WARSAW — As the low flying clouds continued to spit on the windswept hills of Stonehenge Country Club Friday during the Warsaw Boys Golf Sectional, settlement of indecision reigned. A course that was bone dry on Wednesday and even into Thursday afternoon’s practice round for the tournament became soggy and miserable throughout the dreary round.

The first group of teams had host Warsaw and Triton both post 323s in a crisply played round. The remainder of the day’s teams and individuals offered their latest to the golf gods, but took nearly nine hours to officially decide the complete fate of the sectional.

Warsaw would claim the title, winning on a fifth-man score which became the ownership of Bennett Hollar’s 87 to Triton’s Lucas Shafer and his 100. The third team to advance, Culver Academy, at least played nice with its 338, outscoring Plymouth and Wawasee’s collective 347s. Two Warriors and one Pilgrim – Derek Zurcher and Luke Jackson from Wawasee and John Ruff of Plymouth – had to head back to the 18th tee to decide the final advancing individual after finishing with 83s. Joining them on the tee were Tyler Ostrom of Warsaw and Nate Kolter of Plymouth, also needing an extra hole to decide the medalist as both shot 76s.

Ruff would claim the final ticket to the Homestead Regional, using a 40-foot chip-in from the fringe after blasting his third shot over the green. Jackson hit his third shot short of the green, taking him out of the running while Zurcher had a chance to match Ruff, but sent his final attempt scooting past the hole.

Ostrom was able to survive the playoff with a par while Kolter could not match, placing Ostrom in familiar territory as a match medalist.

“I wasn’t really worried about individual stuff today, it was about the team,” Ostrom said. “Our goal was to win, and we did that. Getting that sectional title under our belt heading into regional is nice. Last year we were a little disappointed not winning the sectional and with how we played. We played well enough today to win.”

The conditions overall showed in the scoring, noticeably in Warsaw’s tally. While Ostrom had a 76 and Jon Schram fired a 77, Tim Ahlersmeyer finished with an 84 and Jonny Hollar had an 86. Triton had a 77 from Quentyn Carpenter, as did Chandler Slone golfing in the five spot whom normally golfs as the number two. Ryan Rapp concluded with an 84 and Tanner Shepherd was one back of Rapp. Bennett’s 87, while not how he planned his final sectional run as a senior, still had a taste of sweet redemption as the sectional trophy moved back to Warsaw from Bourbon, where it stood after Triton’s 2011 sectional triumph.

“It feels good to win this year,” Hollar said. “It feels good to kind of get back at (Triton). Last year it made me mad, it made all of us mad that we lost. We didn’t play as well as we wanted, and I know the conditions were bad, but we still expect to play our best.”

Culver Academy, playing its trademark consistent golf among its ranks, had an 83 from Davis Payne and 85s from Bailey Roubos, Logan Joseph and Ben Sharff to join Warsaw and Triton at Orchard Ridge for the Homestead Regional. Culver Community’s Trent Elliott shot an 82 and will also continue on in the tournament as an individual.

Wawasee and Tippecanoe Valley, which both golfed with the Academy in the second pairing, fell short of expectations. Valley finished with a 375, led by Teddy Shepherd’s 92. Wawasee, which was 0-21 in matchups against the top five teams in the sectional this season, had the two 83s from Zurcher and Jackson as well as a an 89 from Tristen Atwood and 92 from Mason Germonprez, both freshmen. Dylan Cousins fell apart on the back nine and concluded with a 100.

“I thought we actually played pretty well today,” began Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone immediately after Wawasee’s rounds. “We have two guys playing to advance, and two freshmen who have never been in this type of environment.
“Derek and Luke both played solid, 83s on this course in these conditions is excellent.”

Whitko had an 89 from Danny Zawlocki, but did not contend Friday, posting a 196 at the turn and not faring any better on the back nine.

For the Tigers, Friday’s team victory gives the school its 25th sectional title and primes themselves for Homestead and Orchard Ridge, a familiar course for Warsaw but one that has given plenty of confident teams reasons to shutter.

“In my 10 years, this is definitely the toughest weather conditions we have played in,” started Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey. “I talked to Fred Hasse at CMA, who has been coaching for 40 years, and asked him where this ranks. He said this is the worst. That says a lot.
“Considering everything, we didn’t play as well as we would have liked, but it’s a good day when you play your ‘C’ game and still are able to win. But that’s why we love sports, for that drama.”

Triton is playing in its fourth consecutive regional, and not just happy to be there. Friday’s performance had head coach Jack Carpenter excited to continue against another set of challenges.

“Our goal was to be in the top three and move on,” Carpenter said. “We knew it was going to take a Herculean effort to get past Warsaw. And they obviously didn’t play as well as they normally do on their home course, but nonetheless our kids had to do something special to beat them. And we almost did.”

Play at Orchard Ridge will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, with the same stipulations as the sectional, top three teams and top three individuals not from an advancing team will make the state finals, to begin play on June 12 at the Legends Golf Club in Franklin. The state championship round is June 13 also at Legends.

WARSAW BOYS GOLF SECTIONAL – STONEHENGE COUNTRY CLUB (PAR 71)
Warsaw 323* – Win on fifth man score
Triton 323
Culver Academy – 338
Plymouth – 347*
Wawasee – 347
Columbia City – 361
Tippecanoe Valley – 375
Manchester – 392
Wabash – 394
Northfield – 399
Whitko – 401
Bremen – 402
Southwood – 417
Culver Community – No score

Warsaw
Tyler Ostrom – 76
Jon Schram – 77
Tim Ahlersmeyer – 84
Bennett Hollar – 87
Jonny Hollar – 86

Triton
Quentyn Carpenter – 77
Ryan Rapp – 84
Tanner Shepherd – 85
Lucas Shafer – 100
Chandler Slone – 77

Plymouth
Nate Kolter – 76
John Ruff – 83
Ben Schenk – 95
Zach Craft – 93
Patrick Felke – 98

Wawasee
Derek Zurcher – 83
Dylan Cousins – 100
Tristen Atwood – 89
Luke Jackson – 83
Mason Germonprez – 92

Tippecanoe Valley
Kevin Summe – 94
Teddy Shepherd – 92
Tanner Neeley – 96
Bryce Zimpelman – 96
Ben Shriver – 109

Culver Academy
Davis Payne – 83
John Connelly – 91
Bailey Roubos – 85
Logan Joseph – 85
Ben Sharff – 85

Manchester
Tyler Watson – 85
Aaron Johnson – 106
Austin Whitaker – 102
Connor Eichenauer – 101
Xavier Whitaker – 104

Columbia City
Drew Burnsworth – 94
Drew Benedict – 93
Max Dyer – 84
Dustin Parrett – 93
Trent Murphy – 91

Whitko
Josh Busenbark – 96
Colton LeTourneau – 96
Danny Zawlocki – 89
Cole Bechtold – 121
Matt Hathaway – 120

Wabash
Jack Leland – 94
Jordan Blair – DQ
Parker Harner – 102
Justin Middleton – 98
Andrew Adamson – 100

Northfield
Trae Cole – 88
Zac Zumbaugh – 96
Andrew Eckerly – 103
Austin Burns – 112
Eric Foltz – 118

Southwood
Levi Winget – 96
Drew Roser – 105
Taylor Arwood – 110
John Shaw – 106
Aaron Parson – 113

Bremen
Kevin Woodyard – 90
Micah Knoblock – 101
Nate Strehler – 102
Sky Allen – 109
Brad Foster – 114

Culver Community
Cody Peterson – 123
Trent Elliott – 82
Zach Duplay – DNP
Luke Dunfee – DNP
Joe Krsek – DNP