Tiger Golfers Win State Championship
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
FRANKLIN - Richmond looked the part. Warsaw played the part.
The Tigers, down three strokes after the first day of play at the Indiana boys state golf championships, overcame the deficit to the Red Devils and Leo to win their first golf title in school history with a score of 37-over par 613 at the Legends of Indiana Golf Course Wednesday.
Warsaw teed off with Richmond and Leo in the final pairing of the day, a day that was dominated by wind gusts as high as 40 miles per hour.
The Red Devils, all dressed in red shirts and black shorts with bleached-blonde hair and Oakley sunglasses hanging from their ears on the back of their heads, looked like the cream of the golf crop.
Warsaw, dressed like hit men with black shirts and black shorts, played like the cream of the golf crop.
Leo, winners of the Fort Wayne Regional that Warsaw needed a fifth-man score to get out of, played like a team with little state tournament experience. The Lions shot a 327 Wednesday after shooting a 300 Tuesday.
Sophomore Tad Nieter was the first off the tee on the par 4, 398-yard No.1 and set the tone with a birdie.
Nieter struggled on the first day with a score of 85.
"Yesterday I was hitting the ball the same," said Nieter of his play Tuesday compared to Wednesday. "I just made so many more putts today."
Nieter finished the front nine with a 2-over 38 and then secured a 77 with a clutch, 11-foot par putt, and with fellow sophomore Grant Slater, clinched the victory for the Tigers.
"It's awesome to realize that we have two more years to tear it up," said Nieter of the future of Warsaw's program.
The trend of thrilling putts by Warsaw golfers on No. 18 continued with Slater.
Eyeing a 40-foot putt that broke several times, Slater grabbed his putter and calmly placed the ball at the bottom of the cup.
"It was pretty exciting," said Slater of his putt. "That's two years in a row I've had a long putt on that hole."
Slater closed out his 2004 state tournament with a 40-foot putt as the Tigers finished in third place behind Zionsville and Richmond.
Slater's two-day total of 148 earned him a third-place tie in individual competition with Brownsburg's Andy Winings and all-state honors.
"Grant's just a stud and Tad's starting to believe in his abilities," said Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey of his super sophomores.
Warsaw's No. 3 golfer, Jon Clevenger, struggled on the final day after shooting a clutch 76 Tuesday. Clevenger, a senior, shot an 88 that was marked by a 10 on the par-5, 501-yard 10th hole.
"It's great to know I had four other guys to score for me," said Clevenger.
Chris Hanson, golfing from the No. 2 spot for the Tigers, scuffled on the front nine, shooting an 8-over 44. Hanson battled on the back nine, shooting 2-over and finishing his round with an 82.
"Conditions were incredibly difficult today," said Hanson. "You just couldn't give up though."
Warsaw showed an iron will and the experience derived from a third-place finish last year to overcome anything nature threw at it.
"We realized what it would take to get first place," said Hanson, who also earned all-state honors.
After Hanson left the 18th hole, Jake Brodhead, Warsaw's No. 1 golfer, was the lone Tiger on the golf course.
When Brodhead hit the 18th tee, Barkey let his top golfer know he didn't need any late-round heroics.
"He said it looked pretty good," said Brodhead. "I was hoping to have some pressure to make a birdie putt."
Despite having the championship in the bag, Brodhead stayed sharp, and with a growing gallery and cameramen and photographers camped out in the nearby sand trap, the Troy State-bound golfer nailed an eight-foot birdie put just inside the fringe to cap his round of 76 and put an exclamation point on a roller coaster season for the Tigers.
Warsaw entered the season ranked second in the state behind Richmond. After a couple of second- and third-place finishes in statewide invitationals, the Tigers tore through Northern Lakes Conference competition until they met Wawasee on a cool, late spring afternoon at South Shore Golf Course in Syracuse. The Warriors bested Warsaw that night and then again at the sectional on Warsaw's home course of Stonehenge.
Warsaw then escaped the regional after using the fifth man score of Slater to best Lakeland.
"I don't care how we made it here," said Brodhead. "None of us really played good at sectional and regional."
The wind was a factor for all teams, with the Tigers able to deal with it best.
Richmond shot 24 strokes higher from Tuesday to Wednesday, while the Tigers' score increased by just seven.
Warsaw's winning score of 613 is the highest to win since 1999 when Noblesville won with a 619 and the highest at Legends since tournament play started there in 2001.
Noblesville snuck in to second place and finished with a two-day score of 620, while Richmond finished third with a two-day score of 624.
Christian Poling of Madison won the individual medalist honors with a two-day score of 141.
Team scores - Warsaw 303-310-613, Noblesville 304-316-620, Richmond 300-324-624, Floyd Central 309-318-627, Leo 300-327-627, Harrison (West Lafayette) 307-322-629, Valpariaso 304-325-629, Chesterton 308-324-632, Michigan City 313-329-642
Warsaw scores - Jake Brodhead 77-76-153, Chris Hanson 77-82-159, Jon Clevenger 76-88-164, Grant Slater 73-75-148, Tad Nieter 85-77-162
Top 10 individual scores - Christian Poling (Madison) 69-72-141, Justin Hueber (Leo) 69-77-146, Grant Slater (Warsaw) 73-75-148, Andy Winings (Brownsburg) 73-75-148, Ross Cosat (Knightstown) 73-76-149, Ben Lakoff (Richmond) 69-81-150, Michael Collins (Noblesville) 71-80-151, Jake Brodhead 77-76-153, Kavan Hoff (Rochester) 72-81-153, Josh Baldwin (Noblesville) 80-74-154, Michael Hrunek (Valparaiso) 76-78-154, Clint Matthews (West Lafayette Harrison) 76-78-154, Ian Pavlechiko (Yorktown) 74-80-154, Jon Schakleford (Floyd Central) 74-80-154 [[In-content Ad]]
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FRANKLIN - Richmond looked the part. Warsaw played the part.
The Tigers, down three strokes after the first day of play at the Indiana boys state golf championships, overcame the deficit to the Red Devils and Leo to win their first golf title in school history with a score of 37-over par 613 at the Legends of Indiana Golf Course Wednesday.
Warsaw teed off with Richmond and Leo in the final pairing of the day, a day that was dominated by wind gusts as high as 40 miles per hour.
The Red Devils, all dressed in red shirts and black shorts with bleached-blonde hair and Oakley sunglasses hanging from their ears on the back of their heads, looked like the cream of the golf crop.
Warsaw, dressed like hit men with black shirts and black shorts, played like the cream of the golf crop.
Leo, winners of the Fort Wayne Regional that Warsaw needed a fifth-man score to get out of, played like a team with little state tournament experience. The Lions shot a 327 Wednesday after shooting a 300 Tuesday.
Sophomore Tad Nieter was the first off the tee on the par 4, 398-yard No.1 and set the tone with a birdie.
Nieter struggled on the first day with a score of 85.
"Yesterday I was hitting the ball the same," said Nieter of his play Tuesday compared to Wednesday. "I just made so many more putts today."
Nieter finished the front nine with a 2-over 38 and then secured a 77 with a clutch, 11-foot par putt, and with fellow sophomore Grant Slater, clinched the victory for the Tigers.
"It's awesome to realize that we have two more years to tear it up," said Nieter of the future of Warsaw's program.
The trend of thrilling putts by Warsaw golfers on No. 18 continued with Slater.
Eyeing a 40-foot putt that broke several times, Slater grabbed his putter and calmly placed the ball at the bottom of the cup.
"It was pretty exciting," said Slater of his putt. "That's two years in a row I've had a long putt on that hole."
Slater closed out his 2004 state tournament with a 40-foot putt as the Tigers finished in third place behind Zionsville and Richmond.
Slater's two-day total of 148 earned him a third-place tie in individual competition with Brownsburg's Andy Winings and all-state honors.
"Grant's just a stud and Tad's starting to believe in his abilities," said Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey of his super sophomores.
Warsaw's No. 3 golfer, Jon Clevenger, struggled on the final day after shooting a clutch 76 Tuesday. Clevenger, a senior, shot an 88 that was marked by a 10 on the par-5, 501-yard 10th hole.
"It's great to know I had four other guys to score for me," said Clevenger.
Chris Hanson, golfing from the No. 2 spot for the Tigers, scuffled on the front nine, shooting an 8-over 44. Hanson battled on the back nine, shooting 2-over and finishing his round with an 82.
"Conditions were incredibly difficult today," said Hanson. "You just couldn't give up though."
Warsaw showed an iron will and the experience derived from a third-place finish last year to overcome anything nature threw at it.
"We realized what it would take to get first place," said Hanson, who also earned all-state honors.
After Hanson left the 18th hole, Jake Brodhead, Warsaw's No. 1 golfer, was the lone Tiger on the golf course.
When Brodhead hit the 18th tee, Barkey let his top golfer know he didn't need any late-round heroics.
"He said it looked pretty good," said Brodhead. "I was hoping to have some pressure to make a birdie putt."
Despite having the championship in the bag, Brodhead stayed sharp, and with a growing gallery and cameramen and photographers camped out in the nearby sand trap, the Troy State-bound golfer nailed an eight-foot birdie put just inside the fringe to cap his round of 76 and put an exclamation point on a roller coaster season for the Tigers.
Warsaw entered the season ranked second in the state behind Richmond. After a couple of second- and third-place finishes in statewide invitationals, the Tigers tore through Northern Lakes Conference competition until they met Wawasee on a cool, late spring afternoon at South Shore Golf Course in Syracuse. The Warriors bested Warsaw that night and then again at the sectional on Warsaw's home course of Stonehenge.
Warsaw then escaped the regional after using the fifth man score of Slater to best Lakeland.
"I don't care how we made it here," said Brodhead. "None of us really played good at sectional and regional."
The wind was a factor for all teams, with the Tigers able to deal with it best.
Richmond shot 24 strokes higher from Tuesday to Wednesday, while the Tigers' score increased by just seven.
Warsaw's winning score of 613 is the highest to win since 1999 when Noblesville won with a 619 and the highest at Legends since tournament play started there in 2001.
Noblesville snuck in to second place and finished with a two-day score of 620, while Richmond finished third with a two-day score of 624.
Christian Poling of Madison won the individual medalist honors with a two-day score of 141.
Team scores - Warsaw 303-310-613, Noblesville 304-316-620, Richmond 300-324-624, Floyd Central 309-318-627, Leo 300-327-627, Harrison (West Lafayette) 307-322-629, Valpariaso 304-325-629, Chesterton 308-324-632, Michigan City 313-329-642
Warsaw scores - Jake Brodhead 77-76-153, Chris Hanson 77-82-159, Jon Clevenger 76-88-164, Grant Slater 73-75-148, Tad Nieter 85-77-162
Top 10 individual scores - Christian Poling (Madison) 69-72-141, Justin Hueber (Leo) 69-77-146, Grant Slater (Warsaw) 73-75-148, Andy Winings (Brownsburg) 73-75-148, Ross Cosat (Knightstown) 73-76-149, Ben Lakoff (Richmond) 69-81-150, Michael Collins (Noblesville) 71-80-151, Jake Brodhead 77-76-153, Kavan Hoff (Rochester) 72-81-153, Josh Baldwin (Noblesville) 80-74-154, Michael Hrunek (Valparaiso) 76-78-154, Clint Matthews (West Lafayette Harrison) 76-78-154, Ian Pavlechiko (Yorktown) 74-80-154, Jon Schakleford (Floyd Central) 74-80-154 [[In-content Ad]]