The Bloomington South boys golf team left Prairie View with no place to go but up after a long round on Tuesday, June 17.
Dinner and a good night’s sleep and the Panthers will be at it for Round 2 of the IHSAA state finals after a round of 335 left them in last place in the 18-team field.
Junior Colton Watson (78) is tied 42nd and junior Carson Gady (82) is tied for 67th to lead the way. Both are the only players back from last year’s state team. Sophomore Owen Wisley shot 85, senior Aidan Bomba had 90 and senior Owen Gerber had 93.
A heavy rain overnight put lift, clean and replace rules in place for the fairways. South started on No. 10 and ran into trouble collectively on No. 14 (7-over) and No. 18 (5-over), but turned things around a bit on the front side.
“I thought it would be a good thing for us,” South coach Dustin Carver said of starting on the back nine. “But the wind really picked up there through seven, then it was steady. The course played really difficult but I thought it would be an advantage to start on the back for us though the scoreboard doesn’t show it.
“We had way too many big numbers. If you’re going to score, you can get those 8s and 9s back. We had way too many through the entire course although 14 ate us up. It’s a long hole and you’ve got to hit it straight. A wayward shot and you’ll get into trouble. It took care of us.”
Things improved on the front but still ended up taking a bit over five hours to complete the round, as is usually the case, on a hot day. Carver was happy with the way his team prepped for that and hung in.
Watson carded a birdie on the par-3 fourth hole.
“He hit it well but I thought he had some unfortunate breaks,” Carver said. “A couple of wedges here and there. But he kept it in play and I look for a better result from him tomorrow. He’s even keel and has been that way for a while.”
Gerber gathered himself well after the rough start.
“We talked at the turn,” Carver said. “You can’t do anything about what’s behind you. I said, ‘Listen, the first nine is over, just go out and have fun.’ And I was proud to see him fight back.”
Garber also is one of 15 players honored as Academic All-State by the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association.
As a team, Westfield shot an even-par 288 to lead by six over No. 2 Zionsville and seven over Evansville North. South will be paired with Floyd Central, Leo and Franklin for the final round, starting on No. 10 again from 8:30-9:10 a.m.
Individually, seven played under par, with seven more at 72. Luke Johnston of Evansville North and Brycen Tisch of Zionsville are tied at 67, two shots ahead of Westfield’s Will Harvey and Jake Cesare.
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