With his grandfather in the hospital, Wawasee’s Tristen Atwood played with a heavy heart but shot a 37 to lead the Warriors in beating Warsaw on Tuesday evening. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

WARSAW – There is never any love lost when Warsaw and Wawasee meet up for an athletic contest on any surface. That sentiment holds true even on the golf course.

The two county rivals met up at Stonehenge Golf and Country Club on Tuesday night and it was the Wawasee golf team that got the better of its rival as the Warriors won on a tie-breaking fifth man score after both squads shot a 160.

“They cleaned our clock on our home course,” said Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey of his team’s opponent. “We shot a 160, that’s garbage. That’s awful for us. This course is gettable right now and for us to shoot a 160, that’s just trash.”

The Warsaw head coach certainly did not hide his disappointment after the final scores came in, but perhaps what frustrated Barkey even more was that his No. 1 golfer, Jonny Hollar, had a fantastic day. Hollar led all golfers by shooting a 33 on the par 35 back nine. But even with Hollar’s score, the Tigers were just not up to par with their home course, giving the Warriors a nice opening win in the Northern Lakes Conference season.

Jonny Hollar led all golfers with his 33 at Stonehenge.

“Give credit to Wawasee,” remarked Barkey. “They came out and shot well today, we can’t take anything away from them. Obviously everyone else in the conference will get giddy after seeing that Wawasee beat us, and if Wawasee beats NorthWood or Northridge, I’d be giddy too. It’s nothing against Wawasee, there’s upsets in sports, they came in here and took care of business on our home course.”

Hollar was clearly not phased by whatever threw off the rest of his team, but whatever seemed to be eating at the Tigers is something that will go unknown as Barkey had no answers for is team’s score.

“If I knew what caused this, I’d be a millionaire,” a perturbed Barkey added. “There’s just no excuse for this, none at all.”

After Hollar, Will Petro was the second lowest score for the Tigers with a 40. Brandon Eckert (43) and Evan Cultice (44) rounded out the top four scores for Warsaw. Michael Jensen’s 46 was the fifth score for Barkey’s team, but Wawasee’s fifth man, Rasmus Rich, got to play hero with a 44, giving Wawasee the tie-breaker it needed. But Rich was not the only Warrior to come up big on Tuesday evening.

Mason Germonprez golfed in the fourth spot for Wawasee but managed to turn in the team’s third lowest score with a 40. Cal Heinisch came in with a respectable 44 while Jeffrey Moore had yet another solid day with a 39.

Mason Germonprez shot a 40 on Tuesday night, a score that his coach singled out as being key in Wawasee’s win over rival Warsaw.

Tristen Atwood, playing with a heavy heart due to an illness in the family, did admirably in the No. 1 slot for Wawasee as he finished with a 37 after birdieing the final two holes of his round.

Seeing the whole team come together, finally, put a huge smile on Warrior head coach Steve Coverstone’s face.

“We’re thrilled,” said Coverstone. “Our guys played really well. Shooting a 160 here is very good for us. We know that anytime you can get a win against Warsaw, on any course, it is a big accomplishment.

“Warsaw is the big school on the block, they are good year in and year out. Coach Barkey has a great program here and you know that when you come to play Warsaw, on any course, that you are going against some of the best. That goes for the rest of the NLC, too. It is a tough conference and we have to stay focused on getting those NLC wins.”

Wawasee (9-1, 1-0 NLC) will play its only home NLC contest on Thursday night when Northridge and Goshen come to South Shore Golf Club in Syracuse for a 5 p.m. start. Warsaw will play host to Elkhart Memorial and Plymouth at Stonehenge on Thursday, also at 5 p.m.

In the junior varsity match it was Jacob Foster leading the JV Tigers to a 174-196 win over Wawasee. Foster led all golfers with a 39. Cameron Adams led the Wawasee JV with a 44.

Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey (left) looks on with Steve Hollar as Warsaw’s Jonny Hollar tees off on No. 18 on Tuesday night.