BLOOMINGTON
Owen Marshall has struggled this year, but on Monday at Cascades Golf Course in Bloomington, the Seymour senior broke through.
Marshall shot his best round of the season by 10 strokes, shooting a 67 through 18 holes and finishing -4 for the day. Fifty-five players over 12 teams competed at the sectional, but none shot better than Marshall.
Happy Gilmore of Bloomington South came the closest with a 70, but Marshall’s 67 gave him the sectional title.
“I honestly can’t tell you,” Marshall said of his emotions following the win. “I just wanted to put together a good enough round today to go to regional if I needed to as an individual. Being individual champ hadn’t really crossed my mind, honestly.”
Marshall knew this could’ve potentially been the end of the road for him if his team didn’t qualify for regional and he didn’t play well.
The goal for Seymour was to qualify as a team, and Marshall said he knew in order to do that, he needed to produce a good round.
“My putter got hot early, and it carried me through the round, honestly,” Marshall said. “I hit a lot of good approach shots and irons well, and I was able to roll some putts in, which was nice.”
Throughout the last couple of holes, Seymour head coach Jim Hoffman said he didn’t even say one word to Marshall.
“When they get in that zone, you don’t really want to disturb them,” Hoffman said. “He was doing everything well. He was putting outstanding. He hit in the greens. He wasn’t in any trouble that I saw.”
On the 18th hole, Marshall’s first shot went a bit right to the green. He chipped it on the green from there, which gave him about a 10- to 12-foot putt downhill to keep par and shoot a 67. Marshall calmly stepped up and drained it.
“That wasn’t an easy shot. That wasn’t an easy putt,” Hoffman said.
Marshall’s 67 also ties the record at Seymour High School for the best score after 18 holes.
“His work ethic, he wants it,” Hoffman said. “Outstanding day for him. He works really hard.”
Unfortunately for the Owls, they didn’t get out of the sectional as a team, finishing one place short. Seymour shot a team score of 335 to finish in fourth place behind Bloomington South (288), Bedford North Lawrence (301) and Bloomington North (315).
“We played well,” Hoffman said. “We played a little shorthanded (Noah Surface was injured), but there’s no excuses. The kids played hard, 335 is a good score.”
Marshall will be heading to regional as an individual, but he won’t he going there alone.
Ethan Dippold shot a 78, his best score of the season, and that earned him the second qualifying spot for regional. Landon Ringler of Edgewood got the third spot with an 82.
“It feels good to finally be able to go to regional,” Dippold said. “It feels good to finally break through. I hit my wedge really well.”
Dippold also is a senior, and after last season getting canceled due to COVID-19, he was pleased to make it to this point in his final year.
“We’re glad for Owen and Ethan both being seniors and getting out (of sectional),” Hoffman said. “Shows a little bit of fight for those two.”
As for Brownstown Central, the Braves finished sixth place on the day with a team score of 362.
Braves head coach Brent Hattabaugh said his team struggled out of the rough a bit.
“I thought we could’ve scored a little better than we did,” he said. “But we did get our personal best for the year for 18 holes. We’re improving.”
Brownstown’s previous best team score through 18 was a 376, so the Braves were 14 strokes better on their final day of competition this season.
Chandler Stahl was the lead man for Brownstown, shooting an 85.
“Chandler hit the ball well off the tee, was in the fairway a lot,” Hattabaugh said.
For four of the five members on Brownstown, it was the first time any of them have ever played in sectional. The Braves had three sophomores, one freshman and one senior play on Monday, so Hattabaugh thinks the future is bright for the program.
“It’ll help us a lot,” he said. “I’ve got younger kids stepping up. I think we’ll be better next year and the next couple years.”
Trinity Lutheran’s season also came to an end on Monday as the Cougars shot a team score of 397 to finish eighth place overall.
Jacob Sabotin led the way with an 86.
{span}”Team played well today. Very proud of them,” Trinity head coach Doug Sabotin said. “Met our goals for the season and finished strong. We did our best, honored God, had fun, played as a team and learned today. Kade (Hill), Caleb (Williams), Preston (Kovener), Jacob, Eli Ballard, Charlie Hackman, Solomon Hall and Andrew Lemming have been a joy to coach. Greg Personett was an awesome assistant. Parents and Trinity athletic department are fantastic.
”Congratulations to Jim Hoffman and the Seymour team for having two players advance to regional, especially huge congratulations to Owen Marshall for lowest overall score.”
Both Marshall and Dippold will continue their seasons Thursday in regional at Champions Pointe Golf Club in Henryville at 8 a.m.
Boys golf sectional results
Cascades Golf Course, Bloomington
Team scores: Bloomington South 288, Bedford North Lawrence 301, Bloomington North 315, Seymour 335, Edgewood 357, Brownstown Central 362, Salem 396, Trinity Lutheran 397, Mitchell 432, Brown County 463, West Washington 465, Lighthouse Christian Academy NTS.
Individual results
Seymour: Owen Marshall 67, Ethan Dippold 78, Andon Self 95, Andrew Knieriem 95, Ty Stuckwisch 100.
Brownstown Central: Chandler Stahl 85, Caden Clodfelder 90, Elix Preston 92, Jaren Cunningham 95, Caiden Gwin 102.
Trinity Lutheran: Jacob Sabotin 86, Kade Hill 95, Caleb Williams 107, Preston Kovener 109.