BLOOMINGTON — Three spots at each golf sectional are dedicated to the individuals who shot well enough to qualify for regional that weren’t already on a regional-qualifying team.

On Monday at Cascades Golf Course in Bloomington, those three spots went to three Jackson County athletes.

Seymour’s Oliver Kardos, Brownstown Central’s Chandler Stahl and Trinity Lutheran’s Jacob Sabotin all punched their ticket to regional on Monday morning.

“It means quite a lot,” Kardos said. “I’ve never played competitive golf before, so it feels kind of nice to accomplish something.”

Kardos shot a 33-40-73 to get the top individual qualifying spot and place third overall. Seymour as a team shot a 344 and placed fourth overall, Brownstown shot a 345 to place fifth and Trinity shot a 378 to place eighth.

Bloomington South won sectional with a team score of 293.

Kardos grew up playing soccer, which he still plays, but during COVID-19, he couldn’t play soccer as much, so he started playing golf and got into it. He decided to go out for the Owls golf team this spring, and now, he’s heading to regional.

“I was pretty confident coming in,” Kardos said. “I drove the ball pretty good, my irons were good, my wedges were good, my putting on the front (nine) was pretty bad, but I came back on the back (nine) and started doing better.”

Kardos said he missed about three 2-foot putts, which he said he couldn’t afford to do. But the Owl didn’t let it bother him and regrouped for a nice round. At regional, Kardos hopes to break 75 again.

“If I break 75, that would be good golf,” he said.

Other performers for Seymour on Monday were Andon Self, who shot a 44-43-87. Ty Stuckwisch and Manny Fontanez both shot a 45-47-92, and Noah Surface shot a 47-47-94.

For Brownstown, Stahl led the Braves with a 40-41-81 to get the second regional qualifying spot.

Caiden Gwin shot a 43-43-86, Connor Gwin shot a 45-44-89, Matthew Reedy shot a 43-46-89 and Smith Hackman shot a 46-47-93.

“It was a goal for me to get out,” Stahl said. “I didn’t make it last year. I was one off last year. It was big motivation.”

Stahl thought his short game was really solid at Cascades.

“Putting and around the green, I did pretty good,” he said. “I normally hit pretty good approach shots, too.”

The junior said it’s awesome that he’s moving on and hopes to break 80 and shoot high 70s at regional.

The third and final individual to get out was Sabotin, who shot a 37-45-82.

“Today was kind of tricky because the front nine, I played really good, and then the back nine, I just didn’t play well at all, so it felt good to take the score rather than the two 9s and be able to get past sectional and get to regional,” Sabotin said. “That has been something I’ve been working to do for four years.”

The senior said when he finished up hole 18, he thought to himself “all right, that’s it for high school golf,” but that was before he saw how his scores matched up against everyone else.

“Now, that timeline gets extended a bit longer,” Sabotin said.

He thought a big key to his success was keeping the ball in the fairway and playing it safe. When the struggles began to set in on the back nine, Sabotin tried to stay focused and not get too frustrated.

“My dad always told me for the past four years that the only shot that matters is this one and then the next one,” he said. “We talk in golf how you fall seven times, get up an eighth. You just focus on the present.”

At regional, Sabotin is going to enjoy his experience.

“Just play how I play, try to stay around my averages and just have fun,” he said.

The other Trinity performers were Kade Hill, who shot a 48-45-93, Caleb Williams shot a 50-51-101 and Preston Kovener shot a 50-52-102.

Crothersville also played Monday, but because the Tigers only have two golfers, they didn’t account for a team score.

Andrew Stainbrook shot a 61-67-128, while Matthew Clouse shot a 62-70-132.

Jacob Dunn, the athletic director at Crothersville, also took the title of head golf coach for the first time this season. Dunn admired the effort shown by Stainbrook and Clouse throughout the season.

“This was my first year coaching golf, and it was a learning experience for not only the boys but me, as well. I am really proud of the way they kept their heads up all year long, and today was no different,” Dunn said. “They struggled the first nine holes, but they picked it up and scored their best nine score of the year.”

The front nine holes were the second nine Clouse and Stainbrook played. Stainbrook’s 61 and Clouse’s 62 were season-best scores.

“This was really their first time playing 18 holes (weather stopped an 18-hole match at conference). Andrew will be back next year and hope he can build on these last few matches. Matthew graduated and I’m glad he was able to play, and I think he enjoys it to where he can go out and play with his dad and friends,” Dunn said. “The best thing about golf is that it is a lifelong sport. Hopefully, these guys have the itch now and it is something they can do the rest of their life.”

For Kardos, Stahl and Sabotin, regional will be Thursday at Champions Pointe Golf Club at 8 a.m. Tee times for those three will be released later this week.