FRANKLIN - Nearly 12 hours after they were supposed to have teed off, the members of Wawasee High School's sixth-ranked boys golf team left Legends of Indiana Golf Course Tuesday evening unsure of their fate. However, earlier today, they found out.
Because of recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, the start of first-round action in the 72nd annual boys golf state finals was delayed by three hours Tuesday.
Individual qualifiers scheduled to tee off at 8 a.m. didn't get on the course until after 11 a.m. The Warriors, who were set to tee off just before 9 a.m. didn't get on the first tee box until nearly 3 p.m.
The lengthy delay led to some golfers not making the turn on to the back nine until nearly 8:15 p.m. And when all was said and done, it wasn't all said and done at all, as play was suspended due to darkness at 9:05 p.m. with eight groups still on the course.
When play was suspended Tuesday evening, the Warriors were tied for 9th, 22 over. Once the first round was completed today, Wawasee had climbed to fifth place, finishing the opening round with a 301, 21 over.
The top nine teams moved to the finals round today, with Wawasee being joined by Indianapolis Cathedral (274), Avon (289), Lafayette Jefferson (299), Northridge (300), Mishawaka Marian (302), Noblesville (303), Chesterton (303) and Hamilton Southeastern (304).
Among the players who finished Tuesday were Wawasee's Rees Woodcock, Curtis Coverstone and Jordan Dawes. Michael Jenkins and John Kirkwood were able to complete all 18 holes for the Warriors, turning in a 74 and 85, respectively. Woodcock finished his round today with an 80, Coverstone a 74 and Dawes a 73.
"I wish we could have finished (Tuesday), it was really beautiful weather," said Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone.
The qualifying teams began the finals round at 10:30 a.m. today, a late start thanks to Mother Nature.
Though portions of the course were under water for the opening round - including hole No. 15, which was unplayable - the weather wasn't much of a problem. There were sunny skies, comfortable temperatures and a light breeze.
The worst part of the day for the Warriors was that they left the course around 9:30 p.m. not knowing if they qualified for today's round-two action.
"The bad thing is the guys were up and ready to play early (Tuesday morning)," said Coverstone. "But, everybody had to deal with that. I have no complaints about the course. They did a great job getting the course ready."
The par 5, 569-yard 15th hole was closed and was replaced by a par-3 hole from a third set of nine holes. Because of the substitution hole, even par was 70, 36 on the front and 34 on the back.
The top nine individuals, excluding those who advance on a team, as well as those within four strokes of the leader, qualified for today's second round.
Among the individuals who completed all 18 holes, Crown Point freshman Nick Grubnich and Marian junior Adam Sumrall turned in 3 under 67s Tuesday. Cathedral's Corey Ziedonis finished his 18 holes today, shooting a course-low 65.
One area golfer that competed in Tuesday's first-round action and did know his fate when he woke up today was Triton senior T.J. Carpenter, who failed to qualify for second-round action.
Carpenter, who teed off nearly three-and-a-half hours after he was originally schedule to, turned in a 73.
When play was suspended, he was tied for 28th. Once all the golfers came in today, Carpenter's 73 left him in a tie for 25th.
Carpenter bogeyed five of the last six holes on the front nine and made the turn after shooting a 40. He gathered himself on the back nine, shooting 1 under on the final nine holes.
What hampered Carpenter on the front nine were a couple putts that stopped just short of the pin.
"He's usually pretty automatic from six feet and in," said Triton coach Jack Carpenter, T.J.'s uncle. "He just didn't look comfortable today. It could have been nerves. He could have been tense. When he looks back on it, he'll look at holes 7, 8 and 9 as the ones that gave him trouble. He had two very bad approach shots on 8 and 9."
Even with his struggles on the front nine, Carpenter had a chance to cut some strokes on the back nine and have a shot at advancing.
"I'm very proud of him," said Carpenter. "He could have hung his head after going 4 over on the front. He fought back, that was nice to see."
CATHEDRAL 274, AVON 289, LAFAYETTE JEFF 299, NORTHRIDGE 300, WAWASEE 301, MISHAWAKA MARIAN 302, NOBLESVILLE 303, CHESTERTON 303, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 304, BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 305, PROVIDENCE 306, CENTER GROVE 308, JASPER 309, LAPORTE 311, LEBANON 312, YORKTOWN 313, EVANSVILLE NORTH 315, WEST LAFAYETTE 317, MADISON 318, TERRE HAUTE SOUTH 319, CONCORD 325
(Indiana State Finals, Opening Round, Legend of Indiana, Par 70)
Cathedral (274) - Corey Ziedonius 65, Henry Plager 70, Brad Gehl 71, Jason Seward 68, Kevin Bowen 80
Avon (289) - Ronald Harris 75, Andrew Wegeng 74, Patrick Rogers 70, Bryan Whitt 70, David Janney 81
Laf. Jeff (299) - Jacob Yocum 74, Brian Wolpert 74, Jacob Wagner 74, Ryan Williamson 77, Ben Beutler 82
Northridge (300) - Zac Henderson 73, Nathan Smith 70, David Long 80, Andy Morrison 82, Collin Roberts 77
Wawasee (301) - Rees Woodcock 80, Curtis Coverstone 74, Jordan Dawes 73, Michael Jenkins 74, John Kirkwood 81
Marian (302) - Adam Sumrall 67, Stephen Sexton 78, Bryant Demeter 80, Nicholas Fitzpatrick 77, Daniel McShane 83
Noblesville (303) - Marc Ricafort 70, Jackson Van Meter 81, Charles Castino 77, John Norton 75, Evan Steger 82
Chesterton (303) - Kyle Grassel 74, Josh Kalita 79, Ryan Grassel 68, Nick Stasil 82, Steve Wuletich 89
Hamilton SE (304) - Wesley Bowman 75, Grant Braden 81, Christopher Schwager 77, Will Kleinrichert 78, Parker Sheppard 74
Top 25 Individuals - Corey Ziedonia (Cathedral) 65, Nick Grubnich (Crown Point) 67, Adam Sumrall (Marian) 67, Ryan Grassel (Chesterton) 68, Jason Seward (Cathedral) 68, Chase Wright (Delta) 69, Tyler Duncan (Columbus North) 70, David Erdy (Castle) 70, Alex Jones (Center Grove) 70, Aaron Monson (Perry Meridian) 70, Kyle Perry (Bloom. South) 70, Trey Pfund (Providence) 70, Henry Plager (Cathedral) 70, Marc Ricafort (Noblesville) 70, Patrick Rogers (Avon) 70, Nathan Smith (Northridge) 70, Bryan Whitt (Avon) 70, McCormick Clouser (Norwell) 71, Brad Gehl (Cathedral) 71, Drew Hrvatin (Evansville Reitz) 71, Al Jennings (Homestead) 71, John Paul Hyden (Jennings Co.) 72, Joshua Ruff (Winamac) 72, Justin Tereshko (Madison) 72, Brett Barnes (Marion) 73, Nick Bennett (Bloom. South) 73, T.J. Carpenter (Triton) 73, Jordan Dawes (Wawasee) 73, Andrew Frandsen (Lebanon) 73, Zac Henderson (Northridge) 73, Patrick Kundenreich (Yorktown) 73, Justin Leibering (Jasper) 73, Mark Stinson (Liberty Christian) 73
