis himself said that getting to the state match was important and that the season as a whole was worth the consistent play.
"Overall, it was a great experience," Davis said. "I felt I played a lot more consistently this year than I did before. On a lot of those days this year, Luke played a couple of shots better than me.
"Golf's one of those games where anything can happen on any certain day. I played well at the regional to get here on that day."
With Davis, Brotherton and Tanner Dean all departing, Paquin said the group left a strong impression for future Greencastle golfers to follow.
"This group has done quite a bit," Paquin noted. "They've won the county and conference matches four years in a row, won two sectionals, qualified for the regional three times and have only lost five matches in four years.
"The record for this group speaks for itself."
Davis, for his part, said the trio of seniors each progressed every year and that it was a fitting end to his time as a Tiger Cub.
"I thought we all grew in different respects," Davis said. "Tanner grew the most mentally while Luke and I grew equally, but made big jumps at different times.
"It was a great year for all of us. I had three main goals and accomplished one by getting here. I missed the other two but it was still a great high school career."
Davis will ply his craft at Rhodes College next year and was already looking forward to the new challenges that await.
"My goal in golf is to get into the top five, which will be a battle with the other incoming freshmen," Davis said. "I'm there to get an education and have a little fun at the same time."