For the second straight year North Montgomery’s Boys’ Golf team is headed to the regional. The Chargers placed third in the 11 team meet at Harrison Hills in Attica.
As has been the case nearly all season, Neal Jeffery paced North Montgomery with a solid 77. Jeffery was happy the team advanced, but he believed he could have done better than his top three individual finish.
“Our team battled and did some good work,” Jeffery said. “We knew we had to play well to advance against good competition. I played as well as I could despite not hitting the ball very well today,” Jeffery said. “I had to rely on my wedge game and putting. But I am happy to place third individually.”
Charger Coach Rob Ryker watched his team advance to the next level for the second consecutive year. Last year the team placed second and advanced to the regional which was the first time North Montgomery had advanced out of the sectional for 17 years.
“I am proud of the way our guys battled today and we had a great front side,” Ryker said. “We gave up some shots on the backside but we are happy to survive and advance to next week.”
Other Charger scores were Alex Chapman 84, Rohen Barnes 90, Kelby Harwood 91. Becket Martin missed the cut with a 92.
Southmont finished the day in seventh place with a team score of 370. The Mounties were led by sophomore Austin Foley who carded a 78 which placed him in second place among individuals and allowed him to advance to the Regional.
Foley was pleased with his score along with advancing to next Saturday’s second round of the state tournament.
“I feel good about my score today,” Foley said. “I struggled on the greens. It seemed the greens could not hold anything which meant I had a lot of three putts. But I am happy to be playing next week.”
Southmont’s other scorers were Jesse Smith 91, Cole Rhoads 98, Jacob Fox 103 and James Clester with a 104.
Mountie Coach Bill Whalen was not surprised with his team’s performance because it lined up with their recent scores heading into the sectional. Whalen took a moment to praise Foley.
“We would have to have played our best to move on,” Whalen said. “Austin did a great job. He has gotten much better and he has the ability to compete with anyone next weekend.”
Crawfordsville finished in eighth place by shooting a team score of 382. Tanner Gilland finished second in individual scoring and will advance to the regional. Gilland shot a blistering 80. Other Athenian scores were Braxton Smith 88, Thomas Bowling 104, Henry Hoard 110 and Cam Dowden 110.
Crawfordsville coach Tom Perkins was pleased Gilland was able to advance to the regional.
“Tanner got off to a rough start on the front nine, but he did comeback on the back nine,” Perkins said. “Tanner shot well at Coyote Crossing last year and had the best score of any Montgomery County player.”
The Athenians were a young team this year and Perkins is expecting to see his team be more competitive next year.
“We started a freshman, a sophomore and of course Tanner will be back,” Perkins said. “But I am happy with what we did today. You know, sometimes the shots don’t reflect how hard the kids are trying. The effort was there. I am happy with the season and the kids had fun.”
With the complete Charger team along with Foley and Gillan, Montgomery County will be represented by seven qualifiers at Saturday’s regional being played at Coyote Crossing in West Lafayette.
Tri-West won the team title with a 321 team score. Bruin senior Landon Gardner was the meet medalist with a score of 71.
Parke Heritage placed second with a team score of 324.
Fountain Central concluded their season by placing fifth overall with a 362. Jaylin Payne and Wes Jackson both shot 86’s and missed making the Regional by a single stroke. Brayden Prickett shot a 94 with Kam Krug shooting a 96 and Ayden Donaldson a 102.
