Locals Advance To Golf State Finals
June 9, 2017 at 3:52 p.m.
Locals Advance To Golf State Finals
By Dale [email protected]
That’s exactly what two locals did in Thursday’s boys golf regional at Stonehenge.
On a day that Fort Wayne teams claimed the three qualifying spots for next week’s state finals, Warsaw junior Sam Yeager and Manchester freshman Harley Kruschwitz shot rounds of 2-over 73 and were among five who advanced as individuals.
The 36-hole state finals are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel and will feature 15 teams and 25 golfers that advanced as individuals.
“I was hitting the ball well, putts were falling and I just felt smooth out there,” Yeager said of his round, which included a 34 on the front side and later a birdie on 18. “It just felt like a good day.”
Kruschwitz shot 36 on the front and 37 on the back side, overcoming bogeys on holes 15, 16 and 17.
Triton’s Braden Kreft played as an individual and finished with an 88.
“I knew I had to play well and that there would be some good scores because there’s some really good players out here,” said Kruschwitz. “You just have to play your own game.
“I’ve played here probably 10 times. I know the course pretty well and am pretty comfortable here.”
Yeager and Kruschwitz were two strokes behind leaders Luke Miller and Logan Ryan, teammates from team champion Bishop Dwenger that shot 71.
Miller captured medalist honors after winning a playoff.
Dwenger won the team title with a sizzling four-man score of 298, while Homestead was six shots behind in second and Carroll was third at 312.
Warsaw finished fourth, missing a spot in the state finals by three strokes.
Along with Yeager’s 73, the Tigers got 77s from Luke Delp and Luke Johnson, an 88 from Tim Rata, and an 89 from Tommy Meier.
“As a team, you need four good scores on the board,” said first-year Warsaw coach Rich Haddad. “Last year we didn’t get out of the sectional, we had a couple guys who had bad days. Two years ago at the regional, my understanding is, we had a guy that had a bad day. Today, we had three guys shoot well and two guys that just didn’t have good days. We needed one of them to have a good day, and we just came up short.
“With that being said ... best round of the year for Sam. Similar to last week for Luke Johnson, kind of lighting it up for the sectional. Sam played fantastic today, really was on the number on the front, shooting 1-under. And then on the back he got a little loose on a few holes, but one of the things that makes Sam such a great golfer is that he stuck with it. He reset himself. He had three bogeys in a row, and then the last three holes he was 1-under to be able to qualify for state. I’m just super happy for Sam.”
Also qualifying for state as individuals was Canterbury’s Michael Brothers (73), Northridge’s Luke Morrison (74) and Plymouth’s Micah Calhoun (74).
Canterbury shot 318 and rounded out the top five of the 18 teams.
Haddad said he was pleased with the improvement his players made in his first year with the team. The Tigers were 6-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference, won their first sectional title since 2013 and nearly advanced to state.
“We got off to an inconsistent start to the year, and we really found our groove as far as putting up solid scores, not spectacular, just solid scores, solid team scores,” said Haddad.
“We had four or five good scores in a round, but unfortunately near the end we had a couple of high scores that hurt the team a little. Probably what I’m most proud of is when there was a bad hole the guys didn’t put their head down, they got right back at it. We talked a lot about just taking a moment and resetting yourself and just going out and playing well enough to shoot well if they can let those bad holes go.”
WARSAW REGIONAL
Stonehenge, par 71
Note – top 3 teams and top 5 individuals not on an advancing team qualify for state finals.
Medalist – Luke Miller (Bishop Dwenger) 71
Team Scores – Bishop Dwenger 298, Homestead 304, Carroll 312, Warsaw 315, Canterbury 318, Plymouth 320, Culver Academies 323, Penn 326, Fairfield 327, St. Joe 330, Leo 330, Northridge 333, Angola 334, Northwestern 338, NorthWood 339, Western 339, Peru 344, Marian 362
Advancing Individuals – Michael Brothers (Canterbury) 73, Sam Yeager (Warsaw) 73, Harley Kruschwitz (Manchester) 73, Luke Morrison (Northridge) 74, Micah Calhoun (Plymouth) 74
Bishop Dwenger – Luke Miller 71, Logan Ryan 71, Tyler Fink 78, Ariel DeLuna 78, Johnathan Filler 79
Warsaw – Sam Yeager 73, Luke Delp 77, Luke Johnson 77, Tim Rata 88, Tommy Meier 89
Local Individual – Braden Kreft (Triton) 88
That’s exactly what two locals did in Thursday’s boys golf regional at Stonehenge.
On a day that Fort Wayne teams claimed the three qualifying spots for next week’s state finals, Warsaw junior Sam Yeager and Manchester freshman Harley Kruschwitz shot rounds of 2-over 73 and were among five who advanced as individuals.
The 36-hole state finals are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel and will feature 15 teams and 25 golfers that advanced as individuals.
“I was hitting the ball well, putts were falling and I just felt smooth out there,” Yeager said of his round, which included a 34 on the front side and later a birdie on 18. “It just felt like a good day.”
Kruschwitz shot 36 on the front and 37 on the back side, overcoming bogeys on holes 15, 16 and 17.
Triton’s Braden Kreft played as an individual and finished with an 88.
“I knew I had to play well and that there would be some good scores because there’s some really good players out here,” said Kruschwitz. “You just have to play your own game.
“I’ve played here probably 10 times. I know the course pretty well and am pretty comfortable here.”
Yeager and Kruschwitz were two strokes behind leaders Luke Miller and Logan Ryan, teammates from team champion Bishop Dwenger that shot 71.
Miller captured medalist honors after winning a playoff.
Dwenger won the team title with a sizzling four-man score of 298, while Homestead was six shots behind in second and Carroll was third at 312.
Warsaw finished fourth, missing a spot in the state finals by three strokes.
Along with Yeager’s 73, the Tigers got 77s from Luke Delp and Luke Johnson, an 88 from Tim Rata, and an 89 from Tommy Meier.
“As a team, you need four good scores on the board,” said first-year Warsaw coach Rich Haddad. “Last year we didn’t get out of the sectional, we had a couple guys who had bad days. Two years ago at the regional, my understanding is, we had a guy that had a bad day. Today, we had three guys shoot well and two guys that just didn’t have good days. We needed one of them to have a good day, and we just came up short.
“With that being said ... best round of the year for Sam. Similar to last week for Luke Johnson, kind of lighting it up for the sectional. Sam played fantastic today, really was on the number on the front, shooting 1-under. And then on the back he got a little loose on a few holes, but one of the things that makes Sam such a great golfer is that he stuck with it. He reset himself. He had three bogeys in a row, and then the last three holes he was 1-under to be able to qualify for state. I’m just super happy for Sam.”
Also qualifying for state as individuals was Canterbury’s Michael Brothers (73), Northridge’s Luke Morrison (74) and Plymouth’s Micah Calhoun (74).
Canterbury shot 318 and rounded out the top five of the 18 teams.
Haddad said he was pleased with the improvement his players made in his first year with the team. The Tigers were 6-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference, won their first sectional title since 2013 and nearly advanced to state.
“We got off to an inconsistent start to the year, and we really found our groove as far as putting up solid scores, not spectacular, just solid scores, solid team scores,” said Haddad.
“We had four or five good scores in a round, but unfortunately near the end we had a couple of high scores that hurt the team a little. Probably what I’m most proud of is when there was a bad hole the guys didn’t put their head down, they got right back at it. We talked a lot about just taking a moment and resetting yourself and just going out and playing well enough to shoot well if they can let those bad holes go.”
WARSAW REGIONAL
Stonehenge, par 71
Note – top 3 teams and top 5 individuals not on an advancing team qualify for state finals.
Medalist – Luke Miller (Bishop Dwenger) 71
Team Scores – Bishop Dwenger 298, Homestead 304, Carroll 312, Warsaw 315, Canterbury 318, Plymouth 320, Culver Academies 323, Penn 326, Fairfield 327, St. Joe 330, Leo 330, Northridge 333, Angola 334, Northwestern 338, NorthWood 339, Western 339, Peru 344, Marian 362
Advancing Individuals – Michael Brothers (Canterbury) 73, Sam Yeager (Warsaw) 73, Harley Kruschwitz (Manchester) 73, Luke Morrison (Northridge) 74, Micah Calhoun (Plymouth) 74
Bishop Dwenger – Luke Miller 71, Logan Ryan 71, Tyler Fink 78, Ariel DeLuna 78, Johnathan Filler 79
Warsaw – Sam Yeager 73, Luke Delp 77, Luke Johnson 77, Tim Rata 88, Tommy Meier 89
Local Individual – Braden Kreft (Triton) 88
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