Owls, Cougars compete in Jennings County Invitational

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NORTH VERNON

While there weren’t any green jackets being handed out to the victors, there was still plenty to play for on the links over the weekend.

Two Jackson County boys golf squads took on an 11-team field at the Jennings County Invitational Saturday.

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Seymour placed fifth with a score of 333 while Trinity Lutheran totaled 347 for eighth place in the 18-hole tournament held at St. Anne’s Golf Course in North Vernon.

Madison won the tournament with a 323 followed by Greensburg, Columbus East and Whiteland, which all scored 330s. The final placings were determined by the score of each team’s fifth golfer.

Seymour, Jennings County (335), Southwestern (336), Trinity, Austin (362), Shelbyville (377) and South Decatur (448) followed. Shawe Memorial did not field a full team.

Scoring a 2-under-par 68, Southwestern’s Hunter Mefford was the overall medalist.

Seymour’s Ethan Dippold placed 10th overall on the afternoon, shooting a 78. Owen Marshall (81), Tom Hoffmeier (83), Conner Hinton (91) and Brady Jackson (92) completed the Owls’ varsity.

“We had three career-bests for 18-hole rounds,” Owls coach Jim Hoffman said. “There has been a lot of competition in practices. The kids have had to work really hard for everything they have. I think it is helping us keep focused.”

The Owls will see Jennings County, Madison, and Columbus East all again on May 13 at the Hoosier Hills Conference meet at Sunrise Golf Course in Madison.

“It looks like we will be able to beat a couple and maybe barely get inched out by a couple,” Hoffman said. “It bodes well for us going forward. I’m excited. We’re really young, we brought five sophomores, three freshman and two juniors today. We just need to put some more work in. I think it’s going to be a great year by the end of the year.”

Going into the team’s second tourney of the spring, Trinity Lutheran coach Greg Personett wanted to see how his team would adjust to the course.

“I was looking for our guys to minimize errors,” Personett said. “I think it happened to a certain extent. I think some players did that and it helped improve their schools. I was looking for more consistency in our putting and short game.”

Jacob Keith led the Cougars with an 84. Jacob Sabotin carded an 85 while Ryland Nierman (87), Josiah Foster (91) and Mark Shoemaker (93) completed Trinity’s five.

“Jacob Sabotin had an excellent score for a freshman,” Personett said. “He said he attributed it to putting. He had around 12 one-putts today. He also struck the ball and kept it in play, and I think it was a key to his game today.”

The Cougars have an atypical roster for the 2019 season: all of its players are either seniors or freshmen.

“You would like to have a nice mix all the way through with the grades, but we have no middle gears. It’s a little difficult from a standpoint that the freshmen want to stay together and the seniors want to stay together. We need them to integrate, and they’re starting to do that and bond. We have a good group of freshmen, and the seniors are leaders, it’s starting to work out for us.”

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