Pirates sail to victory in IVC Postseason tourney, anchored by Troyer’s 70
“Just keep on walking,” said Caleb Schlabach to Hiland assistant golf coach Wayne Troyer as Troyer approached Schlabach, Tyler Grate and Neil Gingerich following the finish of their 18-hole rounds at River Greens Golf Course in West Lafayette at the Inter-Valley Conference Postseason Golf Tournament.
Troyer grinned, understood and kept right on walking without even raising a question as to what the trio had shot.
What they had shot was quite a long way off what they had hoped to shoot heading into the IVC tournament, where they had high hopes of competing with favorites Garaway and Ridgewood.
In the end, Hiland’s 339 was a far cry from Garaway’s winning score of 318, fell short of Ridgewood’s 323 and even was off the pace of third-place Malvern’s 335.
The fourth place finish did not elate any of the players, nor their coaches, and they know they will have to improve if they want to advance out of the Sectional Tournament on Tuesday, Sept. 27, especially with all three of the teams ahead of them in the field, plus several others which could conceivably keep the Hawks from advancing.
“Those were not the scores we were looking for today,” said Kaufman. “I don’t know what happened. It really was a perfect day weather-wise, but nobody shot well.”
Fifth man Justin Yoder paced the Hawks with an 82, while Gingerich carded an 85, Schlabach and B.J. Miller each scored 86 and Grate came in with an 89. Nobody imploded, but nobody had their A-game either, and they know it will take better to advance out of Sectionals.
“I couldn’t hit any greens and I couldn’t make any putts,” said Schlabach of his round, which ended with him dunking one into the pond on the final hole. “That’s not a good combination.”
To a man, all of the Hawks enjoy playing River Greens. Miller said it is a fun course to play, noting, “When you’re playing well, there are a lot of birdie opportunities out here. But then again, I wasn’t playing well.”
“I’m surprised my score is as good as it is, considering the way I felt I was playing,” added Gingerich.
One player who was burning up the course was Jake Troyer, Garaway’s number one man who is headed for golf factory Kent State University after his senior year. The smooth-swinging righty led all scorers, firing a 33 on the front and coming home with a 70 after he too, like Schlabach, dunked one in the drink on the final hole.
Garaway’s second man, Cody Mast, played well, firing a 78, while Adam Andreas recovered from a horrid front nine 46 to shoot a 37 on the back for an 83, which included a beautiful 30 yard chip-in on the back side. Jon Mason’s 87 rounded out the scoring for the winners.
“The kids played well,” said Garaway coach Ryan Taggart. “I thought we were playing the white tees, and I told the kids a good score would be a 315. To shoot a 318 from the back tees is really good here.”
Taggert said that the victory gives his team an idea as to where they stand heading into Sectional play, and that it should help build their confidence since they will face these same teams there. After struggling on the front side as a team, Taggart said the Pirates rebounded nicely, on the back, something he was proud of.
“We hung in there after a tough start,” said Taggart. “We stayed positive and we played great golf on the back. The kids proved that they were resilient, and they now know what they’re capable of shooting here. But does that give us an edge in Sectionals? If we are at Sectionals talking about what we did at the IVC tournament last week, then we really haven’t accomplished anything at all. It only shows us what we are capable of shooting. It doesn’t help us win anything come Sectional tournament time.”
While Ridgewood’s one and two men, Tanner Stoffer (86) and Ty Davis (81) put up subpar numbers for them, Dillon McPherson and Seth Finton made the Generals a contender, both firing fine 78s. Those two, along with Malvern two-man Jordan Glick, who shot a 77, and Garaway’s duo, were the only players under 80 on the day.
Kaufman said that the Hawks have hit a tough spot in the schedule, which may have attributed to the struggles. After playing nine times in a span of 13 days from August 22 to Sept. 3, the Hawks then experienced a lengthy lay-off, playing just twice in the next 13 days.
Schlabach agreed, noting, “At one point we were playing competitively just about every day, and then all of a sudden we’re not playing at all. It makes it tougher to stay sharp, especially since we had been scoring pretty well up to that point. But we can’t use excuses, we have to play better when it comes time for Sectionals.”
Troyer grinned, understood and kept right on walking without even raising a question as to what the trio had shot.
What they had shot was quite a long way off what they had hoped to shoot heading into the IVC tournament, where they had high hopes of competing with favorites Garaway and Ridgewood.
In the end, Hiland’s 339 was a far cry from Garaway’s winning score of 318, fell short of Ridgewood’s 323 and even was off the pace of third-place Malvern’s 335.
The fourth place finish did not elate any of the players, nor their coaches, and they know they will have to improve if they want to advance out of the Sectional Tournament on Tuesday, Sept. 27, especially with all three of the teams ahead of them in the field, plus several others which could conceivably keep the Hawks from advancing.
“Those were not the scores we were looking for today,” said Kaufman. “I don’t know what happened. It really was a perfect day weather-wise, but nobody shot well.”
Fifth man Justin Yoder paced the Hawks with an 82, while Gingerich carded an 85, Schlabach and B.J. Miller each scored 86 and Grate came in with an 89. Nobody imploded, but nobody had their A-game either, and they know it will take better to advance out of Sectionals.
“I couldn’t hit any greens and I couldn’t make any putts,” said Schlabach of his round, which ended with him dunking one into the pond on the final hole. “That’s not a good combination.”
To a man, all of the Hawks enjoy playing River Greens. Miller said it is a fun course to play, noting, “When you’re playing well, there are a lot of birdie opportunities out here. But then again, I wasn’t playing well.”
“I’m surprised my score is as good as it is, considering the way I felt I was playing,” added Gingerich.
One player who was burning up the course was Jake Troyer, Garaway’s number one man who is headed for golf factory Kent State University after his senior year. The smooth-swinging righty led all scorers, firing a 33 on the front and coming home with a 70 after he too, like Schlabach, dunked one in the drink on the final hole.
Garaway’s second man, Cody Mast, played well, firing a 78, while Adam Andreas recovered from a horrid front nine 46 to shoot a 37 on the back for an 83, which included a beautiful 30 yard chip-in on the back side. Jon Mason’s 87 rounded out the scoring for the winners.
“The kids played well,” said Garaway coach Ryan Taggart. “I thought we were playing the white tees, and I told the kids a good score would be a 315. To shoot a 318 from the back tees is really good here.”
Taggert said that the victory gives his team an idea as to where they stand heading into Sectional play, and that it should help build their confidence since they will face these same teams there. After struggling on the front side as a team, Taggart said the Pirates rebounded nicely, on the back, something he was proud of.
“We hung in there after a tough start,” said Taggart. “We stayed positive and we played great golf on the back. The kids proved that they were resilient, and they now know what they’re capable of shooting here. But does that give us an edge in Sectionals? If we are at Sectionals talking about what we did at the IVC tournament last week, then we really haven’t accomplished anything at all. It only shows us what we are capable of shooting. It doesn’t help us win anything come Sectional tournament time.”
While Ridgewood’s one and two men, Tanner Stoffer (86) and Ty Davis (81) put up subpar numbers for them, Dillon McPherson and Seth Finton made the Generals a contender, both firing fine 78s. Those two, along with Malvern two-man Jordan Glick, who shot a 77, and Garaway’s duo, were the only players under 80 on the day.
Kaufman said that the Hawks have hit a tough spot in the schedule, which may have attributed to the struggles. After playing nine times in a span of 13 days from August 22 to Sept. 3, the Hawks then experienced a lengthy lay-off, playing just twice in the next 13 days.
Schlabach agreed, noting, “At one point we were playing competitively just about every day, and then all of a sudden we’re not playing at all. It makes it tougher to stay sharp, especially since we had been scoring pretty well up to that point. But we can’t use excuses, we have to play better when it comes time for Sectionals.”
Published: September 22, 2011
