The big event in the Indiana junior golf world this week is the Boys State Junior Championship, which is taking place at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville.
Already, there is a Hamilton County flavor, which made itself known after the first round of stroke play on Tuesday. Three county golfers currently share the lead.
Carmel’s Jeff Doty and Nick Dentino, and Noblesville’s Clay Merchent all shot two-under par 70s in their first 18 holes. Doty and Merchent both sank five birdies in their rounds, with Dentino making four. Another Carmel golfer, Nick Frey, is in fifth place with an even-par 72, which included four birdies.
Rounding out the county presence in the top 10 are Westfield’s Josh Kehl, who is seventh with a 73, and Carmel’s Cole Harris, who is part of a 10-way tie for eighth place with a 74. Kehl drained four birdies in his round, while Harris made two.
The tournament begins with two 18-hole rounds of stroke play, then the top 64 players are seeded and will begin match play. The event runs through Saturday.
Here is a list of Hamilton County golfers:
T1. Jeff Doty, Carmel 37-33=70; Clay Merchent, Noblesville 36-34=70; Nick Dentino, Carmel, 35-35=70, T5. Nick Frey, Carmel 37-35=72, 7. Josh Kehl, Westfield 36-37=73, T8. Cole Harris, Carmel 38-36=74, T18. Nels Surtani, Noblesville 37-38=75; Nick Katsis, Carmel 37-38=75, T22. Jack Crawford, Carmel 38-38=76; Stephen Kochera, Carmel 39-37=76, T30. Parker Deakyne, Noblesville 37-40=77; Luke Prall, Carmel 38-39=77; Daivic Akala, Fishers 38-39=77, T37. Clay Stirsman, Carmel 39-39=78; Ethan Lutz, Carmel 40-38=78, T46. Shoji Fujita, Carmel 37-42=79; Stephen Hildebrand, Carmel 41-38=79, T52. Mitchell Compton, Noblesville 41-39=80; Daven Bhagar, Carmel 39-42=80; Danny Paris, Noblesville 39-41=80, T61. Jacob Deakyne, Noblesville 39-41=81, T65. Drew Alexander, McCordsville 45-37=82; Benjamin Burgan, Westfield 43-39=82; Drake Biggs, Carmel 43-39=82, T78. Curtis Robertson, Carmel 45-38=83; Luke Mattingly, Fishers 40-43=83, T85. J.D. Dulin, Carmel 42-42=84, T91. Eli Beaverson, Fishers 43-42=85; Nick Fisher, Fishers, 42-43=85, T97. Andrew White, Westfield 42-44=86, T104. Jackson Deets, Carmel 46-43=89; Shivom Patel, Fishers 46-43=89.