MIKE MACKE
WZBD.com
The county schools squared off at the Wabash Valley G.C. in Geneva Thursday afternoon in their annual tri-match hosted by South Adams. The weather was perfect for golf with temperatures in the low 60’s and a 5 – 10 mph breeze.
Course manager Brett Suman allowed the teams to shotgun to different starting holes and the match finished in just over two hours. Bellmont took advantage of the nice conditions, winning the match with a 158, their best nine-hole score of the season thus far. South Adams also shot their best round of the year with a 166 for second place. Adams Central finished third in the event with a 183 total.
Leading the way for the Braves once again was Winston Brown, who followed his 34 from Tuesday with an even par 36 on the front side to outdistance the field by four strokes. His round featured back-to-back birdies on holes seven and eight.
Backing Brown up were two teammates with 40 strokes each. Owen Minnick has been the number two man behind Brown all season and despite some uncharacteristic putting issues, he kept things together to post his score. The highlight of his round was a two-putt birdie from the fringe on the par 5 eighth hole. The other Brave to shoot forty was Jayden Haines who rebounded nicely from his 51 at Eagle Glen on Tuesday. Some range work with coach Ty Razo on Wednesday paid off as Haines was solid much of the round. He countered a double-bogey on hole #8 with a birdie on the par-three third hole, a bomb of a putt from the edge of the green.
Bryce Rickord also continued his improved play of late as he made two birdies on his way to a 42, the second birdie a tap-in when his approach spun back to within six inches of the hole on #1. Gage Bressler was the fifth score for Bellmont with a 47.
The low round for South Adams was turned in by Ricky Nava. Playing in the #4 slot, Nava kept everything to pars and bogies to tie for second-place honors in the match with a 40. His round included a nifty up-and-down par on the seventh hole after having to punch out following his drive, allowing him to string four pars together from holes five through eight. He was backed up by three teammates that finished with 42’s for the round.
Graham Subler stayed away from any big numbers posting pars and bogies on the way to his total. Tristen Dailey at #2 birdied the par 5 second hole en route to his 42. He couldn’t get much going but managed to stay away from anything worse than a bogey. Conner Fear was the other 42 for the Starfires from the #5 spot. He started on hole #5 and parred the first two that he played. He ran into some trouble on the first hole (his sixth of the round) when he took a triple-bogey seven but followed that up with a birdie on hole #2 to make up for it. The fifth score for S. A. was a 49 by Silas Loshe.
Adams Central was led by Jayden Sharpe who shot 43 playing in the #2 position. The highlight of his round was a birdie on the par three third hole. Keaton Bush struggled to get things going early, then made back-to-back pars on the sixth and seventh holes on his way to a 44. The third score for the Jets came from Micah McClure with a 47 from the number five slot. He got off to a rocky start with triple-bogies on two of his first four holes. He settled in with a couple of pars to keep his score respectable. Eddie Everett provided a 49 for the fourth score for A.C. and Owen Johnson shot 53 to round out the scoring.
Bellmont improves to 4 – 2 on the season. South Adams is now 2 – 3 in dual matches. Adams Central falls to 3 – 6.
Bellmont plays in the Canterbury Invitational at Chestnut Hills Saturday.
South Adams is home Monday vs. Blackford.
Adams Central’s next event is a Conference Quad meet on Tuesday at Dogwood Glen with S. Adams, S. Wells and Bluffton.