Jeffrey Moore will hope to redeem himself after having a poor showing in last year’s regional. (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

WARSAW – The road to the 78th IHSAA Boys Golf State Finals goes through the Lake City as one of Indiana’s premier golf courses will play host to the Warsaw Regional this week.

Eighteen area teams and a crop of individual players will arrive at Stonehenge Golf and Country Club on Thursday with hopes of punching a ticket to the IHSAA State Finals next week at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin.

The top three teams in the regional, along with the top five individuals not on an advancing team, earn a spot at the State Finals set for June 17-18.

The Warsaw golf team once again qualified for the regional after taking second in last Friday’s sectional held at the Rozella Ford Golf Club.

The Tigers used a solid performance on the front nine to shoot a 308 to secure a spot at Stonehenge. Warsaw,  which will be shooting for its third straight regional championship and fourth in the last five years, will have a nice advantage over the other teams as Stonehenge is home for the Tigers throughout the regular season.

Will Petro and Jonny Hollar will undoubtedly be the focus for the Tigers as both played nice rounds in the sectional. Petro had the field’s second-lowest score with a 73 while Hollar finished with a 74. Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey knows his team will be facing a tough field on Thursday but remarked after the sectional about what Petro and Jonny mean to the team.

“For us, there is a lot of confidence that surrounds Will (Petro) and Jonny (Hollar),” said Barkey. “In order for us to do great things, they need to continue to play well. We’re excited with where their game is headed.”

Will Petro will be one of the top individual talents at Stonehenge on Thursday. (File phot by Nick Goralczyk)

Brandon Eckert and Ryan Cultice will have to play solid as well to help give the Tigers support on the back end of their lineup. Barkey also mentioned the importance of experience for his freshman golfer, Michael Jensen. Getting the regional experience as a freshmen will be a big stepping stone for Jensen moving forward. Jensen shot a respectable 81 at the sectional.

A player that received regional experience in his freshman season last year will get another shot at finding success this year.

Wawasee sophomore Jeffrey Moore will step on to the first tee at 9:10 a.m. on Thursday morning with the hope of making it a step further than last season. Moore shot a 75 at the sectional but knows he left a few strokes on the course and can do better at the regional level.

“I didn’t practice well last week,” said Moore. “Honestly, I didn’t take it seriously enough and I regret that. I had a bogey on 17 and let that effect my play on 18, which was bad. I have really dedicated myself more this week and have focused on concentrating and I feel a lot better going into the regional than I did for sectional. I feel much more confident than I did last year.”

Moore shot an 80 at the regional hosted by Stonehenge last season.

“I had six three-putts in last year’s regional,” Moore said with some disgust. “I am hoping I can walk away with a better story to tell this time around.”

Moore made it out of the sectional as one of three individual qualifiers at the Warsaw sectional. The

Brandon Eckert will need to have a successful day on the course to help Warsaw advance to the State Finals. (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

other two were also local players. Triton’s Greg Music finished with a 74 to secure a spot to represent the Trojans at the regional. Music will begin his day at 9:20 a.m. on the first tee.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Bryce Zimpelman was the highlight of a successful sectional round from the Vikings. Valley came in not expecting to shoot overly well but surprised itself with a score of 328 and a seventh place finish. While the Vikings did not advance, Zimpelman’s 76 put him in as the last individual qualifier. The junior missed the cut last season by one stroke and was ecstatic to get through and said he is looking forward to playing on a course he knows. Zimpelman will tee off at 10:20 a.m. on the first tee.

The field, as expected, will be much more daunting at the regional level than it was at the sectional.

Teams from five other sectionals will join up with the Tigers and the other Warsaw Sectional qualifiers (Columbia City and Culver Academies). Leo, Northridge, Fort Wayne Dwenger, Western and Mishawaka Marian are the other sectional champions to be featured at the regional. Dwenger, ranked No. 6 in the final poll, appears to be the favorite in the 18-team field.

Columbia City shot a 299, led by medalist Tyler Green’s 69 at Rozella last Friday. Only Homestead (299) and Dwenger (291) matched or bested that score on the sectional level.

Tom Morrison is Northridge’s No. 2 golfer and will need to have a big day to get his team past the daunting regional field.

Northridge shot a 313 to edge out NorthWood’s 314 at the Fairfield Sectional. The Raiders won both the Northern Lakes Conference regular season title and postseason championship. Will Erekson of the Raiders shot a 73 at the sectional but wowed fans at the conference meet with a 66. He will be an individual to keep an eye on.

Western won a weak Peru Sectional with some ease but has a nice No. 1 golfer in Tyler White. Penn lost the South Bend Riley Sectional by two strokes to Mishawaka Marian but will certainly factor in as one of the top teams at the regional.

Warsaw shot 305 a year ago to claim the regional title. The Tigers tied Triton, but won the team championship on a fifth-man tiebreaker score. Dwenger took third place in 2013 with a 309.  Hollar shot a round of 81 and Petro came in with an 82 a year ago for the hosts.

John Glenn’s Tyler Prentkowski enters the regional with the lowest individual score as he was medalist at the Riley Sectional with a 68. Zach Gurntner (LaVille), Broc Maurer (Jimtown), John Stack (Fairfield and Michael Sharp (East Noble) are all individuals to watch for on Thursday.

Warsaw will be accompanied by players from NorthWood, Penn and East Noble on Thursday. Jensen will start the day out for the Tigers as he tees off on the tenth tee at 9 a.m. followed by Eckert, Cultice, Petro and Hollar.