BOURBON — Classes have just begun at Triton High School, but senior Quentyn Carpenter is already looking to next year. Carpenter made a verbal commitment to play golf at Ball State University Friday, first calling the coaches then tweeting, “Just made the call. Committed to play golf at Ball State University in 2013. #ChirpChirp”. “They’re excited for me to be joining the family,” Carpenter said about the reaction of the BSU coaches. And Carpenter won’t be the only member of his family to play golf for the Cardinals. His cousin T.J. Carpenter just wrapped up his senior season in Muncie, earning 2011 and 2012 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Honorable Mention honorS as well as being named a 2012 All-America Scholar. “I’ve been around a lot of the guys in the program for a while,” he said. “I just got a different feeling there. It felt like a good fit.” Another familiar face with Ball State will be 2012 Warsaw Community High School graduate Tyler Ostrom. Before choosing BSU, Carpenter also considered Santa Clara University in California. Despite the beautiful surroundings, he opted to stay in-state. “Ball State has a better golf team,” he said. “Ball State is kind of known for golf. With Santa Clara, they’re not as good. They have perfect weather, but I would have also been a walk-on.” At Ball State, he’ll pick up a partial scholarship as the team looks to bring in four players. “It’s better than nothing,” he said about the partial. He won’t put the pen to paper on the decision until the early signing period begins in mid-November, but he wanted to get the commitment out of the way. “My plan had always been to do it around the time I went back to school,” he said. “It was just a matter of time.” At Triton, he’s been named all-Northern State Conference each year and won the NSC Championships in the spring, while also being the Rozella Ford Golf Club Champion, a title he’ll defend later this month. He also owns every Triton boys golf record, including the 18-hole low round of 65, which he shot at Tippecanoe Lake Country Club in May, finishing five-under. He’s also Triton’s all-time leader in nine-hole average, as his 37.9 beat out his cousin T.J.’s 38.1 Despite reaching state as a freshman and sophomore, he opted to forgo his prep basketball career during his junior season to concentrate solely one golf, and he’s pleased with the decision. “It’s benefitted me a lot,” he said. “Even though I didn’t make it to state last season, I was setting school records. I felt like I played some of my best golf ever.” And that golf has paved his way to college. “I feel good because I’m the first official commitment (to Ball State),” he said.
