Sean Hogan chips up on No. 7 at McCormick Creek Monday night. (Photos by James Costello)

NAPPANEE — Conditions for NorthWood’s three-way match with Culver Military and Mishawaka Marian were challenging Monday, but not for the reasons you might think.

If the Panthers’ home course seemed a little unfamiliar to them, it was because the conditions were, well, better. There was still a bit of wind, but the sun was shining, and the course was finally dry, leaving greens faster than golfers have become accustomed to over a miserable first part of the spring season.

NorthWood carded a decent 169, well ahead of Marian’s 204 but still seven strokes shy of CMA’s 162 at McCormick Creek.

“That was different than what we’re used to,” said NorthWood coach Trevor Shields of Monday’s conditions. “That being said, we’ve still got to come out on our home course and play a little bit better and be a little bit more savvy with how we approach the course in certain spots. But it was different, and it was firm in spots to where if you weren’t careful you could hit the backside of some greens and even go out of bounds. Different, but I’ve got to get our guys prepared to adjust now and face some different conditions so that side of it is on me, too.”

The Panthers got a low-medalist round from number two Sean Hogan, who turned in a 3-over-par 39.

Hogan knocked in a pair of birdies on 4 and 6 — putting for a potential eagle on the par 4 fourth and chipping in on the par 3 sixth — but carded some big numbers on 5 and 8 to keep him from going really low Monday.

“It could’ve been a really fun day. He just had a couple errant shots on a couple holes that led to a double bogey in one case, so just had a couple swings that prevented him from going pretty low,” Shields said. “But overall still not a bad night for Sean.”

Randy Kauffman hits an iron off the fairway.

Coming off a strong turn at the Wawasee Invitational Saturday, Caleb Lung carded 42 for NorthWood, while Randy Kauffman came in a stroke back. Jacob Falk shot 45, and Micah Pippenger’s 47 was the Panthers’ fifth score in Nappanee.

While no one in CMA’s top five was able to match Bear’s 39, Michael Perea and Josh Bellin both carded 40, and Lake Genenbacher and Chase Frantti both shot 41 in an ultra-consistent performance for the Eagles’ lineup.

“They’ve posted some good numbers, and, yeah, they’re definitely a good team. It’s kind of one of those teams on our schedule that is a good gauge for us and one that we should’ve gotten,” said Shields of CMA. “Wish we would’ve, but credit to them, they came to our course and played very well.”

Charlie Graham shot Marian’s low round of 46, followed by Joey Balderas’ 48 and Thad Horvath’s 49. John Tordi and Evan Trippel both shot 61 to complete the Knights’ score.

CMA’s junior varsity also topped its three-way standings with a score of 194 led by Stefan Rasch’s 45. NorthWood’s JV finished two strokes behind, led by 48s from Keaton Kitson and Liam Hammond. Marian’s JV carded 252.

Jacob Falk wedges out of a sand bunker Monday.

The Panthers’ schedule now swings into full gear as they travel to the Jo Harris Shoot Out at Rozella tonight, then the Westfield State Invitational Saturday before playing two weeknight matches next week followed by the Culver Academies Tournament Saturday, May 12.

It’s a hectic slate but a pace the team is embracing.

“The positive is that hopefully the weather has turned, and that’s when we want to play. The downside is lack of practice time so sometimes we feel like we have to coach on the fly a little bit, which makes it a challenge,” Shields said. “But our May is definitely full so the practice time that we do get, we just really have to utilize and find some things for us as coaches that can flip us in the right direction. We seem to have one or two scores out of our top five that are where we could and should be, so now we’ve just got to kind of get it to where we all play well on the same night. That’s our challenge from here. It’ll be fun.”