NAPPANEE - The Wawasee Warriors got a little lucky Saturday at McCormick Creek Golf Course in Nappanee.
Entering the Northern Lakes Conference match with a 7-0 regular season record against conference foes, the Warriors were in the driver's seat for a title. However, finishing third at the match, the Warriors still got a share of the crown, benefiting from a scoring error.In order to determine a conference champion, eight points are given to the regular season champion, with seven going to second place, six to third and so on to eighth place. With those points squared away, points are then given for conference match placings, with the top team taking eight, seven to second place and so on, determining the overall champion. With the points combined, the champion is then named.
At the conference match, the home team, NorthWood, finished with a 315, winning the match, with Northridge taking second with 316 and Wawasee third with 321. Because Wawasee won the regular season, and Northridge came in second, the two teams split the 2008 title.
"We knew we had to stay within one place of Northridge, because they were second in the regular season," Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone said.
"We're just thrilled to be able to stay within one place of Northridge, and get the tie for the conference," he added.
Northridge actually could have taken the title outright, but David Long's scorecard was called into question, drawing a disqualification of his 82. Because his score was thrown out, Northridge had to use a fifth-man score, which was an 83.
In the end, that one stroke gave NorthWood the win.
If Long's score had stood, the two teams would have tied at 315, with Northridge winning because NorthWood's fifth-man score was a 94 and Northridge's would have been an 83.
But as it was, Wawasee benefited, coming out on top of a conference stacked with talent.
"We usually have two or three teams down at state," Coverstone said of the NLC. "Our conference in golf is really good."
NorthWood's Eric Hartstein finished the course with a 69 on a windy day, followed by Northridge's Zac Henderson, who finished with a 70.
"Those are outstanding scores," Coverstone said. "They deserve first and second, and we're darn lucky to get third."
Wawasee's low-scorer was a 77, shot by Jordan Dawes, followed by Curtis Coverstone and John Kirkwood, both shooting an 81.
"The guys had a rough day," Coverstone said. "It was tough right from the first tee, and we didn't have our best day. Jordan did well with a nice 37 on the back nine.
"Primarily, our difficulty today was around the greens," he added.
Warsaw finished the day with a 333, good for sixth place.
"Our expectations coming in were a little bit better than this," Warsaw coach Ben Barkey said. "Even with the tough conditions, we thought we'd play better than we did. When you struggle against a good field, you're gonna end up falling down the leaderboard and that's what happened today."
Eric Tandy shot a 78 for the Tigers, earning him all-conference honors.
"It was great to get Eric Tandy all-conference," Barkey said. "He did an outstanding job out there."
Joining Tandy on the all-conference team were Dawes and Coverstone of Wawasee, with Warriors Rees Woodcock and Michael Jenkins getting voted on to the honorable mention team.
As far as coach of the year goes, that went to Wawasee's head man.
"It's all about the kids," Coverstone said. "If you don't have the kids that can play golf, you don't get coach of the year."
Wawasee and Warsaw still have a few nonconference matches to go before sectional play, but they'll be used primarily for preparation for the postseason.
"We work for consistency," Barkey said. "We've got two weekends until sectionals, and that's what we're building for. We'll see what happens in two weeks. Anything can happen."
Wawasee takes its 16-1 record to Columbia City today for a 4:30 p.m. match. Warsaw's next match will be Wednesday, hosting Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and Fort Wayne Dwenger at 4:30 p.m. at Stonehenge Golf Club.
Team Scores - NorthWood 315, Northridge 316, Wawasee 321, Goshen 325, Concord 329, Warsaw 333, Plymouth 361, Elkhart Memorial 370
(NLC Match, McCormick Creek G.C., Par 72)
Top 15 - 1. Eric Hartstein (NW) 69, 2. Zac Henderson (Nr) 70, 3. Jordan Dawes (Waw) 77, 4. Eric Tandy (War) 78, 5. Collin Chapman (G) 78, 6. Matt Nafziger (G) 80, 7. Andy Morrison (Nr) 80, 8. Brady Klotz (NW) 81, 9. Curtis Coverstone (Waw) 81, 10. John Kirkwood (Waw) 81, 11. Austen Burkholder (NW) 81, 12. Greg Lebold (C) 81, 13. Bryant Reese (P) 81, 14. (tie) Rees Woodcock (Waw), Scott Ladehoff (C), Leo Ladehoff (C) 82
NorthWood (315) - Hartstein 69, Klotz 81, Burkholder 81, Jordan Taylor 84, Mike Bough 94
Northridge (316) - Henderson 70, Nathan Smith 83, David Long DQ, Morrison 80, Collin Roberts 83
