WINONA LAKE - Hosting the Northern Lakes Conference Championships at Stonehenge Golf Club Saturday, the 13th-ranked Warsaw Tigers wrapped up a conference title.
Getting through the conference season at 7-0, the Tigers shot a 308 in the NLC match, winning the 2010 crown outright."We're doing pretty well," Warsaw coach Ben Barkey said. "We shot a 308 today, and I think we're all happy with that. The good thing about this young, competitive group is they all know they can do better. That's fun to see as a coach."
Showing the balance of the team, which has one senior, three juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen on its complete roster, the top score was a 74, with the highest being an 81.
That 74 was achieved by sophomore Tyler Ostrom, who won a three-player playoff with Wawasee's Anthony Gagliano and Concord's Scott Ladehoff to take home medalist honors.
"He's definitely one of the better players in the conference," Barkey said about Ostrom. "We feel like we have a lot of great players at Warsaw. All these young guys that played today have a bright future ahead."
After all three players entered the clubhouse with a 74 on the par-71 course, they all returned to the 18th tee to play the playoff.
Ostrom won the tournament with a birdie on the par-5 hole, sinking a 12-foot putt to get the win.
"I really hit my driver and 3-wood well today, and I putted well too," Ostrom said. "I didn't hit my iron all that well, but my driving really kept me in play, as well as my putting."
Gagliano finished the playoff hole in five strokes, finishing in third place in the final standings.
"A 74 is a great round here, so you wouldn't expect that out of anybody," Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone said about Gagliano's round. "He's just gotten better and better all year. He's got a great attitude and is always upbeat. He's a great player and could do this all the time, really."
Warsaw's 308 was seven strokes better than second-place Northridge, while Wawasee finished third with a 321.
The 321 was good enough for third in the conference match, and when Wawasee returns to Stonehenge June 5 for the Warsaw Sectional, a third-place finish would advance the Warriors on to regional play.
"We'll take 321 in a heartbeat two weeks from now in the sectional," Coverstone said.
Along with Gagliano's third-place finish, Wawasee's John Kirkwood finished 11th with a 79, followed by Derek Zurcher's 81 and George Adamaitis' 87.
For Warsaw, freshman Tim Ahlersmeyer followed Ostrom's score with a 77, accompanied by senior Kal Denlinger's 78 and junior Eric Tandy's 79.
Freshman Jon Schram's 81 rounded out the Warsaw scoring, which had all five finish in the top 13, demonstrating just how even the Tigers' scores can be.
"It's a good problem to have," Barkey said about having to decide which players play on the varsity any given match. "The good thing is, these guys have played a lot of tournaments, played a lot of holes together. It's nice to have that depth. It's nice to have a great group of kids that can understand what roles they play."
Warsaw's five players on Saturday helped the team nab a conference title, but that doesn't mean it will be the same five for the sectional.
"We've still got two matches at home and an 18-hole tournament before the sectional," Barkey said. "There's a lot that can happen. As anyone who's played golf knows, it's a roller coaster with a lot of ups-and-downs. Our strength is, if anyone does struggle someone else can step up."
Warsaw's next match is Wednesday at Stonehenge against Fort Wayne Luers and Fort Wayne Dwenger, when they'll look to keep their unblemished record in tact.
"We had high expectations," Ostrom said about how they guys felt entering the season. "We still have a lot of room to improve and get better, but we're undefeated. We're the first Warsaw team since coach Barkey's been here to go undefeated in the regular season. That's pretty exciting."
