Let The Chips Fall: Osbeck Wins Big Match For Warsaw
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The roars, accompanied by the clapping, exploded through the windows and door into the clubhouse.
Bob Turner bolted out the door, leaving his warm room for the blustery winds that whipped across the Rozella Ford Golf Course. The Warsaw golf coach hadn't seen what had happened, but he quickly heard: sophomore Chris Osbeck, his No. 5 golfer, just made a chip-in to birdie the last hole of the day.
Yeah, it was a spectacular shot, but it turned out to be even more than that. It was a spectacular, match-winning shot.
Osbeck's chip-in on the No. 9 hole gave Warsaw a team score of 159, nine strokes better than NorthWood's 168. More importantly, it made Warsaw one stroke better than Concord's 160.
This wasn't just any old garden-variety win for the Tigers.
Concord, 13-2, was ranked No. 12 in the state in a preseason poll. The win made Warsaw 4-0 and Concord 1-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference. NorthWood fell to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the NLC.
"Concord is a good team, I mean a good team," Turner said. "I think they could be in the state finals.
"Upsets happen. We upset them, a big upset. This will hurt. This was a big win for us. We just can't let the two matches next week - Goshen and Wawasee - get away from us."
Turner added more punch to this storyline, as if it didn't already have enough: it was the first time he penciled Osbeck in the varsity starting lineup.
And now he's a hero.
"The shot heard around the golf course," Turner called it, borrowing then altering a famous historical quote.
"I was about 10 yards below the sandtrap," Osbeck said. "I knew I had to get it close. I hit the shot. I heard the crowd say, 'Looking good.' I looked back around, and all I could see was the ball going down around the hole. It dropped in.
"I get finished, then everybody tells me that's the shot that won it. This is my first night playing varsity, so I had a little pressure under the belt. But I did it. That was it.
"Definitely my biggest shot."
One of many big shots for the Tigers on the day. Kevin Powell and Ben Barkey, the names Turner jots down in the top two spots of his lineup card, each fired 39s on the par 35 course. Osbeck's heroics on the last hole just stretched out what had already been a stellar varsity debut. He, too, shot a 39.
The Tigers then had Kevin Aust with a 42 and Justin Howell with a 44. Howell's score was dropped.
"And Matt Teevan shoots a 42 in the sixth position," Turner adds. "We have six players who can play some golf right now."
Never mind the wind chill that made it feel 1 degree outside in the middle of May. Never mind that John Ash, Concord's golfer in the No. 1 spot, fired a 43, the worst score by a Minuteman and the one the team had to drop.
"Conditions were tough for everybody tonight," Turner said.
The 0-4 start for the Tigers? Ancient history.
"We had a rough spring," Turner said. "It's nice to get a break. The Osbeck boy who chipped it in, it couldn't happen to a nicer fella. It was almost a blind shot.
"You need a little luck along the way, and it just so happens the luck went our way tonight."
Warsaw sits at 9-5 overall with two NLC matches left. The Tigers travel to Goshen next Tuesday, and they host Wawasee on Thursday.
Both of those teams already have losses. Neither is expected to challenge for first place in the NLC.
"Right now, we control it," Turner said. "If things get out of hand, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
"As big of a win this was, the two next week are even more important. With those two wins, we can go 6-0 in the conference. That puts you in a pretty nice position.
"Things could always go sour down the line. Tonight, things are pretty nice."
WARSAW 159, CONCORD 160, NORTHWOOD 168
Warsaw - Kevin Powell 39, Ben Barkey 39, Kevin Aust 42, Justin Howell 44, Matt Osbeck 39
Concord - John Ash 43, Josh Olson 40, Nick Sweazy 39, Aaron Leemaster 39, Brandt Fowler 42
NorthWood - Matt Peterson 43, Mitch Walters 43, Ross Martin 39, Josh Corwin 46, Chet Walters 43
JV: WARSAW 179, NORTHWOOD 189, CONCORD 190
Warsaw (7-0) - Matt Teevan 42, Jason Henthorn 42, Dave Grossnickle 46, Jeff Phillips 44, Travis Shively 45, Scott Davison 52 [[In-content Ad]]
The roars, accompanied by the clapping, exploded through the windows and door into the clubhouse.
Bob Turner bolted out the door, leaving his warm room for the blustery winds that whipped across the Rozella Ford Golf Course. The Warsaw golf coach hadn't seen what had happened, but he quickly heard: sophomore Chris Osbeck, his No. 5 golfer, just made a chip-in to birdie the last hole of the day.
Yeah, it was a spectacular shot, but it turned out to be even more than that. It was a spectacular, match-winning shot.
Osbeck's chip-in on the No. 9 hole gave Warsaw a team score of 159, nine strokes better than NorthWood's 168. More importantly, it made Warsaw one stroke better than Concord's 160.
This wasn't just any old garden-variety win for the Tigers.
Concord, 13-2, was ranked No. 12 in the state in a preseason poll. The win made Warsaw 4-0 and Concord 1-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference. NorthWood fell to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the NLC.
"Concord is a good team, I mean a good team," Turner said. "I think they could be in the state finals.
"Upsets happen. We upset them, a big upset. This will hurt. This was a big win for us. We just can't let the two matches next week - Goshen and Wawasee - get away from us."
Turner added more punch to this storyline, as if it didn't already have enough: it was the first time he penciled Osbeck in the varsity starting lineup.
And now he's a hero.
"The shot heard around the golf course," Turner called it, borrowing then altering a famous historical quote.
"I was about 10 yards below the sandtrap," Osbeck said. "I knew I had to get it close. I hit the shot. I heard the crowd say, 'Looking good.' I looked back around, and all I could see was the ball going down around the hole. It dropped in.
"I get finished, then everybody tells me that's the shot that won it. This is my first night playing varsity, so I had a little pressure under the belt. But I did it. That was it.
"Definitely my biggest shot."
One of many big shots for the Tigers on the day. Kevin Powell and Ben Barkey, the names Turner jots down in the top two spots of his lineup card, each fired 39s on the par 35 course. Osbeck's heroics on the last hole just stretched out what had already been a stellar varsity debut. He, too, shot a 39.
The Tigers then had Kevin Aust with a 42 and Justin Howell with a 44. Howell's score was dropped.
"And Matt Teevan shoots a 42 in the sixth position," Turner adds. "We have six players who can play some golf right now."
Never mind the wind chill that made it feel 1 degree outside in the middle of May. Never mind that John Ash, Concord's golfer in the No. 1 spot, fired a 43, the worst score by a Minuteman and the one the team had to drop.
"Conditions were tough for everybody tonight," Turner said.
The 0-4 start for the Tigers? Ancient history.
"We had a rough spring," Turner said. "It's nice to get a break. The Osbeck boy who chipped it in, it couldn't happen to a nicer fella. It was almost a blind shot.
"You need a little luck along the way, and it just so happens the luck went our way tonight."
Warsaw sits at 9-5 overall with two NLC matches left. The Tigers travel to Goshen next Tuesday, and they host Wawasee on Thursday.
Both of those teams already have losses. Neither is expected to challenge for first place in the NLC.
"Right now, we control it," Turner said. "If things get out of hand, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
"As big of a win this was, the two next week are even more important. With those two wins, we can go 6-0 in the conference. That puts you in a pretty nice position.
"Things could always go sour down the line. Tonight, things are pretty nice."
WARSAW 159, CONCORD 160, NORTHWOOD 168
Warsaw - Kevin Powell 39, Ben Barkey 39, Kevin Aust 42, Justin Howell 44, Matt Osbeck 39
Concord - John Ash 43, Josh Olson 40, Nick Sweazy 39, Aaron Leemaster 39, Brandt Fowler 42
NorthWood - Matt Peterson 43, Mitch Walters 43, Ross Martin 39, Josh Corwin 46, Chet Walters 43
JV: WARSAW 179, NORTHWOOD 189, CONCORD 190
Warsaw (7-0) - Matt Teevan 42, Jason Henthorn 42, Dave Grossnickle 46, Jeff Phillips 44, Travis Shively 45, Scott Davison 52 [[In-content Ad]]