Published: June 16, 2009 11:17 pm         

Slow starts hurt Braves, Knights at state golf finals

South, Northview struggle with weather, tough Legends of Indiana course; Kade Baker qualifies for today’s final round

Franklin — The season ended for two boys high school golf teams from the Valley on Tuesday in the state finals, but Kade Baker will be in the final 18 holes of the tournament today.

The recent Northview graduate shot a 2-over-par 74 at The Legends of Indiana Course and will be one of the individual qualifiers in today’s final round along with nine teams. He will tee off at 8 a.m., weather permitting.

Terre Haute South and Northview couldn’t overcome rough starts — played partly in a heavy rain — and failed to qualify for the finals.

South shot 322 and Northview 326. Both teams played better in the second nine holes, but not well enough to make the final 18 holes. Twin Lakes shot 310 to take the final team slot. Baker has played No. 1 for Northview since his sophomore season and is making the most of his first trip to the state. He chipped in above the green for birdie on No. 17 that enabled him to shoot the 74, the cutoff for individual qualifiers.

Baker was 3-over-par after the first three holes but played subpar golf the rest of the way with five birdies and three bogeys and a double as he went 39-35 for his 74.

“I putted well and hit my drivers,” said Baker, who will play college golf at Rend Lake.

Sophomore Thomas Goss shot 77 for South’s low score, while Zach Hosking, the only senior, had 80. Junior Brock Welch had an 82 and sophomore Shelby Stewart an 83.

Goss competed in the finals for the second year and improved on his 2008 score by 11 shots.

He went 39-38 in his round with two birdies and seven bogeys. He sank a 50-foot putt for one birdie on No. 8 and had the other birdie on No. 17, a hole on which he took 11 last year.

“My putting was not bad and I hit my driver well,” said Goss.

And how has he improved in his second year?

‘I have matured mentally and I forget the bad holes, the bad shots. And I have practiced more,” he said.

He’ll be busy this summer competing in state tournaments starting Thursday with a Mountain Dew Tour event at Rea Park.

Hosking has made two trips to the finals, leading the Braves last year with 77 and shooting 80 this season. He will play college golf at Millikin University in Illinois.

He had a good round going until having problems on 9, 10 and 11 but finished strong in his final round of high school golf.

Chris Cassell is in his sixth year as coach of the Braves and four of them have gone to the state. With one junior and three sophomores in the lineup Tuesday, he likes the odds of teams returning to The Legends course.

“We had a terrible start with 167 on the front. The guys stayed with it and shot [much better] on the back but it was too much to overcome,” he said.

Northview coach Scott Buell said his team had a “great year” especially with Baker making it to the second day.

“One of our goals was to make it here and are just the second team in school history to get to state. We tied a school record with a 12-2 season,” he said.

• • •

• Avon, Rogers in lead — Avon and one of its players were at the top of the leaderboard following the first day of the finals.

The Orioles shot 293 and have a three-shot lead over Evansville North and are up six on Hamilton Southeastern.

Sophomore Patrick Rogers was 6-under-par at one point on the first nine and finished with a 3-under-par 69. He has a two-shot lead over individual qualifiers Tyler Merkel of Evansville Central and Taylor Noel of Boone Grove.



Indiana boys golf state finals

Semifinals at The Legends of Indiana

Team scores — Teams that advanced to today’s finals: Avon 293, Evansville North 296, Hamilton Southeastern 299, Chesterton 300, Brebeuf 302, Indianapolis Cathedral 306, Floyd Central 306, Providence 308, Twin Lakes 310. Eliminated: LaPorte 312, Yorktown 313, Bedford North Lawrence 316, Carmel 316, Lafayette Jeff 316, Mishawaka Marian 316, Homestead 319, Prairie Heights 319, Warsaw 320, Terre Haute South 322, Northview 326, West Lafayette 326

Terre Haute South (322) — Thomas Goss 77, Zach Hosking 80, Brock Welch 82, Shelby Stewart 83, Jackson Jarvis 86.

Northview (326) — Kade Baker 74*, Drew Snyder 80, Austin Akers 85, Ryan Turner 87, Daniel Eaglin 93.

* qualified for individual tournament