By RYAN WALKER
The Bluffton boys’ golf team defeated both Southern Wells and Jay County at Dogwood Glen Golf Club Tuesday afternoon.
The Tigers shot 178 on the day, with Keegan Schwartz leading the way individually with a score of 42. Kade Abbett was second, shooting a 43, followed by Connor Klopfenstein (46), Declan Grieser (47), and Ephraim Frauhiger (49).
The conditions were a little chilly, and some wind challenged the group for what was an oddly abnormal golf outing considering the weather had been better than 55 degrees this year.
Though head coach Steve Abbett noted that his top two guys didn’t have the best outings, he thought the other three helped pull out the victory.
“I thought the conditions were actually pretty tough today,” Abbett said. “It was sunny, but there was enough of a breeze to really test the boys’ shot selection. With that being said, I thought we played well. Schwartz and Frauhiger didn’t have their best rounds, but I thought Klopfenstein, Abbett, and Grieser helped balance out the team score. It was a good win against two good teams.”
The Tigers were also greeted with its first road match away from Timber Ridge. Coach Abbett is always looking to see where his Tigers are at when they’re away from home for the first time. He liked what he saw, for the most part, other than a few areas to clean up.
“As a coach, it’s always interesting to see how your team will perform away from their home turf,” he said. “Again, I thought we held our own, but at the same time, our short game was a little off. We definitely need to get better at putting on different greens. After tomorrow’s match, we have three away matches, so hopefully, we can get better in that area.”
Southern Wells came in third with a score of 200, just two behind Jay County. Leading the Raiders individually was Gabe McElhaney, with a score of 43, followed by Tristen Worster (51), Chandler Oswalt (52), Bailey Couch (54), and Quinton Mullins (65).
Raiders head coach Ross Palmer, who also led the girls’ team to their first sectional championship and regional appearance this past fall, was excited to see his guys compete the way they did on Tuesday, already showing signs of growth on a relatively new team.
“The match went well. I was happy to see a few of our guys show improvement from their scores last week,” Palmer said. “Particularly, Gabe McElhaney has had a really nice start to the season.”
Both Bluffton and Southern Wells will have their first weekend invitational starting at 9 a.m. this Saturday. Palmer is looking for his group to keep the momentum rolling in the next few weeks and get better as the season goes forward.
“I think as a team, we have started well,” he said. “We have shown moments of success. Now we just need to work on that consistency through a round of golf and from one day to the next. I look for the next few weeks to start showing more of that consistent ball striking and improvement in course management.
The match on Saturday will take place at Wabash Valley Golf Course.
Jay County’s Caleb DeRome was the medalist with a score of 41.
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