All three Montgomery County teams plus Fountain Central were at the Crawfordsville Country Club on Saturday for the annual Southmont Invite. Amidst cold and windy conditions the four area teams braced the elements as Crawfordsville came in as the defending champions with the Mounties and Chargers looking to knock them off.
When the final scores were tallied the Mounties came in second place with a 343. North Montgomery was just a seven strokes behind them with a 350 as they took third. Crawfordsville earned a sixth place finish shooting a 367 while the Mustangs placed eighth with a 413.
Sophomore Tanner Gilland for the Athenians earned medalist honors of the meet shooting a 76.
“Tanner has a solid round in some tough weather,” Crawfordsville coach Tom Perkins said. “He was booming it off the tee and his short game gave him a lot of birdie opportunities. He’s our leader and is making the guys around him work harder. Overall we were 23 strokes better than last Saturday so we’re seeing progress.”
Scores for the Athenians including Gilland’s 76 were Braxton Smith’s 93, Hayden Jeffries 98 and Carter Truax’s 100.
Southmont was led by Nolan Allen’s 83. Austin Foley carded an 84 with Luke Tesmer and Harrison Haddock both shooting an 88’s.
With the talent that the Mounties have, Southmont coach Bill Whalen has been a little disappointed with how his team has performed so far this season with them having high expectations.
“I told them that I thought we should have shot in the 320’s,” Whalen said. “Anything in that range would have been acceptable to me. It’s a little confusing because last Saturday we went out and shot a 329 and come back to our home course and shoot 14 strokes worse. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s mental more than talent. We have four guys who should be shooting 80 or below and it’s just not happening right now.”
North Montgomery was led by Hayden Turner and Neal Jeffery’s 87’s. Alex Chapman shot a 92 while Drew Norman rounded out the scoring for the Chargers with a 95.
“I think mentally we lost the tournament,” Charger coach Bob Ryker said of his team’s performance. “I wasn’t happy with how we played and neither were the guys. We beat all most of those teams last week except for Southmont. I get it the conditions weren’t great, but we’ve practiced in them so there’s no excuse there. Was just a really frustrating day.”
Fountain Central’s Jaylin Payne led the way for FC with a 91 while Wes Jackson finished right behind him firing a 92. Kam Krug carded a 98 while Lincoln Hoffa shot a 132.
Tri-West won the tournament with a 334.
All four teams are back in action this week. Crawfordsville is at Tri-West this evening for a three-team meet with the Bruins and Lebanon. The Mounties and Mustangs will compete against each other this evening back at the Country Club. The Chargers will be back on the links on Tuesday when they host Covington.
