They were close at the sectional, they were close at the regional, so it should be expected that the Guerin Catholic and Carmel boys golf teams would be close at the state meet, which began Tuesday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
Actually, at Tuesday’s first round, the two teams weren’t just close. They were tied. Both the No. 1-ranked Golden Eagles and the No. 2 ranked Greyhounds both carded team scores of 301. Both teams held the lead at different parts of the day: Carmel jumped out to an early advantage, then Guerin Catholic moved ahead late in the afternoon.
Both teams, as well as the other state qualifiers, had to contend with intermittent wind and a tough back nine.
“Three of my players played very solid today,” said GC coach Mark Matthews. “We’ve got to tighten some things up. The back side played really hard for everybody. And it played really hard for us as well. We did not finish very well. Got some work to do.”
Andrew White led the Golden Eagles with a 73, with Connor McNeely and Jacob Modleski both carding 74s. Christian Hein scored an 80 and led Guerin in birdies with four. White drained three birdies, Modleski and Leo Wessel, who carded an 82, both had two and McNeely had one.
Patrick Michael was the Greyhounds’ low man with a 73, with Shoji Fujita scoring a 75. Michael led the birdie count with three, while Fujita and Joseph Armfield (77) both had two. Sam Booth (76) and Owen Sander (82) each made one birdie.
Hamilton Southeastern was in 10th place after the first round with a score of 325. Cole Starnes led the Royals with a 78, including two birdies. Lane Zedrick added a 79 and Tyler Marcinko scored an 82. Both made one birdie.
Fishers is in 15th place by scoring 339. Matthew Wolf scored a 78, making one birdie. Connor McMillan and Will Schade both scored 86; Schade included two birdies in his round. Matthew Albright had one birdie as well.
In the individual standings, White and Michael are part of a three-way tie for fourth place, with Modleski and McNeely part of a six-way tie for seventh place. Also in the seventh-place tie is Westfield’s Alec Cesare, who scored a 74, including three birdies.
Cesare is playing as an individual for the Shamrocks, as is Hunter Cook, who scored 85 in the first round. Cook made one birdie.
The second round at the state meet begins at 8 a.m. today. Guerin Catholic and Carmel will play with Center Grove (in third place with a 304), with the players teeing off hole No. 1 between 9:48 and 10:24 a.m.
Fishers will tee off on hole No. 10 between 8:18 and 8:54 a.m., with Southeastern also going off No. 10, between 9:03 and 9:39 a.m. Cesare starts off No. 1 at 8:09 a.m., while Cook begins off No. 10 at 10:15 a.m.
Team scores: Carmel 301, Guerin Catholic 301, Center Grove 304, Zionsville 306, Bloomington South 311, Columbia City 312, Bishop Dwenger 318, Penn 323, Cathedral 324, Hamilton Southeastern 325, Brebeuf Jesuit 328, Evansville North 331, Avon 335, Franklin Community 336, Fishers 339.
Carmel scores: Patrick Michael 34-39=73, Shoji Fujita 37-38=75, Sam Booth 37-39=76, Joseph Armfield 34-43=77, Owen Sander 41-41=82.
Guerin Catholic scores: Andrew White 36-37=73, Connor McNeely 36-38=74, Jacob Modleski 36-38=74, Christian Hein 37-43=80, Leo Wessel 40-42=82.
Southeastern scores: Cole Starnes 37-41=78, Lane Zedrick 39-40=79, Tyler Marcinko 39-43=82, Nate Benson 43-43=86, Tyler Lacy 47-46=93.
Fishers scores: Matthew Wolf 38-40=78, Connor McMillan 41-45=86, Will Schade 39-47=86, Ryan Witt 45-44=89, Matthew Albright 48-53=101.
Westfield scores: T7. Alec Cesare 36-38=74, Hunter Cook 44-41=85.