SYRACUSE – As Wawasee High School boys golf coach Steve Coverstone put it, Warsaw played pretty good and his Warriors played OK. The difference showed in the final scores Tuesday, as the second-ranked Tigers beat the host Warriors 145-165 in Northern Lakes Conference action at South Shore. "Warsaw has a lot of good players," Coverstone said of the Tigers, who carded five sub-40 scores, while the Warriors had just one player shoot better than 41. "If you go back through the years, a score in the 140s is gonna win here," he added. "Warsaw played pretty good, and we played OK." With the 20-stroke win, Warsaw improved to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in NLC play. Wawasee fell to 6-6 and 1-4. The Tigers, who graduated just one player from last year's team that was 15-0 in the regular season and went on to win conference, sectional and regional championships, are blessed with talent and depth. Warsaw's junior varsity team is also undefeated this season, and the JV Tigers would have beat Wawasee's varsity score by two strokes Tuesday. "We've got a lot of talented players in the program," said Warsaw coach Ben Barkey. "We had five guys in the 30s today and shot 1-over as a team, I'm very happy with that." Eric Tandy, the only senior in Warsaw's varsity lineup, earned medalist honors with his 3-under score of 33. Other scores for the Tigers included Jon Schram's 36, a pair of 38s from Tim Ahlersmeyer and Tyler Ostrom and a 39 from Bennett Hollar. "Eric played outstanding," said Barkey. "He left an eagle putt short on the fourth and then came back and eagled No. 6. He played a great round." Tandy's round included birdies on the first and fourth holes and a bogey on No. 8. Had Schram parred hole No. 3, he also would have come in at 3-under. "Jon had a triple on the third hole," said Barkey. That's South Shore. You could hit it behind a tree, or out-of-bounds, if you're not careful. That's how it is here. But he stayed with it, didn't get down. He kept his head in the game and ended up shooting par." For Wawasee, Ben Jackson led the way with a 37, while Josh Matti shot 41, Luke Jackson carded a 42, Derek Zurcher shot 45 and Tyler Hare turned in a 48. "Ben had a good night, he played well for us," said Coverstone. "Josh Matti played well for a No. 5. Warsaw is a very good team, and they came up here and played well." The Tigers host conference foes Concord and Northridge Thursday at Stonehenge, and then return to South Shore Saturday for the Northern Lakes Conference Championships. In an 18-hole invitational at South Shore on April 30, Warsaw shot 300 and walked away with team championship. "We intentially got into the Wawasee Invite so that we could play another round up here," said Barkey. "We played well that day, and we're looking forward to Saturday. The scary thing is, I think we can shoot better than 300. We have to take care of business Thursday against Concord and Northridge, and then we could be in the driver's seat for another conference championship." Wawasee is in action again Thursday when it travels to McCormick Creek Golf Course in Nappanee to play NorthWood and Elkhart Memorial.
WARSAW 145, WAWASEE 165 (South Shore, Par 36) Medalist – Eric Tandy (Warsaw) 33 Warsaw – Eric Tandy 33, Jon Schram 36, Tim Ahlersmeyer 38, Tyler Ostrom 38, Bennett Hollar 39 Wawasee – Ben Jackson 37, Josh Matti 41, Luke Jackson 42, Derek Zurcher 45, Tyler Hare 48 Records: Warsaw 9-0 (5-0 NLC), Wawasee 6-6 (1-5 NLC)
JV – Warsaw 163, Wawasee 176 Medalist – Justin Self (Warsaw) 38 Warsaw – Justin Self 38, Viraj Gokhale 41, Will Petro 42, Evan Cultice 42, Jared Essig 42, Simon Stone 42, Lance Lybarger 46 Warsaw record: 7-0 (3-0 NLC)
