TERRE HAUTE — This has been the week for high school boys’ sectionals and regionals for the schools in the Tribune Star readership area in Indiana. My son Phillip, who is a senior on Terre Haute South’s golf team, has experienced the highs and lows of these tournaments. Last year he was devastated when his team didn’t advance to the regionals and individually he missed moving on by one stroke. His ultimate goal this year was to get back to the state tournament, because he considers the team of 2006 and their second place finish at the state the highlight of his life so far. That team had Travis Smith, Mark Metheny, Conner Clinkenbeard, Ryan Shelly, and Phillip on it. Travis made that team really strong because he was so consistent and could shoot low scores. When two or three of the other four players also came through with good rounds, they usually won or placed very well in tournaments.
This year South’s team is very deep. If they could play matches as 10-man teams instead of five, they could beat almost anybody in the state because they have so many players that can shoot in the 70’s. But high school golf matches aren’t played that way, so Coach Chris Cassell has had the unenviable position of choosing only five players each weekend, which is a great luxury, but tough to do. South has remained undefeated in dual matches and has placed no worse than 5th in multi-team matches, thanks to many players coming through with good scores, particularly junior Zach Hoskings and freshman Thomas Goss. Freshman Jackson Jarvis came through with 78’s that were clutch at both the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference tournament and at sectionals. Ian White, a senior, has also come through a couple of times to lead the team, including their own Braves Invitational. I’m grateful that Coach Cassell hung in there with Phillip on the roster, even though he had some rounds that were not up to his potential. And believe me, they were hard to watch at times. The weirdest match was the Brownsburg Invitational at West Chase Golf Course. It was an extremely windy day, and most of the boys on the course were struggling with course management, but that wasn’t Phillip’s problem. He hit 16 greens in regulation that day. His drives were great, and usually right down the middle. His problem was that he was hitting greens, but not very close to the pins, so he had ten 3-putts, nine of them on consecutive holes! It was tortuous to watch! After about the fourth 3-putt, we kept thinking he had to 2-putt this next hole. The problem was that the greens were big and slow, so it took a mighty whack to get that first putt close, and when he didn’t, he’d miss. He ended up shooting an 83, with 45 putts. He has since added some lead tape to his putter, and has been putting great since then. Other kinks have been worked out this season, and Cassell’s faith in Phillip paid off in a couple of the big tournaments, the MIC Championship and the regional at Country Oaks.
Now with the state tournament coming up, they need everybody to put their best rounds together for a couple of days. If they can do that at The Legends on Tuesday and Wednesday, they should place very high in the standings. What they all have to remember is that every single stroke counts. A chip-in or a great putt can mean the difference between first place and third. If you have a bad hole, forget about it and move on. Don’t give up, or get down on yourself. Don’t be intimidated by the event or the venue. It’s just a golf course, and it’s just another match, although play will be really slow so it will be a long day. Keep your game face on and pull it all together for your teammates. Have fun, and enjoy your moment!
I also have a message for the teams and players who didn’t get through sectionals or regionals. Golf is not always fair, and it certainly isn’t easy. Set some goals for yourself, and work toward having a better team next year. If you’re a senior and didn’t get to move on, remember that you have lots of amateur golf ahead of you. Golf is a sport that you don’t have to give up after high school. You can continue playing golf with your buddies in the future, as long as you’re physically capable, and if you can afford the gas to get to the course!
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Quote of the week: “Forget your opponents; always play against par.” – Sam Snead.
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Upcoming Events: The THWGA will have their Ringer Tournament at Rea Park on June 14 and 15 beginning at 8 a.m. Call Candy McCord at (812) 230-1090 for more information.
On & Off the Course
On & Off the Course: A mother’s perspective
- On & Off the Course
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
• Gary R. Wright
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Donna Lynn Strahla Bown
Donna Lynn Strahla Bown passed away early Friday morning, Jan. 25, 2013, with her children by her side.
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‘The Match’ pitting amateurs vs. pros recalled 62 years later
Quote of the Day: “I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.” — Ben Hogan.
Bubba Watson has had a busy fall. Not only did he play all the way to the final round of the FedEx Championships, and in the Ryder Cup, he also played in an event commemorating a very famous match played at Cypress Point in 1956, pitting two of the greatest golf pros at the time against two of the best amateurs.
Come to think of it, all four were some of the best golfers of all time. This year’s event was celebrating The First Tee’s exceeding $100 million in pledges to reach 10 million new young people. It wasn’t televised and kept very quiet; only 225 people were in the gallery.
One of the people in the gallery was Mark Frost, the author of a book titled “The Match,” which is about that match played 62 years ago that was re-enacted in modern terms last week. The pros in 1956 were Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and the amateurs were Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward. It was supposed to have been a private affair, built around a wager by two millionaires, George Coleman and Eddie Lowery. -
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf from the wrong side of the brain
Imagine this scenario: a woman, small in stature (possibly freckled), walks into a hospital emergency room and says, “I have an emergency, I need a doctor quickly!” The admitting nurse, ever trying to be helpful, asks what the emergency is.
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Farmers looking at widely varying yields
Combines will roll through fields this weekend, bringing in the harvest from a summer with nearly no rain.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf debut in London would have been nice
As the Olympics get underway in London this weekend, I was thinking it’s too bad that the Olympic committee decided too late to add golf as one of the sports for this event; instead it will be added to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Getting to Hoosier country’s best golfing venue part of the fun
If you are looking for Indiana’s premier golfing destination, then you should look no further than French Lick.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Indiana's Pete Dye courses worth the drive
You’ve probably heard of the Robert Trent Jones Golf trail throughout Alabama, but you might not be aware that Indiana has its own “Pete Dye Golf Trail” comprised of seven courses.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fathers typically a big influence on golfing sons
Some events fall naturally into place around holidays. The Fourth of July always falls somewhere during Wimbledon, giving all of the Yanks in attendance something to be boisterous about, to the chagrin of their hosts; The Masters often, but not always, ends on Easter Sunday, which is fitting since golfers find it such a reverent occasion.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Memorial just one of many visions of Jack Nicklaus
When Jack Nicklaus was a young man, the golfer he most admired was Bob Jones.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
Golf is not a casual sport, even though it has a term called “casual water.”
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On and off the course: Sycamores seeded sixth heading into MVC golf tourney
It wasn’t too long ago that Indiana State University didn’t even have a women’s golf team.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: A hard ticket to come by
This is the weekend of the Masters Tournament, the first of the four major tournaments.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
It’s not often that anything gets more scary on a golf course than a steep downhill putt, but on some courses around the world, things a little more on the supernatural side might give you a bigger fright!
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
I don’t know if the Golf Channel will show a “Best Shots of 2011” highlight reel, much like ESPN does for baseball or football.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
In 2006, the Ryder Cup was held in Ireland at The K Club in County Kildare.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
Once the major tournaments are over with, what’s there to look forward to in the world of golf?
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
Golf is not a simple game. A golf course is made up of 18 holes, all different. There are par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; they all vary in length and elevation, and each has its own challenges. There can be water hazards, trees, sand bunkers, tall grass, hills, valleys — and then, if that’s not enough, there’s probably wind too.
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
Northern Ireland is only about 5,452 square miles in area and has a population about the same as West Virginia, which is about 1,880,344.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
This is the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open, and this year it’s being played at The Broadmoor, East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
Most people consider the time around Christmas to be the gift-buying season.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper to understand that America is struggling on the economic front. The evidence can be witnessed at the local golf course.
- More On & Off the Course Headlines
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
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Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl
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Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter
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RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
