DARLINGTON — North Montgomery boys golf is in the midst of one it’s best seasons in school history. After winning the Covington Invite a week ago with a season best 333, the Chargers were now back on their home course at Rocky Ridge Saturday for the Sagamore Conference meet. History was made for the Chargers as they continued their impressive 2023 campaign. North Montgomery fired another season best 324 to earn their first ever Sagamore Conference title.
What’s been key to the Chargers success this season is the consistency they’ve shown up and down their lineup. Hayden Turner was the top golfer of the meet with a score of 76. Alex Chapman fired an 82 while Neal Jeffery and Drew Norman both carded 83’s. Haze Kashon rounded out the lineup for the SAC champion Chargers with an 88. Turner, Jeffery, Norman and Chapman all also earned 1st Team All-Conference honors while Kashon was named to the second team.
Charger coach Bob Ryker was all smiles and even received an ice bath from his team in the championship win.
“I’ve dreamed of this day for a very long time and this is just an awesome feeling,” Ryker said. “Everyone of these kids have worked extremely hard to get to this point. I push them really hard because I know they’re capable of doing this like this. I have great assistant coach in Scott Yeager and great support system that allows me to be with these kids. There’s a lot of thank you’s that need to be handed out to a lot of great people.
Ryker also dedicated the championship win to one of his best friends during his time at North Montgomery in Sam Jackman who passed away in 2017.
“We never got the chance to play high school golf together,” Ryker added. “Before I went to bed I told myself that this won was going to be for him if we won it.”
Southmont took home a third place finish with a score of 340. Both Austin Foley and Luke Tesmer led the way for the Mounties with 81’s. Nolan Allen carded an 83 while Harrison Haddock shot a 95.
Coach Bill Whalen first did give credit to the Chargers and talked about where his team stands with the final weeks of the season on the horizon.
“North had a heck of a round with a 324 and you have to tip your hat to Coach Ryker and their team,” Whalen said. “For us with exception of the Danville Invite, we haven’t been able to put four consistent scores together all year. We’re going to have a couple more chances here in the coming weeks with the county meet and then the sectional. But in those matches we’re going to see North int he county and then both North and Tri-West in the sectional so we have to be able to be more consistent down the stretch here.”
Foley, Allen, and Tesmer all made 1st Team All-Conference for the Mounties.
Crawfordsville continued to make progress on the links by shooting their season best 358. Sophomore Tanner Gilland placed third overall at the meet with an 80 for the Athenians. Hayden Jeffries shot an 89 with Braxton Smith ending his round with a 91. Thomas Bowling rounded out the scoring for CHS with a 98.
Cville coach Tom Perkins, as did Whalen, made sure to give credit to the Chargers in the championship win along with noting how he was satisfied with how his Athenians played.
“I’m happy with the way we shot today as we continue to show that we’re getting better each time out,” Crawfordsville coach Tom Perkins said. “It was our best score of the season by seven strokes. Tanner continues to be the anchor of our team with play and the rest of the guys are slowly catching up to him. Now we’re in full gear for the county and the sectional and we feel like we’ll be factors in both. From 1-5 North is really solid and that’s where we’re trying to get to. We’ve come a long way this season after losing two college caliber golfers (Luke Ranard & Landon Timmons) from a year ago.”
Gilland’s 80 earned him a spot on the All-Conference 1st team while Jeffries and Smith both made 2nd team.
While Ryker and his team are going to celebrate this well-deserved championship, he and his team know that there are still bigger goals out there remaining this season.
“These kids have their goals and do a great job of never settling,” Ryker concluded. “They know what our ultimate goals are and will go out and try to achieve it.”
The next big meet for all three county schools will be the county meet here in two weeks on May 25. Southmont will host the 18-hole meet at the Crawfordsville Country Club.
