Big tourneys testing No. 6 Bloomington South boys golf, plus more midseason observations

The Bloomington South boys golf team has floated around the top 10 all season, as high as No. 2 and currently at No. 6 in the latest coaches poll.

The Panthers have held their own against all the major contenders for the state title this year and will join Bloomington North in heading to the Trophy Club in Brownsburg this weekend for another go at some of the best teams in Indiana.

It continues a run for South that included Jasper Showcase at Sultan Run, Hall of Fame Classic at Rock Hollow and the State Preview at Prairie View, an event that drew all but one of the top-10 ranked teams (Gibson Southern). In the middle of that, the Panthers shot 289 in a dual against Columbus North at Timbergate, the site of the Conference Indiana tourney on Monday.

South turned in a 317 to place fifth at Jasper and another 317 at Prairie View for ninth behind all top-10 ranked teams. The Panthers battled extreme winds but still had a 309 at Rock Hollow for third.

"I'd like to think we'll be more consistent going down the road," South coach Dustin Carver said. "I like where we're at. Coming in third at Rock Hollow, I thought we played pretty well under some tough conditions (30-40 mph wind gusts). Sulton's Run was not our best, but I thought we played OK. I think we're fine and we're going to get better. That 289 at Timbergate, I like that."

Individually, Ball State-bound senior Happy Gilmore has been the steady No. 1 this season. He was fifth at Jasper with a 75, tied for 12th at Rock Hollow with a 76 and tied for seventh at Prairie View with a 75.

Connor Byon has generally been second in line (with a pair of 77s as Jasper and Rock Hollow) while Luke Garrett (72 at Timbergate), Colton Watson (70 at Timbergate) and Carson Gady (78 at Prairie View) have each had big days.

In order to earn a fourth straight berth to state, South will have to get through sectional and then a regional with No. 9 Gibson Southern, No. 10 Evansville North, No. 11 Jasper and No. 12 Castle, so the margins are slim.

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"In order for us to advance, 3-4-5 have to play well," Carver said. "I'm pleased with Carson at 5. Colton and Luke will figure it out. Luke hasn't played many of the tough courses that we play. It is more mental, you've got to stay in the game. Luke has gotten behind the eight-ball at times, but he's got it in him.

"Colton, when he was a freshman (last year), he played No. 4 and his score counted 99 percent of the time, so he knows he what has to do. His talent level is unbelievable, it's just him believing in himself. At Rock Hollow, he wasn't playing well and then decided to put down five birdies in a row."

North continuing to build up

North finished seventh in its own Invitational at Cascades, shooting a 330 to trail sectional opponent Brownstown Central (326) and Micah Sheffer, who has torn up the course in his last two trips there (33 and 71).

It's been a work in progress as graduation took many of the Cougars' mainstays of the last three years.

"We're definitely on a year-long journey to find some consistency, but not consistency as far as where we've been," coach Harrison Carmichael said. "Every person has shown better rounds but we're kind of trending to where 80s are what tend to happen.

"We're always one or two swings away, but those one or two swings are blow-up holes that take you from 75 to 80 real quick."

Grant McCrea and Hogan Conder and Rex Speer have been steady in the Cougars' top three. Eden Yoder put together a pair of his best rounds with a 79 and an 82 at the Invite.

"Grant's been No. 1 all year and Hogan and Rex have flip-flopped but honestly, position in golf doesn't really matter," Carmichael said. "I'm really, really proud of Eden. He's played very well with PRs for him back-to-back. So he's really showing some things are coming together."

There's about a month of the season left to get things squared away and use the familiarity of Cascades to their advantage at sectional.

"I think Grant and Hogan are perfectly capable of shooting 73-75 at Cascades," Carmichael said. "They've shown they can do it. Rex, Alec (Freund), Eden could all be low 80s. That's more than likely what it'll take. BNL and Brownstown had a bit of a downer day (at the North Invite), but you expect them to play better a couple weeks from now.

"From what they've shown, Brownstown is clearly the second-best team in our sectional. South is the best team. So It'll come down to a couple of schools fighting for the third position. But it's your home course, it should leg you leg up."

Edgewood up and down

Edgewood stumbled backward at the North Invite with a 369 but will get another shot at redemption with 18 holes at Cascades this weekend in the Western Indiana Conference meet. Just a few days before, the Mustangs had a 344 in a four-team meet led by a 77 from Carter Cheaney.

Cheaney, Edgewood's usual low scorer had an 86 at the Invite while freshman Hank Ripley was next at 91, then came three 96s. The Mustangs have to figure out how to turn things around if they get off to a bad start.

"It's more mental than anything right now," coach Garry Lee said. "Not handling the adversity very well, which golf is adversity personified most of the time. You're not going to have perfect lies, you're not going to have everything in the fairway and hitting the green every time.

"You have to learn how to grind. And it's just not sinking in right now."

Cheaney, McDonald and Zayne Dwigans are usually atop Edgewood's scoring list with Mitch Deckard and Ripley next, but consistency has been a challenge, especially considering two are new to golf, Dwigans and Ripley and Deckard and McDonald played 4-5 or 5-6 last year, Lee noted.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Big tournaments testing No. 6 Bloomington South boys golf team