The Southmont boys’ golf team won its eight-team golf invitational at the Crawfordsville Country Club on Saturday with a low score of 348. Crawfordsville was fourth with 366, Fountain Central was sixth with a 396 and North Montgomery eighth with a 423.
“I told the kids that if we shoot 350, I’ll be happy,” Southmont coach Bill Whalen said. “That’s our goal, and we came in and shot 348. Feels like every goal I set for them so far, they keep.”
Southmont sophomore Nolan Allen was the co-medalist with a 79, while senior Micah Korhorn fired an 81 to help lead the Mounties. Harrison Haddock fired a 91, Luke Tesmer a 97, and Carson McKinney a 100.
The tournament featured six Sagamore Conference teams and five local sectional teams, giving the Mounties a promising start to what Whalen hopes will be a successful season.
“They’re playing well, but there’s still a lot of strokes we are leaving out there. This team has a lot of promise, and we are just getting started,” he added.
Junior Luke Ranard led the Athenians with an 82. Hayden Jeffries fired a 90, Landon Timmons and Braxton Smith each shot 90, and Landon Hurt a 110.
“We had high expectations,” Crawfordsville coach Tom Perkins said. “We wish we would have done better, but it is what is. I’m not disappointed, because the kids work hard and they want to do well. In golf you’re not trying to play badly, sometimes you just don’t have a good day.”
Perkins knows what his team is capable of and is confident they’ll get there as they progress through the season.
“We are consistently inconsistent putting, especially from short distance. We just have to clean it up around the greens and hit the shots we are capable of. And for a lot of the guys right now it’s a mental thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of season left, and we are looking at the county, conference, and sectional, and we are just trying to gear up for those things.”
Hayden Turner led a young Chargers team with a 97, while Alex Chapman fired a 101, and Drew Norman a 108. Thomas Fritzen fired a 117 and Landon Birge a 131.
“There wasn’t a lot of play last summer from our guys and I’m basically starting with a new complete roster, so just to get them out is good,” North Montgomery coach Nick Johnosn said. “I’m starting to see improvements in their game. It might be slow, but we are starting to see improvements and that’s what we are trying to build on for the rest of the year.”
Jacob Keeling led the Mustangs with a 91, while Wesley Jackson shot a 100, Nathan Summers a 102 and Cody Linville a 103. Carter Merryman fired a 108.
