Youth Served At State Golf Meet
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLAINFIELD - Although Wednesday's state golf meet first round will not go down as one of the greatest days in Kosciusko County high school golf history, it could be the building block for some impressive performances in the future.
With six county golfers competing at the state meet, five of which will return to their respective teams next year, the meet at Prestwick Country Club was certainly one that will leave positive effects in the next few years.
Wawasee's team impressed at the meet, falling just five strokes short of the cut, and Warsaw's Justin Howell gained some big meet experience.
Although Howell shot just an 84, head coach Bob Turner was happy with how his golfer competed.
"For his first time seeing the course and for being a sophomore, he performed well," Turner said in response to Howell's inability to practice on the course due to inclement weather all week. "Justin's probably disappointed now, but he'll look back at it tomorrow and remember how good it was."
Turner also plugged Howell's work ethic as the reason for his accomplishments throughout the year.
"He's been very consistent this past year and that's because he basically lives at Stonehenge Golf Course from sunrise to sunset," Turner said. "He's the one who's made himself the level of golfer that he is."
Howell opened the front nine with a 40, but stumbled a bit on the back, shooting a 44.
"I didn't make any putts all day," Howell said. "I didn't think I really hit the ball bad, they were just in bad spots."
Howell began to look ahead a bit to next year in hopes of having four teammates with him at the meet.
"Next year we'll probably be a little bit better," Howell said. "We only lose one golfer and we have two good freshmen coming in. We should have been here this year. The cut (at the regional) was 334 and we hadn't shot worse than that all year."
Wawasee surprised many at the meet, ending in 13th place despite being ignored by the pollsters all year. The Warriors' score of 326 was just short of the needed 321 to move onto today's play.
As always, Wawasee scored as a team. Travis Coy led the Warriors from the No. 3 spot with an 80, while Lucas White shot an 81. Ryan Skaggs had an 82 and Scott White shot an 83. Chad Wortinger's score was dropped despite a solid 86.
As was the case at the regional round, the Warriors just needed that one dominant player to make an even better showing. Only six teams had a better fourth score than Wawasee and just eight teams had a better fifth score.
Coy is Wawasee's only senior to compete in the postseason. With that type of experience returning, the Warriors should once again be in a position to advance to the state meet next year. Both Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley, which advanced to the regional round for the first time since 1993, expect to sport better teams next year and could also challenge for a state berth.
NOBLESVILLE 300, EVANSVILLE CENTRAL 309, FORT WAYNE CONCORDIA 312, SEYMOUR 313, GARRETT 314, MARION 315, PIKE 315, MADISON 319, CENTER GROVE 321, SOUTHMONT 321, EVANSVILLE NORTH 323, NEW CASTLE 323, WAWASEE 326, BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 330, WASHINGTON 332, LAFAYETTE JEFFERSON 333, CROWN POINT 335, LAKE CENTRAL 335, BREBEUF 340, LAKE CENTRAL 346, TIPTON 356
Top individual golfers - Trent Tormoehlen, Seymour 68; Eric Steinback, Evansville Central 70; Chris Eckerle, Pike 71; Nathan Fritz, Greenwood 73; Bryan Kohmeier, Noblesville 73; Brian Lassiter, North Posey 73; Lee Williamson, Southmont 73; Justin Werkley, Noblesville 74
Wawasee - Ryan Skaggs 82, Scott White 83, Travis Coy 80, Lucas White 81, Chad Wortinger 86
Warsaw - Justin Howell 40-44 84 [[In-content Ad]]
PLAINFIELD - Although Wednesday's state golf meet first round will not go down as one of the greatest days in Kosciusko County high school golf history, it could be the building block for some impressive performances in the future.
With six county golfers competing at the state meet, five of which will return to their respective teams next year, the meet at Prestwick Country Club was certainly one that will leave positive effects in the next few years.
Wawasee's team impressed at the meet, falling just five strokes short of the cut, and Warsaw's Justin Howell gained some big meet experience.
Although Howell shot just an 84, head coach Bob Turner was happy with how his golfer competed.
"For his first time seeing the course and for being a sophomore, he performed well," Turner said in response to Howell's inability to practice on the course due to inclement weather all week. "Justin's probably disappointed now, but he'll look back at it tomorrow and remember how good it was."
Turner also plugged Howell's work ethic as the reason for his accomplishments throughout the year.
"He's been very consistent this past year and that's because he basically lives at Stonehenge Golf Course from sunrise to sunset," Turner said. "He's the one who's made himself the level of golfer that he is."
Howell opened the front nine with a 40, but stumbled a bit on the back, shooting a 44.
"I didn't make any putts all day," Howell said. "I didn't think I really hit the ball bad, they were just in bad spots."
Howell began to look ahead a bit to next year in hopes of having four teammates with him at the meet.
"Next year we'll probably be a little bit better," Howell said. "We only lose one golfer and we have two good freshmen coming in. We should have been here this year. The cut (at the regional) was 334 and we hadn't shot worse than that all year."
Wawasee surprised many at the meet, ending in 13th place despite being ignored by the pollsters all year. The Warriors' score of 326 was just short of the needed 321 to move onto today's play.
As always, Wawasee scored as a team. Travis Coy led the Warriors from the No. 3 spot with an 80, while Lucas White shot an 81. Ryan Skaggs had an 82 and Scott White shot an 83. Chad Wortinger's score was dropped despite a solid 86.
As was the case at the regional round, the Warriors just needed that one dominant player to make an even better showing. Only six teams had a better fourth score than Wawasee and just eight teams had a better fifth score.
Coy is Wawasee's only senior to compete in the postseason. With that type of experience returning, the Warriors should once again be in a position to advance to the state meet next year. Both Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley, which advanced to the regional round for the first time since 1993, expect to sport better teams next year and could also challenge for a state berth.
NOBLESVILLE 300, EVANSVILLE CENTRAL 309, FORT WAYNE CONCORDIA 312, SEYMOUR 313, GARRETT 314, MARION 315, PIKE 315, MADISON 319, CENTER GROVE 321, SOUTHMONT 321, EVANSVILLE NORTH 323, NEW CASTLE 323, WAWASEE 326, BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 330, WASHINGTON 332, LAFAYETTE JEFFERSON 333, CROWN POINT 335, LAKE CENTRAL 335, BREBEUF 340, LAKE CENTRAL 346, TIPTON 356
Top individual golfers - Trent Tormoehlen, Seymour 68; Eric Steinback, Evansville Central 70; Chris Eckerle, Pike 71; Nathan Fritz, Greenwood 73; Bryan Kohmeier, Noblesville 73; Brian Lassiter, North Posey 73; Lee Williamson, Southmont 73; Justin Werkley, Noblesville 74
Wawasee - Ryan Skaggs 82, Scott White 83, Travis Coy 80, Lucas White 81, Chad Wortinger 86
Warsaw - Justin Howell 40-44 84 [[In-content Ad]]