Published: May 10, 2008 10:42 pm            

HIGH SCHOOL GOLF: Highlanders headed to postseason on strong note

SELLERSBURG — As the year progresses, Floyd Central boys’ golf coach Mike Cason says he can see the confidence in his team growing.

Saturday’s Southern Indiana Open at Hidden Creek Golf Club may have been the final shot in the arm Cason’s club needs for another deep postseason run.

Matched up against a field of sectional foes, the Highlanders shot a team score of 297 to claim first place in the annual showcase of area golf squads — edging second-place Providence and third-place Silver Creek for top honors.

“Golf’s a game of confidence and as we’ve gone through the year I think the team has grown more comfortable with their games,” said Cason, who has coached the Highlanders to back-to-back state championships. “This is the type of round we needed as we head to our bigger matches late in the year.”

Each of Floyd’s four scorers carded rounds of at least 76, including a pair of 73s by Chance Cadle and Matt Rayner to lead the team.

“Chance really has been our most consistent guy this year all season, so we expect to see those type of rounds from him,” Cason said. “Rayner has been a little more up and down, but he came through with a solid 18 (holes).”

David Frank (75) and Ben Clark (76) were the final two scorers on the day for the Highlanders.

“All year long, we’ve searched for a little more consistency in our games and we’ve started seeing it late in the year,” Cason said. “It was a solid effort by our guys.”

The effort was solid enough to edge strong challenges from both the Pioneers and the Dragons. Providence managed four players with at least a 77 as it finished at 304 and Silver Creek received the day’s strongest individual performance as it tallied a 307.

Creek’s Brandon White scored birdies on three of his opening five holes and played 3-under-par through nine. He wound up finishing the day with a 1-over 71 to grab medalist honors.

“I got off to a very good start, which was the most important thing,” White said. “I had a good round going through nine, but then I sort of lost my concentration a bit. But I’m very excited about being able to win.”

Providence’s day was paced by Ben Rose, who led the Pioneers with a round of 75. Two players, Trey Pfund and Andrew Lobeck, scored 76s for Providence and Ryan Frey finished at 77 to cap the Pioneers’’ scoring.

Along with White’s medalist effort, Silver Creek got a round of 74 from Michael Seaton, a 78 from J.T. Hamm and an 84 by Joey David.

Jeff placed fourth at 313 with junior Matthew Thompson tying two others for second with a round of 73. Taylor Stethen (76), John Rodgers (78) and Nathan Morrow (86) finished the scoring on the day for the Devils.

“I’m happy. We swung the clubs pretty good today,” said Jeff head coach Kelly Thompson. “We finished fourth and it’s a good field of teams. We know this is who we’ll play when we get to the sectional round.”

New Albany was fifth, led by Stephen Kraft’s score of 79. Tourney host Charlestown wound up 10th overall with senior Andrew Smith leading the way with a score of 88.



SOUTHERN INDIANA OPEN

at Hidden Creek Golf Club, Sellersburg, par-70

Team scores — Floyd Central 297, Providence 304, Silver Creek 307, Jeffersonville 313, North Harrison 319, New Albany 320, West Washington 339, Corydon 352, Austin 355, Scottsburg 369, Charlestown 376, Lanesville 403.

Floyd Central — Cadle 73, Rayner 73, Frank 75, Clark 76, Sturgeon 77.

Providence — Rose 75, Pfund 76, Lobeck 76, Frey 77, Vissing 82.

Silver Creek — White 71, Seaton 74, Hamm 78, David 84, Lay 85.

Jeffersonville — Thompson 73, Stethen 76, Rogers 78, Morrow 86, Plummer 97.

New Albany — Kraft 79, Bensing 80, Keeler 80, Miller 81, Moody 83.

Charlestown — Smith 88, Chastain 93, Glenn 93, Merschbrock 102, Grayson 113.

        

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