Jeffrey Moore hits onto the green on No. 1 at South Shore during Thursday’s win over Warsaw. Moore was the medalist with a 37. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – The unpredictability of Northern Lakes Conference golf continued at South Shore Golf Club Thursday night as the Wawasee golf team pulled off a surprising win over visiting Warsaw, er, well maybe not?

The Warriors and Tigers had already seen each other three times this season in invites flip-flopping in final results each time. Warsaw finished ahead of Wawasee in both the Wawasee and Culver Academy invites while the Warriors edged out the Tigers for the Joe Harris Shootout title. The Warriors once again lived on the edge and pulled out a 159-163 victory to give Warsaw its first NLC defeat.

Reid Cameron

“We won, that’s always good,” began Steve Coverstone, Wawasee’s offbeat head coach. “It’s always a tough match with Warsaw, that never changes. It’s definitely a nice win.”

It was certainly a tough match for the Tigers who struggled to find a rhythm on the course. Wawasee struggled at times as well, but the small advantage of playing at home was just what the Warriors needed to squeak out the victory.

Jeffrey Moore had two birdies and four pars to earn medalist honors with a 37. Kaleb Perry golfed the four spot for the Warriors but turned in the evening’s second lowest score with a 38, supported by six pars. Tristen Atwood gave Wawasee its thirdand final  sub-40 score of the evening with a 39. Atwood struggled with some of his drives but was able to recover several times on his second shot and would finish with four pars and one birdie. Mason Germonprez (45) and Cal Heinisch (48) rounded out the scores for Wawasee.

Warsaw did not turn in a score lower than 40 Thursday night. Jonny Hollar was the low man for the Tigers as he signed for a 40 after struggling on the par three eighth hole. Hollar had on birdie and five pars. Brandon Eckert and Ryan Cultice both finished with a 41. Eckert recorded five pars while Cultice had a birdie and four pars. Reid Cameron (42) and Michael Jensen (44) were the fourth and fifth scores for the Tigers.

The loss moved Warsaw to 6-1 in the NLC which allowed Northridge to force a tie in regular season play with its win Thursday evening over Plymouth. Though the thought of being undefeated is a nice one, the loss does not phase the Tigers as they head into the NLC Championship at Meadow Valley Golf Club in Middlebury this Saturday.

Brandon Eckert

“This doesn’t change anything for us,” began Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey. “We have one day of practice and we’ll treat it like a typical practice then head up to Middlebury this weekend. Nothing concerned me here tonight. It’s sports and it happens. We were higher than what we expected but that’s why everyone loves sports, there’s never a predicted outcome.”

Moving on to Meadow Valley is not something that Barkey sees as an obstacle for his team. He knows the course is gettable. The biggest challenge he foresees is making sure the team can get comfortable on a foreign course, but that is a challenge that comes with traveling to any course.

Coverstone pinpointed the back nine at Meadow Valley as the course’s toughest aspect. The Wawasee coach later added that the key to success would be his team eliminating big numbers on holes.

The Warriors and Tigers will certainly be two teams at the top of the mix for Saturday’s NLC Championship. First tee is set for noon on Saturday in Middlebury.

Warsaw won the junior varsity contest over Wawasee 168-180.

Jonny Hollar