Warrior Golfers Win Four-Way Match
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Led by senior Curtis Coverstone's 38 on the par-36 course, the Warriors finished with a 156, followed by Fairfield's 173, Elkhart Central's 177 and West Noble's 189.[[In-content Ad]]"I'm very happy with the way we played tonight," Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone said from the clubhouse as the rain drops fell outside. "Ben (Jackson) came back after a good round over the weekend (shooting a 77 at Noble Hawk), to have back-to-back good rounds. Curtis played reasonable with a 38 and John (Kirkwood) had a little trouble at the end, but still shot a solid 40."
Rounding out his five, George Adamaitis finished with a 39 and Ryan Koble had a 41, meaning all of his guys finished within three shots of one another.
"We didn't have any bad scores," Coverstone said. "If we can keep that up, we have a chance to be competitive with anybody by the end of the year. If we can just keep this up and improve a little bit."
After losing Jordan Dawes and Rees Woodcock to graduation, as well as Michael Jenkins to a move into the Homestead district, Coverstone only returns his son, Curtis, and Kirkwood from a team that finished ninth at state last year.
"We were having trouble early in the year with our short games," the coach said. "We took a couple of practices and really worked on that, and we'll continue to do that. Mainly, the guys are getting some experience, and getting better."
As a junior, Curtis Coverstone followed his Warsaw Sectional first-place finish with a 24th-place showing at state.
This year, the IPFW-bound golfer has been leading the Warriors, shooting 1-under at South Shore a week ago, and nearly doing it again Monday, had it not been for a double-bogey on No. 5.
Following a solid tee shot that put him just off the green behind the cup, Coverstone recovered with a nice chip that put him within a putt of getting par on the hole. Instead, the putt was just off, as was the following one, leaving him with a five on the par-3, 140-yard hole.
Another bogey on No. 8 left Coverstone raising his hands to the sky asking, "Why?" when his putt lipped off the cup, leaving him with a four on the par-3, 240-yard hole.
Capping his less-than-stellar day for himself, although stellar for most, was his drive off No. 9, which hit off the maintenance garage. After locating the ball, and proceeding to drop it, he followed with a great second shot that put him on the green. Two putts later, and he had saved par, finishing two-over on the day, earning medalist honors.
The win now puts Wawasee at 6-0 on the year, and they'll be right back at South Shore Saturday, hosting the Wawasee Invitational at 8 a.m.
"You don't want to peak right now," Steve Coverstone said. "You want to steadily improve, so you can peak at the end of the year. As long as these guys continue to keep working, I don't see why we can't accomplish the things we want to do this year."
"Our goal is always to get to state," he elaborated. "Hopefully, that's what we're working toward."
WAWASEE 156, FAIRFIELD 173, ELKHART CENTRAL 177, W. NOBLE 189
Medalist - Coverstone (W) 38
Wawasee (156) - Coverstone 38, Kirkwood 40, Adamaitis 39, Jackson 39, Koble 41
Fairfield (173) - Kritzman 43, Ulrich 42, Shipley 43, Kropf 48, Stutzman 45
EC (177) - Bradford 50, Nicholson 43, Eppers 49, Genis 42, Morton 43
WN (189) - Younce 45, Hazelton 43, Bontrager 51, King 50, Handshoe 53
Records: Wawasee 6-0, Fairfield 7-4, EC 2-6, WN 1-10
JV - Wawasee 174, EC 195, Fairfield 199, WN 206
JV Medalist - Denton (W) 41
Led by senior Curtis Coverstone's 38 on the par-36 course, the Warriors finished with a 156, followed by Fairfield's 173, Elkhart Central's 177 and West Noble's 189.[[In-content Ad]]"I'm very happy with the way we played tonight," Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone said from the clubhouse as the rain drops fell outside. "Ben (Jackson) came back after a good round over the weekend (shooting a 77 at Noble Hawk), to have back-to-back good rounds. Curtis played reasonable with a 38 and John (Kirkwood) had a little trouble at the end, but still shot a solid 40."
Rounding out his five, George Adamaitis finished with a 39 and Ryan Koble had a 41, meaning all of his guys finished within three shots of one another.
"We didn't have any bad scores," Coverstone said. "If we can keep that up, we have a chance to be competitive with anybody by the end of the year. If we can just keep this up and improve a little bit."
After losing Jordan Dawes and Rees Woodcock to graduation, as well as Michael Jenkins to a move into the Homestead district, Coverstone only returns his son, Curtis, and Kirkwood from a team that finished ninth at state last year.
"We were having trouble early in the year with our short games," the coach said. "We took a couple of practices and really worked on that, and we'll continue to do that. Mainly, the guys are getting some experience, and getting better."
As a junior, Curtis Coverstone followed his Warsaw Sectional first-place finish with a 24th-place showing at state.
This year, the IPFW-bound golfer has been leading the Warriors, shooting 1-under at South Shore a week ago, and nearly doing it again Monday, had it not been for a double-bogey on No. 5.
Following a solid tee shot that put him just off the green behind the cup, Coverstone recovered with a nice chip that put him within a putt of getting par on the hole. Instead, the putt was just off, as was the following one, leaving him with a five on the par-3, 140-yard hole.
Another bogey on No. 8 left Coverstone raising his hands to the sky asking, "Why?" when his putt lipped off the cup, leaving him with a four on the par-3, 240-yard hole.
Capping his less-than-stellar day for himself, although stellar for most, was his drive off No. 9, which hit off the maintenance garage. After locating the ball, and proceeding to drop it, he followed with a great second shot that put him on the green. Two putts later, and he had saved par, finishing two-over on the day, earning medalist honors.
The win now puts Wawasee at 6-0 on the year, and they'll be right back at South Shore Saturday, hosting the Wawasee Invitational at 8 a.m.
"You don't want to peak right now," Steve Coverstone said. "You want to steadily improve, so you can peak at the end of the year. As long as these guys continue to keep working, I don't see why we can't accomplish the things we want to do this year."
"Our goal is always to get to state," he elaborated. "Hopefully, that's what we're working toward."
WAWASEE 156, FAIRFIELD 173, ELKHART CENTRAL 177, W. NOBLE 189
Medalist - Coverstone (W) 38
Wawasee (156) - Coverstone 38, Kirkwood 40, Adamaitis 39, Jackson 39, Koble 41
Fairfield (173) - Kritzman 43, Ulrich 42, Shipley 43, Kropf 48, Stutzman 45
EC (177) - Bradford 50, Nicholson 43, Eppers 49, Genis 42, Morton 43
WN (189) - Younce 45, Hazelton 43, Bontrager 51, King 50, Handshoe 53
Records: Wawasee 6-0, Fairfield 7-4, EC 2-6, WN 1-10
JV - Wawasee 174, EC 195, Fairfield 199, WN 206
JV Medalist - Denton (W) 41
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092