Warsaw Golfers Hope To Take Advantage On Home Course
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
As cliché as it sounds, Warsaw boys golf coach Ben Barkey believes his team has an advantage with Thursday’s regional being played at Stonehenge. The Tigers play their home matches on the difficult, long, Scottish-style links course. And Warsaw’s veteran coach thinks Stonehenge’s length and difficulty will be an issue for some of the 18 teams, but not his. “We’re very familiar with the course,” said Barkey, whose team is looking for its third-straight regional championship, fourth in five years, and ninth overall for the program. “We know where we can score well and where we need to be careful. It’s nice to have that confidence going into the regional.” The top three teams Thursday, as well as the top three indivuduals not on an advancing team, qualify for the state finals. The state finals are scheduled for June 17-18 at The Legends in Franklin. This is the last year the state finals will be at the The Legends, where Warsaw won the 2005 state championship, and Barkey would love nothing more than for his team to advance for the ninth time in his 12 years. Next year’s state finals will be held at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. “I feel good about our chances,” said Barkey. “We’re playing the regional on our home course, which I think is definitely an advantage. We’re also playing our best golf right now, which is what you want in the tournament.” The Tigers advanced to Thursday’s regional with a runner-up score of 308 in Friday’s sectional at Rozella Ford. Columbia City won the Warsaw Sectional with a 299, while Culver Military Academy grabbed the last regional berth with a third-place score of 310. Warsaw’s four-man sectional score of 308 included Will Petro’s runner-up medalist round of 73, Jonny Hollar’s 74, Brandon Eckert’s 78 and a pair of 83s from Ryan Cultice and Michael Jensen. Three other local teams will be represented at Thursday’s regional with an individual. Triton’s Greg Music qualified with a 74 at the sectional, while Wawasee’s Jeffrey Moore and Tippecanoe Valley’s Bryce Zimpleman advanced with a 75 and 76, respectively. Among the 18 teams playing at Stonehenge are sixth-ranked Bishop Dwenger, Homestead, Canterbury, Leo, East Noble, Carroll, Northridge, NorthWood, Fairfield, Marian, Penn, Glenn, Western, Kokomo and Peru. While he believes his team can win, Barkey said another team is the favorite. “Bishop Dwenger is definitely the favorite,” said Barkey. “They’re very deep and consistent, moreso than the other teams. I’d say they’re definitely the favorite, but there’s some other teams in the regional that are very good. You just have to show up and play your game.”
