Steady South takes 2nd at boys' golf regional, punches ticket to state
Jeremy Price
HENRYVILLE — If you were expecting fireworks in the boys' golf regional at Champions Pointe on Thursday, you were disappointed.
But it was the steady, not the spectacular, that punched Bloomington South's ticket to the state finals.
The fifth-ranked Panthers had all five players score between 74 and 77 to post a 300 and finish second to No. 4 Center Grove, which won its sixth straight regional title with a 295. Bloomington North was ninth with a 338 in the 18-team field.
"No one has to do anything special, just play your game," South coach Dustin Carver said. "We play our game and everything will be fine. I was pleased. I thought we had a chance for a moment to win regionals, just a couple holes there we slipped up. To get to state is special and I"m proud of a young group of boys."
Drew Todd is the only senior for the Panthers and the only player who has been to the state finals before. But that was as an individual, and the Ball State recruit now gets to bring the rest of his team with him. As a matter of fact, Todd was high man of the day at 77.
"That's the mark of a good team. you never know who's going to be one through four scoring," Carver said. "It also makes for good competition. Drew plays Prairie View awfully well and I know he's itching to get back there and play and play well.
"I'm happy he gets to see it as a senior, advancing to state with his team and not as an individual. It should be a fun test."
South was led by a pair of 74s from freshmen Connor Byon and Landon "Happy" Gilmore, while Jacob Paine and Nick Bellush each had a 76.
"We're a team built around a lot of solid players," Byon said. "None of us really had our 'A' game today, but we posted a score good enough to take us to state.
"We're all confident and all capable of scoring well, so No. 1 through 5 we're right there with the best in the state."
The 'B' game was more than enough to get the job done, although if there was something approaching the spectacular, it came from Paine. He rebounded from a triple bogey on the third hole for back-to-back-to-back birdies on Nos. 5-7 and kept the ship steady the rest of the way.
"I'm super proud of what Jacob Paine did," Carver said. "He tripled that hole and was 4-over through three, then went birdie-birdie-birdie and just fought and fought to grind it out. His growth and what we've seen over the course of the year is what makes for a good team one through five.
"They don't have to have their 'A' game to play well. That's a good thing because at the beginning of the year a lot of them were concerned with the way they were hitting the ball. I've always preached, 'It doesn't matter how you're hitting the ball, it's how you get the ball in the cup.' They've learned that. It's all about grinding and getting into position to get up and down around the greens."
The crosstown Cougars found the soggy course to be a bit of a grind as well, going off the 10th tee. Jacob Knapp led the way with an 81 after a back-nine 37, while Simon Deliyannis shot a front-nine 38 en route to an 83.
"Golf is a matter of shoulda, woulda, coulda," North coach Harrison Carmichael said. "We left some strokes out there with dumb mistakes and youth coming through, but we can be proud of ourselves. We put up a respectable score."
It was the same course the Cougars shot 332 on a few weeks ago, only longer not only from the tee box but the wet conditions. From that standpoint, North was happy to achieve its goal of shooting 340 or better. Petre Lee added an 85, Scout Robbins an 89 and Charlie Nicholson a 96.
"We were very realistic that we were not making it out, but this was about getting experience and playing the course better, which we did," Carmichael said. "There were at least five or six teams we just weren't going to better, but then there are about seven teams right where we're at. We held strong to our goal and nobody laid an egg."
Things weren't any easier for Edgewood's Landon Ringler, who was making his first regional appearance as an individual. The Mustang senior finished with a 97 in his first look at the course, hurt most by a big number on Nos. 1 and 12.
While his season is done, the Panthers still have next Tuesday and Wednesday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel to look forward to. More steady play could pay off with a run at a state title.
"We're right there," Carver said. "I look forward to seeing what we can do against some really good teams."
PROVIDENCE REGIONAL
At Champions Pointe
Center Grove 295
Bloomington South 300
Franklin 307
Floyd Central 309
Silver Creek 312
Columbus North 318
Bedford NL 322
Greenwood Christian 333
Bloomington North 338
South Dearborn 342
Madison 343
Forest Park 345
North Harrison 346
Greensburg 361
Springs Valley 366
Henryville 373
Individuals: 1. Damon Dickey, Fr, 69; 2. Carter Smith‡, SC, 70; 3. Christian McIntosh‡, FC, and Brandon Hefner, CG, 71; 5. A.J. Agnew‡, Borden, and Andrew Rowan, CG, 72; Weston Allen‡, He, 73; Trevin Hutchinson‡, BNL, 74.
South: Connor Byon 74, Landon "Happy" Gilmore 74, Nick Bellush 76, Jacob Paine 76, Drew Todd 77.
North: Jacob Knapp 81, Simon Deliyannis 83, Petre Lee 85, Scout Robbins 89, Charlie Nicholson 96.
Edgewood: Landon Ringler 97.
†advancing team; ‡advancing individual