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Following yet another record-breaking performance by his Warsaw varsity boys golf team, third-year coach Ben Barkey said everything his players do on and off the course sends ripples.
Wednesday, on senior night at Stonehenge, the 10th-ranked Tigers simply left the competition in their wake.
Behind a solid performance from top to bottom, a performance that broke the school record for lowest team nine-hole score, Warsaw cruised to wins over visiting Bishop Dwenger and Bishop Luers.
The Tigers shot a sizzling 5-under par four-man score of 135, while Dwenger was a distant second at 166 and Luers third with 174.
Warsaw's round broke the school record of 138 set at Rozella Ford in 1998 under coach Bob Turner.
Breaking the record put an ear-to-ear smile on Barkey's face. Doing it on senior night, the four Warsaw seniors' final regular season match at Stonehenge, made it even more special. And doing it a week before the sectional tells him his team is playing well at the right time of the season.
"This is great for the team," said Barkey. "All four seniors are great guys. It's like we're ending a chapter in their books at WCHS. We talked about there being one major school record we haven't broken yet. To do it at Stonehenge from the championship tees with these four seniors, you couldn't write a better story. These seniors have broken almost all the records at WCHS. That says something about the quality of golf they're playing and how great of guys they are."
Senior Jake Brodhead and sophomore Grant Slater led the way for the Tigers Wednesday, shooting 2-under nine-hole rounds of 33.
Brodhead, fresh off his school-record 18-hole round of 64 at Saturday's conference match, set a school record for best score over 27 consecutive holes.
Seniors Chris Hanson and Jon Clevenger rounded out Warsaw's four-man score with a 34 and 35, respectively, while senior Trent Barlow shot 41.
"It's nice to put up a 135 a week before the sectional and let some of our rivals know what we can shoot here at Stonehenge," said Barkey. "We've had some great battles with Wawasee. This kind of sends a message to the rest of the teams. That's not our main focus, but everything we do on and off the golf course sends ripples. Not only around here but around the state. Confidence breeds confidence, and we're playing with confidence right now."
No player from either Luers or Dwenger shot better than 3-over Wednesday.
David Felts led Luers with a 38, while Jon Ballyeat and Adam Peterson shot 45s and Mike Luegers a 46. Lucas Brown rounded out the Knights' lineup with a 57.
For Dwenger, Matt Vooldde shot 40, while Logan Houlahan shot 41, Justin Devirn 42, Pat Burns 43 and Mike Murphy 44.
The pair of wins improved Warsaw's regular season record to 16-1.
As has been the case already this year, Warsaw's junior varsity team shot well enough to beat the Tigers' varsity opponent.
The Tiger junior varsity team, led by Tad Nieter's 37, finished with a score of 157. They would have beat Dwenger's varsity team by nine strokes and Luers' varsity squad by 17 strokes.
The Warsaw junior varsity team is also 16-1 on the season.
The Tigers are in action again Saturday against host Lafayette Jeff and then Wednesday against Tippecanoe Valley at Mill Creek.
WARSAW 135, BISHOP DWENGER 166, BISHOP LUERS 174
Warsaw scores - Jake Brodhead 33, Grant Slater 33, Chris Hanson 34, Jon Clevenger 35, Trent Barlow 41
Luers scores - David Felts 38, Jon Ballyeat 45, Adam Peterson 45, Mike Leugers 46, Lucas Brown 57
Dwenger scores - Matt Vooldde 40, Logan Houlahan 41, Justin Devirn, Pat Burns 43, Mike Murphy 44
JV - Warsaw 157, Dwenger 174, Luers 194
Warsaw scores - Tad Nieter 37, Skyler Scott 38, Geoff Haase 39, Mark Glova 43, Kris Ker 45
