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Warsaw's golf team won't be the favorite to win Friday's 12-team regional at Chestnut Hills.
DeKalb or East Noble - both top 20 teams - will be.
But three, not two, teams advance from the regional to the state finals.
Warsaw coach Bob Turner hopes his team, which went 15-5 this year and 14-1 in its last 15 matches, can be that third team.
"I think it will take our best effort," he said, "but on a course of this type, the best team doesn't always win."
The first four golfers in Turner's lineup will be the same as at the sectional - Kevin Powell, Ben Barkey, Kevin Aust and Justin Howell. Matt Teevan and Chris Osbeck have taken turns in the fifth spot. Teevan golfed there at last week's sectional, but Osbeck gets the call at the regional.
For the first time in several years, the regional will not be played at Brookwood, the course near the airport. Instead, the match will be played at Chestnut Hills, a fairly new course designed by Fuzzy Zoeller on Ind. 14.
The course itself, Turner hopes, will be an equalizer. That's why he feels his team, which has won its last three sectionals, has a shot.
"I think we have a shot just because of the layout," Turner said. "Good players can take some high numbers here, and that would bring everybody closer together."
The 18-hole course is par 72. The layout? It has some blind shots that Turner said "will take a little luck." The greens are average in terms of speed. There is a lot of water on this course, which Turner said could lead to some problems.
"On a windy day, good shots can become bad shots," he said. "Everybody will benefit if it's not too windy."
More than anything else, Turner said, placement shots will determine how his team does.
"We will have to place the ball," he said. "We will have to hit our iron shots accurately, and we will have to hit some iron shots off the tees."
The Tigers have played on a course that requires precision placement shots for any hopes of a decent score - Stonehenge Golf Club. They are also scheduled to practice on Chestnut Hills twice this week.
They had their first practice at Chestnut Hills on Wednesday. Most of the Tigers were in the low 80s.
"I think we're accustomed to this kind of course," Turner said.
Warsaw placed seventh out of 12 teams at last year's regional. The Tigers shot a 320 at Rozella Ford to win the sectional this year. Plymouth and Culver Military Academy placed second and third respectively at the sectional and will join Warsaw at the regional.
