BLOOMINGTON— The postseason for boys’ golf began on Monday for area golfers, as Brownstown Central, Seymour, and Trinity Lutheran competed at Cascades Golf Course in Bloomington.

The Braves ended their day with a second-place team finish and advanced to the regional in Washington on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. This is the first time in history Brownstown boys’ golf have advanced to regionals in back-to-back seasons.

Happy Gilmore of Bloomington South took medalist honors with a 66, while the Panthers won the Sectional with a team score of 278. Brownstown scored 309, while Seymour ended with 369, and Trinity Lutheran finished with 441.

Brownstown was led by Micah Sheffer and Caiden Gwin. Sheffer shot 1-under par for a 70, while Gwin recorded his personal best of 73 on 18-holes

Both players spoke about their performances on Monday.

“I feel like I played just okay today,” Sheffer said. “I missed quite a bit of putts and I just felt like I never got into a groove today. My lack of mistakes is what allowed me to end up in third place. My par-five scoring was very good today too, being three-under on them.”

“I thought I had a solid performance today; I made a few mistakes that are easily correctable,” Gwin said. “But overall, I hit my driver well and was able to make a few putts.”

Braves Head Coach Brent Hattabaugh spoke about the rounds from both of his players.

“I thought Micah and Caiden played well today,” Hattabaugh said. “Caiden had his personal best, Matthew and Smith struggled at the start, but played a lot better on the back 9.”

Matthew Reedy, and Smith Hackman carded an 83, while Collin Downing finished with a score of 88. Sheffer and Gwin were asked about their favorite part of being on the Brownstown golf team.

“I’ve grown up playing with all these guys my whole life,” Sheffer said. “They are a great group of guys, and I can’t ask for anyone better to play with. I feel like we are a very determined group of people and I feel like that has been the reason for our success.”

“What makes this team special is that we’ve all been playing together a long time, and everyone puts the team first,” Gwin said.

Seymour was led by Luke Baker, who carded an 87. Kirby Tormoehlen ended with a 90, while Noah Wineinger recorded a 91. Zarik Black ended with a 101, while Jay Herbert finished with a 110

Seymour Head Coach Jim Hoffman spoke about the Owls finishing on Monday.

“We got off to not so good of a start,” Hoffman said. “I’m not sure if it was nerves or what, it’s happened all year. The mental side of the game is getting us. This far in the season I don’t think it is experience. But we are young and will have everyone back.

The coach spoke about Kirby Tormoehlen hitting his goal of under 40 and talked about the improvement from the Owls this year.

“He brought it on the back 9, we set a goal of 40 and he did it,” Hoffman said. “We have gotten better throughout this season. It’s about putting it all together at the same time.”

Trinity ended in 12th place, behind a 106 from Nolan Teipen. Alex Overgaard followed with a 110, while Wylie Jones carded a 112. Rylan Adair finished with 113. Head Coach Kim Overgaard spoke about the performance from the Cougars in Bloomington.

“We had our ups-and-downs but overall, the guys did pretty well,” Overgaard said. “Our total tied our low score for an 18-hole event. Being as young as we were this year, I thought they all made improvements that will benefit the team next year.”

Seymour and Trinity will gear up for their 2024-25 seasons. Hoffman and Overgaard spoke about some goals for next year.

“Next year we need to focus hard on course management and being tougher mentally,” Hoffman said. “I’m proud of where we got to, and we know what we need to do to get to the next level.”

“The big thing is that they continue to play as much as they can this summer,” Overgaard said. “If possible, to get some lessons that will improve their swings.”

Brownstown competes in Washington at Country Oaks Golf Course on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. The Braves have the fourth-best score heading into Regionals, while the top-three advance to State. Coach Hattabaugh believes Brownstown has a shot to make it out.

“I believe our sixth-place finish at Regionals last season, plus the showcase tournaments we have played in this year gives us the confidence to compete at regional,” he said. “We have played against almost every team in our regional.”

Gwin and Sheffer both spoke about the chance to compete in the regional on Thursday.

“Last year we gained experience playing in the regional, which will hopefully help us this year,” Gwin said. “I’m looking forward to playing some good golf and putting together a good team score.”

“This is one of my favorite courses to play on,” Sheffer said. “It’s special to me because I got my first hole-in-one at this course. The Country Oaks staff do a great job of putting the course in great shape for golfers to play at. I feel if we come ready to go on Thursday, that we have a shot to make it state.”

Sheffer spoke about some keys for the Braves.

“We have to go out and play our game and minimize the mistakes,” he said. “I think if we do that, next week we will be playing in the state championship.”

Brownstown’s golfers will tee off from 9:20-10:00 a.m. on Thursday at the regional.

The 2023-24 State Finals are on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, taking place at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, starting at 8 a.m., on both days.

Sectional Golf — Cascades Golf Course

Team Scores: 1, Bloomington South, 278. 2, Brownstown Central, 309. 3, Bloomington North, 315. 4, Bedford North-Lawrence, 332. 5, Edgewood, 356. 6, West Washington, 360. 7, Brown County, 362. 8, Seymour, 369. 9, Salem, 373. 10, Owen Valley, 392. 11, Mitchell, 426. 12, Trinity Lutheran, 441.

Individual Scores:

Brownstown Central: 1, Micah Sheffer, 70. 2, Caiden Gwin, 73. T-3, Matthew Reedy, 83. T-3, Smith Hackman, 83. T-5, Collin Downing, 88.

Seymour: 1, Luke Baker, 87. 2, Kirby Tormoehlen, 90. 3, Noah Wineinger, 91. 4, Zarik Black, 101. 5, Jay Herbert, 110.

Trinity Lutheran: 1, Nolan Teipen, 106. 2, Alex Overgaard, 110. 3, Wylie Jones, 112. 4, Rylan Adair, 113.