Tigers Take League Tourney Title On Links
MIDDLEBURY – The Class of 2015 for the Warsaw boys golf program knows a thing or two or in this case three about winning the conference tournament title.
The Tigers used a strong push at the end Saturday to overtake Northridge to claim the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament championship at the Meadow Valley Golf Club.
Warsaw shot a 320 on a warm and sun-drenched day to top the host Raiders by two shots on their home course.
Coach Ben Barkey’s outstanding program has now won three NLC tourney titles in the last four years.
The Tigers, who tied Northridge atop the regular-season league standings at 6-1, also claim the overall conference title.
The Warsaw lineup features four seniors in Jonny Hollar, Brandon Eckert, Ryan Cultice and Reid Cameron to go with sophomore Michael Jensen.
“This is the third NLC tourney in four years for this senior class and that is really special,” said Barkey. “For the Hollar and Cultice families, it’s six out of the last seven.”
Jonny’s older brother Bennett was a former standout player for the Tigers. Evan Cultice, Ryan’s older brother, also was a key member on past NLC championship teams.
Eckert led the champions with a round of 77. Hollar, a four-year varsity performer, shot a 79 from the No. 1 spot in the lineup. Both Cultice and Jensen came in at 82 for the Tigers.
“We were very consistent,” noted Barkey. “The last few holes when everyone was tired, our guys maintained their consistency and finished strong at the end. Northridge was ahead of us until like the last three holes.
“It’s always great to beat one of the best teams (Northridge) on their home course. That’s not an easy thing to do and should be a good confidence boost for our guys.”
Barkey saw his team win after a tough loss by four shots to Wawasee, 159-163, on the Warriors’ home course at South Shore on Thursday night in the NLC regular-season finale.
“Our goal was to finish first today,” remarked Barkey. “We had a calmer practice Friday and did not come here to play a practice round. We felt comfortable on this course because our guys had played it before and I wanted them to come in with their batteries recharged for today.”
Wawasee had a strong day with Jeffrey Moore having an outstanding effort. The senior shot a 73 to tie Alec Dutkowski of NorthWood for low man honors. Dutkowski then won a playoff to earn individual medalist honors.
“I just tried to go out today and do my best,” said Moore. “My chipping helped me out a lot and I had good confidence putting after the first few holes. I had my ups and downs today, but I’m pretty happy.”
The Warriors, who finished in third place with a 325, also got a strong effort from Tristen Atwood as he shot a 78.
“Both Jeffrey and Tristen finished well and we’re pretty happy with them,” said Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone. “Overall we played pretty well. We moved up to finish third overall in the conference. We were right in there today. We still had a few big numbers, but we will keep working on that.”
Mason Germonprez finished with an 86 for Wawasee. Both Cal Heinisch and Kaleb Perry shot 88 for the Warriors.
Warsaw topped the team standings with its 320. Northridge shot 322 with Wawasee third at 325. NorthWood was fourth at 327, followed by Plymouth (331), Elkhart Memorial (351), Goshen (352) and Concord (358).
Tom Morrison led Northridge with a 76. Ben Schenk was low man for Plymouth with an 81, while Mike Foy paced Memorial with a 75. Peyton Kime shot 78 to lead his Concord team and Michael Chupp came in with an 84 as the top score for Goshen.
Northridge won the league tourney last year with a 305 at the Christiana Creek Country Club in Elkhart. The Tigers, who had Hollar, Eckert, Cultice and Jensen in their lineup, was runner-up with a 327 in 2014.
The trio of Moore, Eckert and Hollar all earned All-NLC honors based on their performances Saturday. Also earning All-NLC honors were Dutkowski, Morrison, Foy, Keim and Reis Yoder of Plymouth. The duo of Cultice and Atwood were both All-NLC honorable mention selections.
Barkey and Brad Duerksen of NorthWood were honored as NLC Coaches of the Year.
Warsaw tops the final NLC standings with Northridge as runner-up. Wawasee finishes in third place, followed by Plymouth, NorthWood, Goshen, Elkhart Memorial and Concord.
Warsaw will host the Bob Turner Classic Tuesday at the Tippecanoe Lake Country Club in Leesburg. Wawasee will be among the teams in the field for the event.