By Mike Beas
May 04, 2008 12:29 am
—
ANDERSON — Somewhere between the flag-straightening winds and plummeting temperatures invading Killbuck Golf Club on Saturday, there was focus.
On an afternoon better suited for raking leaves than bunkers, such concentration proved vital to every one of the 44 golfers involved in the ninth annual Madison County Boys Golf Tournament.
It’s what enabled Liberty Christian junior Alex Stinson to card a 73 and earn individual medalist honors for a second consecutive year.
It’s what lifted Highland to its first team championship since 2003, the Scots prevailing in white-knuckle fashion by defeating Lapel by virtue of the fifth-score tiebreaker.
Saturday’s need to incorporate golf’s version of sudden-death overtime came on the heels of the 2007 tournament, in which Anderson edged Pendleton Heights by a single stroke.
Highland coach Jim Wright counted on a similar brand of suspense this time around, and he was dead on.
“I’m thrilled; I thought coming in that Lapel and Pendleton Heights were the frontrunners, but that we could be a factor,” said the 16th-year coach. “We shot extremely well on the back (nine) as the conditions were getting worse. For some reason, we seem to play better in cool, nasty weather.”
Two Scots, Andrew Hanna and Zach Bailey, each posted lower scores on the back side, which, historically, is the more difficult nine at Killbuck.
Bailey is Highland’s No. 5 player, yet it was his back-nine 43 that proved the difference-maker.
With Lapel having earlier manufactured a team score of 328, Bailey’s overall score of 88 meant a 328 for Highland as well. Furthermore, it allowed the Scots to use Hanna’s 90 as the fifth score against the 94 of the Bulldogs’ Dylan Crosley.
Low score for Highland belonged to Trey Knight, who followed up his front-side 38 with a 40 on the back to finish five shots behind Stinson. Joining these two on the All-County Team were Pendleton Heights junior Blake Stephenson (77) and Lapel’s junior duo of Brodie Williams and Mason Lloyd, both with 78s.
Overall, six players broke 80 (Scots’ No. 1 Austin Stagman shot 79), an impressive total given the dismal weather conditions.
“I hit the ball well. I can’t complain about that,” said Williams. “But chipping, whenever I was greenside I never got it up close enough for it to be a comfortable putt. I missed six birdie putts within a radius of 15 feet.”
Stephenson and Lloyd found themselves grouped together as the No. 4 players for their respective teams.
“There is less pressure (as No. 4), I guess. Not as many people are watching you,” said Stephenson, who admits he felt he might be on the verge of a special round after sinking a 30-foot putt on the par-3 fifth hole.
“I did miss two par putts from about four feet on Nos. 15 and 17. I was pretty mad after I missed those, but a 77 is a good score today.”
As is 73. But then, Stinson of Liberty Christian let it be known early he meant business by firing a 33 on the front nine.
“I am happy. The key to my round is that I focused on the things I could control, because if you lose concentration on a day like today, you’re going to get penalized big-time,” said Stinson. “My goal is to play the course, not play the opponent.”
Pendleton Heights, the 2006 county titleist, placed third with a 332 behind Stephenson’s 77 and the 82 of Jake Groninger. Fourth-place Frankton (371) was led by Jeff Reed’s 88 and a 93 from Jordan Hiatt.
Six-time county champion Anderson, behind 88s from Spencer Morris and Patrick Freeman, came in fifth. Elwood was sixth with a score of 382, followed by Liberty Christian (388), Alexandria (410) and Madison-Grant (434).
MADISON COUNTY BOYS GOLF TOURNAMENT
At Killbuck Golf Club
Team standings
*-Won by virtue of fifth-score tiebreaker
#-Fourth-place by virtue of fifth-score tiebreaker
1. HIGHLAND (328)*
Austin Stagman 37-42—79
Trey Knight 38-40—78
Andrew Hanna 49-41—90
Brandon Selig 40-43—83
Zach Bailey 45-43—88
2. LAPEL (328)
Brodie Williams 38-40—78
Seth Bays 45-41—86
Brock Forrer 39-47—86
Mason Lloyd 36-42—78
Dylan Crosley 47-47—94
3. PENDLETON HEIGHTS (332)
Jake Groninger 38-44—82
Tyler White 39-47—86
Brian Stanley 41-49—90
Blake Stephenson 38-39—77
Michael Maxwell 43-44—87
4. FRANKTON (371)#
Jeff Reed 43-45—88
Ryan Spangler 47-49—96
Jordan Hiatt 43-50—93
Austin Taylor 49-45—94
Aaron Martin 49-53—102
5. ANDERSON (371)
Spencer Morris 42-46—88
Patrick Freeman 41-47—88
Eric Elpers 44-47—91
Chase Austin 52-52—104
Kyle Cantrell 53-55—108
6. ELWOOD (382)
Michael Melvin 42-45—87
Brian Bush 47-52—99
Devon Shope 44-48—92
Jacob Bourff 52-52—104
Jason Chandler 53-53—106
7. LIBERTY CHRISTIAN (388)
Alex Stinson 33-40—73
Evan Gibson 41-40—81
Joel Girt 50-57—107
Jordan Thomas 69-68—137
Scott Baker 59-68—127
8. ALEXANDRIA (410)
Zach Collis 48-49—97
Austin Beeman 60-58—118
Taylor Mevzek 58-60—118
Brady Hayes 48-52—100
Derek Glass 50-45—95
9. MADISON-GRANT (434)
Tyler Small 45-47—92
Isaac Gough 50-53—103
Eric Solms 57-60—117
Jerrod Draper 59-63—122
2008 All-County Team
Alex Stinson, Liberty Christian
Blake Stephenson, Pendleton Heights
Trey Knight, Highland
Brodie Williams, Lapel
Mason Lloyd, Lapel
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.