North Putnam golf team wins over Covington, Fountain Central

COVINGTON -- The Cougars took a long road trip to Rivercrest Golf Club to meet up with the Mustangs from Fountain Central and the Trojans from Covington on Monday night. This meet also included the first JV match for the Cougars as well.

Rivercrest is a wide, open course with some tough holes but overall the Cougars came through most holes unscathed. Having played at Rivercrest last year, the Cougars were familiar with the course and felt very comfortable going into the meet.

As the weather has been more cooperative in the last week, the course conditions were in great shape and the Cougars were able to play more out of the bunkers and play the ball down.

This will definitely help the Cougars as they approach conference, county, and sectional times.

Again this year senior Mason Asher shot a 39 but this year he was the medalist for the meet. Mason is very comfortable on this course as it tends to suit his type of play.

This is his best nine hole score this season, shooting two birdies, four pars, seven fairways, six greens in regulation, and only 16 putts. Trailing only one stroke behind him with a 40 was Austin Judy.

Austin is shooting a strong game as of late but still has a hole or two that prevents him from hitting below 40.

Danny Smith shot a very respectful 42 but too many double bogies kept him above the 40 mark.

Ben Hazelgrove, the Cougars most consistent player right now, managed to shoot only 15 putts but had a scrambling game due to missed fairways and greens in regulation. Jake Holtze, casually making his way through the course, had decent fairway and green shots, but his putting kept him at a 44. Jake Smith, shooting fairly consistently as well right now, carded a 45 and had a super game going until he hit the last three holes.

Emmett Holsapple, carding a 48, continues to improve his stats but too many three-putts is keeping him from reaching the low 40's.

Tyler Martin shot a good 53 for him and has greatly improved his course management skills, swing tempo and soft touch on the green.

He had the lowest putts for the night with only 14 but needs to improve his fairway and greens in regulation numbers. Preston Porter also continues to shoot consistently with a 51 and shows improvement in his entire game but like others, putting has to get stronger.

The Cougars shot a 164 for the night, which is a great score considering the scores from last week in the wind, rain, and cold.

At this point in the season the Cougars have several pivotal players that will really make a difference as sectionals get closer.

All players are makingthe improvements needed as they start thinking about sectionals. The Trojans and Mustangs had a close match of 192 and 193, respectively.

The JV score for the night was a 188. This was the first JV meet the Cougars have had in several years and another JV meet is scheduled for this Thursday, May 8 against Western Boone at Twin Bridges.