BROWNSTOWN
Chanler Fleetwood had an excellent season for the Brownstown Central boys golf team and topped off his year by being named the Braves’ most valuable player.
His honor was announced by Coach Brandon Allman during the team’s awards program at the administration center Monday night.
Allman described Fleetwood as a “gung-ho” golfer.
“I told someone that during (Fleetwood’s) freshman season, I don’t know if I had ever seen anyone as gung-ho about golf as him,” Allman said. “He missed qualifying for the regional by a few strokes. He had a great senior year.”
Allman said Fleetwood did not play golf his junior year to concentrate on fishing, and this spring he averaged 89.5 strokes for 18 holes and 45 strokes for nine-hole matches.
Fleetwood was low man for the Braves in the sectional at the Indiana University course with an 87.
Fleetwood also was named to the Mid-Southern Conference first team, as he tied for third medalist with an 83.
Gavin Bane received the mental attitude award.
“The sport didn’t come easy to Gavin,” Allman said. “The underclassmen looked up to him. He always had a smile on his face. I enjoyed watching him play other sports at the high school.”
Bane ran track in the past. Bane and Fleetwood were the only two seniors on the team this spring, and Allman said he was pleased that both of them played.
Brayton Hattabaugh, the only junior on the team, was named the most improved player.
Hattabaugh lowered his 18-hole average by 6.3 strokes from his sophomore year to 90.4 strokes this spring, and he lowered his nine-hole scores by four strokes to an average of 42.7.
“Nobody on the team worked harder in practice,” Allman said. “He needs to continue to work on the mental and the physical part of the game.”
Hattabaugh also made the All-MSC team for shooting an 87 in the tournament played at Wooded View in Clarksville.
“It was a positive year,” Allman said. “Coming into the season I didn’t know what to expect. We had two seniors with not much tournament experience. As I look back we had a much better year than I expected. The credit goes to the seven guys.”
The Braves finished 31-28, were second in the MSC, third in the Mustang (Edgewood) Invite and seventh in the sectional.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Allman said. “We lose two seniors, and we’ve got three eighth-graders coming up. I hope the returning players are around the course every day.”