SOUTH BEND — With conference tournaments next weekend and the state tournament sectionals looming at the end of May, the 62ndCulver Academies Invitational Saturday at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course gave teams a chance to have some fun and competition among themselves.
Schools were assigned holes for their five-man teams at the par-71, 6,346-yard Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw masterpiece which has hosted many top tournaments of note, including the 2019 U.S. Senior Open and last year’s Indiana Open. All five players played each hole, with the highest score among the five being thrown out to provide each school a four-man score for that hole. Even if a player’s score didn’t count in the team competition, it counted for his individual card to determine the tournament’s medalist.
Coach Jack Carpenter’s Warsaw Tigers, who were disappointed by their seventh-place showing in Friday’s 88thUebele Invitational at Beechwood Golf Course in LaPorte, earned the team title as their 308 score was 11 strokes better than Mishawaka Marian and Indianapolis Chatard. South Bend Saint Joseph, which was six strokes better for third place at the Uebele, finished fourth Saturday with its 324 effort.
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The Tigers’ sophom*ore No. 2 Breckin Christner earned co-medalist honors with Chatard’s No. 1 Colin Kirchessner after both golfers carded four-over 75s on the sunny but chilly day with winds averaging 16 miles an hour and gusting at times over 30. They were one stroke better than Elkhart junior No. 1 Steven Webb. The weather made the Crenshaw-designed greens firm and quick, and the high grasses and bunkers surrounding Coore’s generous fairways ate up more shots than you could have ever imagined.
“I love this tournament for the kids … it’s relaxing,” said Marian coach Alex Stopczynski, “and I love this course — it’s beautiful. And the greens … if you were above the hole in some spots, good luck.”
The Knights had four players within two shots of each other, with sophom*ore No. 1 John Hahn recording an 83, one stroke better than the efforts of sophom*ore No. 2 AJ Bishop and senior No. 5 Jacob Padrnos and two better than senior No. 3 Jackson Horvath.
“John had two 7s on his card; if this was a 9-hole match, it’s over,” Stopczynski said of the team format. “Today, the rest of the guys picked him up.”
And so it was on the fun afternoon for most of the players and teams, some of whom had huge galleries of family and friends watching their every stroke while trying to stay warm with blankets and their cheers of encouragement.
Coach Bret Bajdek’s Saint Joseph Huskies, who will battle Marian and Penn next Saturday at Plymouth’s Pretty Lake Golf Club for the Northern Indiana Conference tournament and overall championship, were led by junior No. 1 Thomas Raster’s 78. Sophom*ore No. 2 Tate Guyton was next at 84.
Host Culver Academies fielded three teams with its No. 1 team finishing fifth 12 strokes behind the Huskies in solo fifth place as junior No. 2 player Kyle Lee led the way with a 79. The Eagles’ best effort, however, was the 78 recorded by Manolo Osorio on the Eagles’ No. 2 team, which finished ninth at 350 trailing sixth-place Goshen (338), seventh-place Elkhart (341) and eighth-place South Bend Adams (349). NorthWood finished 10thin the 16-team field at 353.
First-year coach Chris Arnold’s Red Hawks were led by No. 1 Todd Kauffman’s 85, which edged No. 2 Myles McLaughlin by a stroke and No. 4 Braxten Sheets by two. Coach Todd King’s Lions got an 82 from No. 3 Cameron Miller to go with Webb’s 76. Senior No. 1 Liam Kinney led coach Andy Kern’s Eagles with an 82, the same score shot by Colton Rouch that led coach Phil Ummel’s NorthWood Panthers. Warsaw, Goshen and their Northern Lakes Conference brethren will travel next Saturday to the conference tournament hosted by Northridge at Meadow Valley in Middlebury.
62NDCULVER ACADEMIES BOYS GOLF INVITATIONAL
Results from Saturday’s 62ndCulver Academies Boys Golf Invitational played at the par-71, 6,346-yard Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame. Schools fielded five-player teams, with the highest score recorded on each hole being eliminated. The teams then added up the four lower scores to determine the score for a hole. Teams scores listed below are total for 18 holes followed by front-nine plus back-nine totals. The players’ scores which follow the team total are the individual scores recorded by the player for 18 holes.
Team results
1. WARSAW (308: 149+159): Austin Craig 78, Breckin Christner 75, Robbie Finlinson 84, Quinton Fifer 81, Isaac Summons 96
T2. MISHAWAKA MARIAN (319: 156-163): John Hahn 83, AJ Bishop 84, Jackson Horvath 85, Ben Padrnos 94, Jacob Padrnos 84
T2. INDIANAPOLIS CHATARD (319: 165+154): Colin Kirchessner 75, Charlie Belch 78, Nick Belby 85, Nate O’Brien 97, Matthew Marrano 101
4. SOUTH BEND SAINT JOSEPH (324: 160-164): Thomas Raster 78, Tate Guyton 84, Beau Basney 91, Jake Hirschler 87, Joey Borsodi 89
5. CULVER ACADEMIES 1 (336: 165+171): Rory Sullivan 94, Kyle Lee 79, Grady Sullivan 90, Jak Chaney 93, Peter Liu 89
6. GOSHEN (338: 164+174): Todd Kauffman 85, Myles McLaughlin 86, Tyler Scott 102, Braxten Sheets 87, Kael Bestul 94
7. ELKHART (341: 168+173):Steven Webb 76, Nathan Windy 89, Cameron Miller 82, Carson Scott 101, Kyle Farmer 107
8. SOUTH BEND ADAMS (349: 176+173): Liam Kinney 82, Tommy Hornback 88, Atti Hunter 86, David Hornback 100, AJ Morgan 102
9. CULVER ACADEMIES 2 (350: 178-172): Sam Boncosky 104, Manolo Osorio 78, Max Hyman 110, Noah Day 92, Jeff Helfer 87
10. NORTHWOOD (353: 176+177): Caleb Vincent 92, Collin Deatsman 106, Bryce Bosser 96, Colton Rouch 82, Micah Schwartz 99
T11. CULVER ACADEMIES 3 (354: 176 + 178): Chuck Lee 91, Will Miller 93, Kaya Turgut 88, Grant Price 100, Brendan Bruno 97
T11. PLYMOUTH (354: 177+177): Dan Nguyen 83, Ben Nguyen 95, Caleb Hartland 91, Easton Tapia 94, Bryce Busse 97
13. WAWASEE (361: 187+174): Preston Scheror 84, Mason Shoemaker 88, Maddux Ringer 97, Clayton Ousley 109, Cooper Garden 111
14. WINAMAC (364: 179+185): Brendan Hines 90, Talen Garner 88, Logan Fredel 93, Noah Garner 102, Cooper Fulmer 111
15. MISHAWAKA (406: 202+204): Brady Fisher 105, Bren Dickerson 103, Kaden Smith 119, Vincent Lopez 105, Edward Kozlowski 111
16. JIMTOWN (449: 226+223): Tatsu Gravender 107, Nick Hoffman 121, Nate Crosbie 118, Rory Rantz 126, Leighton Gingerich 116
Top Individuals
75 (+4): Breckin Christner, Warsaw and Colin Kirschessner, Indianapolis Chatard.
76 (+5): Steven Webb, Elkhart, 76.
78 (+7): Thomas Raster, South Bend Saint Joseph; Austin Craig, Warsaw ; Charlie Belch, Indianapolis Chatard; Manolo Osorio, Culver Academies Team 2.
79 (+8): Kyle Lee, Culver Academies Team 1.
81 (+10): Quinton Fifer, Warsaw.
82 (+11): Colton Rouch, NorthWood; Cameron Miller, Elkhart; Liam Kinney, South Bend Adams.
83 (+12): Dan Nguyen, Plymouth; John Hahn, Mishawaka Marian.
84 (+13): Preston Scheror, Wawasee; AJ Bishop, Mishawaka Marian; Robbie Finlinson, Warsaw;Jacob Padrnos, Mishawaka Marian.
