CARMEL
The bad news for the Center Grove boys golf team is that it enters today’s second and final round of the state championship trailing by four shots.
The good news is that the Trojans have proven they can easily overcome that margin.
Having turned a six-stroke deficit into a 13-stroke victory a year ago, Center Grove seems largely okay with where it stands after what was a tough scoring day for almost everyone at Prairie View Golf Club on Tuesday.
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“We fought until the end,” Trojan coach Matt Rodman said. “To only finish four strokes down after today with how we hit some — and we had quite a few birdie putts that didn’t fall, so I think we’re still confident going into tomorrow.
“When you’re playing a two-day event, four strokes really isn’t much.”
The top-ranked Trojans finished the round with a team total of 299, 11 shots over par and trailing only No. 2 Carmel — the same team that Center Grove chased down to win its first state title last June. Zionsville, still in the hunt with a 16-over 304, is the only other team with a realistic shot of catching the two front-runners.
Those three teams will be matched together in the final five groups today.
The Greyhounds got off to a hot start, going 3 under as a team through the first three holes, and still had a one-shot lead over the Trojans (+1 to +2) after the front nine.
That lead grew to as many as seven strokes at one point on the back side, but a late Carmel slide and a strong finish by Trojan seniors Noah Gillard and Sam Jean — who were a combined 3 under with no bogeys over the final five holes — kept the two rival squads close.
Gillard finished with an even-par 72, tied for third overall, to lead Center Grove, while Jean was one shot back of him at 73. Logan Anderson and Luke DeHaven each finished with a 77 to round out the team scoring, with Alex Heck close behind at 79.
“The course was playing fairly tough today, and we were just trying to make the best of every shot,” Jean said. “Even though we didn’t have it, we’re still really close.”
Only two players — Chesterton’s Mitchell Davis (68) and Carmel’s Clay Stirsman — finished the day in the red on a day where birdies were so hard to come by that Center Grove went a full nine holes (4 through 12) without recording a single one.
The Trojans seem confident that their fortunes can again turn for the better during the final round.
“I really think the kids hit the ball pretty well today,” Rodman said. “We just couldn’t get putts to fall. That was our biggest thing today — we just saw lots of putts lip out or hit the edges. Day one, that happens, but day two we’ll be ready and we’ll be able to read those putts a little bit differently tomorrow, and those are going to start falling.”
“It’s not exactly the spot we wanted to be in,” Jean added, “but sometimes it’s easier to be trailing than leading. So that’s not too bad, and we’re just going to go out there and play our best and do what we can do to finish it.”
Nothing they haven’t done before.
