MIKE MACKE
WZBD.com
The six Adams and Wells County high schools were in Sectional golf action at Timber Ridge G.C. Saturday and two of them advanced to the Regional golf tournament. Eastbrook was the Sectional champion with a score of 315. Bellmont took second place with a score of 326 and Norwell grabbed third place to advance with a score of 335. Bluffton shot 338 to finish fourth. South Adams had a solid day finishing fifth with a 342. Adams Central shot a very respectable 370 to finish seventh and Southern Wells had one of their best tournament scores with a 381 to garner eighth in the eleven-team field.
While the team race for second and third held most of the attention as scores came in, it was the play of Eastbrook’s number one golfer, Aaron Fulda that created much of the buzz around Timber Ridge. Fulda scorched the front nine in just 29 strokes, a seven-under par performance that included a bogey on the par five fourth hole to go with one bogey, six birdies and an eagle! After a birdie on #10 put him at eight under par, Fulda came back to reality on the back with a couple of wayward shots that cost him two double-bogies. However, he finished with style on #18 with a birdie to shoot a magnificent four-under par 68 and win medalist honors for the day. Bluffton’s Keegan Schwartz, playing in the same group with Fulda also turned in a terrific score of 70 to finish as runner-up. His round featured three birdies and an eagle as his splits were 35 – 35. Schwartz advances to Regional as an individual along with two Oak Hill golfers, Kamron Cabe (79) and Trent Nelson (82) as the top three on non-advancing teams get to move on. Nelson advanced by defeating Ricky Nava of South Adams in a playoff as Nava also shot 82 on the day.
Bellmont was led by their dynamic duo of Winston Brown and Owen Minnick. Winston went 38 – 37 for a total of 75 which tied him for third. On the day, he hit 14 greens and had a number of birdie putts burn the edge of the hole but was only able to cash in on two of them. Teammate Minnick was the other 75 on the day as his splits were 37 – 38. He too had two birdies on the day in a very consistent round. “I know Winston wanted to go a bit lower and contend for medalist, but kudos to the Eastbrook kid who just had it going today,” stated coach Ty Razo. “These two continue to give us great scoring at the top and what they have done this season sometimes gets overlooked because they do it every time out! It’s been special for sure and we’ll see what they can do at Regional.”
Bellmont got a nice score from the number five man, Jayden “Jimmy” Haines. After beginning with two double-bogeys, he parred six of the next seven holes to shoot 42 on the front. He followed that up with a 44 on the back to finish with an 86, his best 18-hole score of the season that put him in the top fifteen individuals on the day. The fourth score for the Braves came from Gage Bressler who looked to be a non-factor when he struggled to a 49 on the front. However, Bressler showed a lot of grit and heart as he toured the back nine in 41 strokes for a 90 total. Number three man, Bryce Rickord came back from two opening double-bogeys to score 44 on the front and looked like he’d be in the scoring. It was not to be, though as Rickord found some trouble on the back and his mental game left him on the way to a 53 for a total of 97, making Bressler’s comeback even more relevant.
“I’m proud of the way the guys hung in there today. The course conditions made it difficult to score at times, but they found a way to grind out some decent scores. It was nice to see Jimmy have his best day so far as he continues to figure out the game. Hopefully, he can take another step forward at Regional. Gage has been up and down this season, but the back nine was likely his best golf of the season given the way he started and how he turned it around when we needed it. What happened to Bryce has happened to everyone who has played this game. He’ll be ready for Thursday.”
Joining the Braves at Regional will be Norwell who hung on to just clip Bluffton by three for third place. The Knights had all five golfers in the 80’s led by Derek Smith with an 82. He made eight pars on the front to open with a 37. Despite a couple of double-bogeys to start the back, he kept it together for a 45 to achieve his total. Ashton Federspiel went 41 – 42 for an 83 to finish just behind Smith. Chase Hulvey and Ethan Ottinger each shot 85 to contribute to the team total. Hulvey’s back nine score of 40 was particularly crucial to hold off the Tigers. Cooper Sloan finished with a respectable 89 for the Norwell fifth score.
After Nava’s 82, the Starfires got an 85 from Graham Subler, 86 from Tristen Dailey and 89 from Silas Loshe. Conner Fear’s 92 rounded out the scoring for South Adams in an all-around consistent effort. Adams Central was led by an 87 from Jayden Sharpe. Keaton Bush shot 91 and 96’s were turned in by Avery Biberstine and Micah McClure for the Jets. Eddie Everett had an awful start to his round but turned it around on the back to finish at 106 for the day.
Behind the 70 of Schwartz, Bluffton got an 87 from Kade Abbett, a 90 from Connor Klopfenstein, 91 from Ephraim Frauhiger and 93 from Declan Grieser.
Regional action will take place at The Player’s Club in Muncie on Thursday, June 8.
