On Wednesday, Carmel graduate and current Purdue golfer Nick Dentino was at Prairie View Golf Club to cheer on the Greyhounds at the IHSAA state meet.
Dentino was the defending IHSAA state champion, having won as a senior for Carmel in 2019. Now a sophomore for the Boilermakers, Dentino picked up another significant title by winning the Indiana PGA Northern Open, which took place Monday at Ackerman-Allen Course in West Lafayette.
At the one-day event, Dentino finished with a four-under par 67. That included six birdies. Another Carmel graduate, Clay Stirsman, tied for third with a one-under par 70, making two birdies. Stirsman just completed his freshman season at Wake Forest.
Meanwhile, former Noblesville and Ball State star was busy throughout the spring, with solid finishes in a handful of Indiana PGA tournaments. Steger began the season on April 5 by tying for second place at the Club Car Stroke Play Championship at Franklin’s Hillview Country Club.
That was the first of three top 10 finishes for Steger this spring. He tied for eighth place at the Indiana PGA Southern Open, another one-day event that took place April 19 at Sultan’s Run Golf Course in Jasper.
Steger then finished third at the Indianapolis Open, a 36-hole event on May 17 and 18 at Carmel’s Woodland Country Club. Steger finished with a two-day score of 138, six under par, and made 10 birdies during the tournament.
In women’s play, county golfers had a strong showing at the Women’s State Amateur Championships, which took place last week at Prairie View. Carmel’s Haylin Harris, now at Michigan State, finished second at the three-day event with a two-under par 214. Harris drained 10 birdies in her round.
Westfield’s Gabriella Gilrowski (now at Georgetown University) and Jocelyn Bruch (at Purdue), placed third and fourth respectively, both making nine birdies each. Another Westfield golfer, the University of Indianapolis’ Cailyn Henderson, tied for fifth. She totaled eight birdies in her three rounds. Samantha Brown, a sophomore-to-be at Westfield, finished in 10th place, making seven birdies.
Another important tournament was the IWGA Indiana Championship, which was June 6 at Ackerman-Allen. Fishers’ Kristtini Hunt and Westfield’s Adrienne Montalone (now at University of Illinois at Chicago) tied for eighth place.
Here is a list of results from events this spring.
Club Car Stroke Play Championship, April 5, Hillview Country Club, Franklin
T2. Eric Steger, Westfield, 70, T10. Rick Witt, Bridgewater, 73, T18. Fred Mattingly, Gray Eagle, 75, T23. Patrick White, Woodland Country Club, 76, 29. Mark Nance, Plum Creek, 79, T30. Nate Holm, Crooked Stick, 80; Harrison Joyner, Crooked Stick, 80, T36. Jesse Hughes, Golf Carmel, 81, 39. Patrick Dodson, The Sagamore, 82.
April 12-13, PGA Tournament of Champions – Regular Division, Fort Wayne
4. Zach Dryer, Noblesville, 72-78=150, T5. Ivan Foster, Bridgewater, 76-77=153.
April 12-13, PGA Tournament of Champions – Senior Division, Fort Wayne
7. Fred Mattingly, Noblesville, 75-75=150, 8. Brad Mays, Pebble Brook 73-80=153, 9. David Carich, Harbour Trees, 77-79=156, T10. Jon Stutz, Pebble Brook 81-81=162.
April 19, Indiana PGA Southern Open, Sultan’s Run Golf Course, Jasper
T8. Eric Steger, Westfield 73; Nels Surtani, Noblesville, 73, T11. Justin Wenger, Carmel, 74, T14. Cole Harris, Carmel 75; Michael Walters, Carmel, 75, T28. David Carich, Harbour Trees, 78; Luke Prall, Carmel, 78, T34. Patrick White, Woodland Country Club, 79, T46. Brad Fellers, Prairie View, 81; Lee Crannell, Carmel, 81; Jeff Adamson, Fishers, 81, T56. Jesse Hughes, Golf Carmel, 82; Brad Mays, Pebble Brook, 82; Steven Hoffman, Carmel, 82, T63. Mike Cline, Carmel, 83, T74. Nate Holm, Crooked Stick, 84, T78. Patrick Dodson, The Sagamore, 85; Ivan Foster, Bridgewater, 85, T83. Eli Beaverson, Prairie View, 86, T91. Brian Harris, Carmel, 88, T94. Jim Huseman, Noblesville, 89, T97. Jack Peacock, Carmel, 92.
May 17-18, Indiana PGA Indianapolis Open, Woodland Country Club, Carmel
3. Eric Steger, Westfield, 68-70=138, T6. Drew Wrightson, Carmel, 72-70=142; Nick Dentino, Carmel, 71-71=142; Nels Surtani, Noblesville, 70-72=142, T11. Gary Robison, Crooked Stick, 70-73=143; Ty Gingerich, Carmel, 69-74=143, T20. Greg Chalas, Carmel, 71-74=145; Clay Stirsman, Carmel, 69-76=145, T23. David Carich, Harbour Trees, 75-71=146; Michael Walters, Carmel, 74-72=146, T28. Jacob Deakyne, Noblesville, 75-72=147; Zach Dryer, Noblesville, 73-74=147; Nathan Cunningham, Westfield, 73-74=147, T35. Brian Spacey, The Sagamore, 75-73=148, T37. Jeff Cook, Carmel, 75-74=149, T39. Evan Bone, Westfield, 73-77=150, T47. Ronn Russell, Noblesville, 74-78=152; Steven Hoffman, Carmel, 73-79=152, T51. Brad Mays, Pebble Brook, 72-81=153.
June 2-3, Indiana PGA Senior Open, Golf Club of Indiana, Lebanon
T7. David Moore, Carmel, 71-72=143, 10. Craig Scheibert, Carmel, 72-72=144, T11. Jon Stutz, Pebble Brook, 76-70=146; Jeff Cook, Carmel, 74-72=146, T17. Brad Mays, Pebble Brook, 74-75=149, T22. Steve Norris, Carmel, 74-77=152; Chris Gauss, Fishers, 72-79=151, T33. Scott Nelson, Fishers, 75-78=153, T36. Tadahiro Miki, Noblesville, 79-76=155, T39. Kevin Paige, Carmel, 80-76=156; Mike Cline, Carmel, 79-77=156, T43. Mike Bell, Carmel, 79-78=157, T51. Rich Waite, Carmel, 82-77=159, 55. Dave Richter, Bridgewater, 79-82=161, T56. Beau Bricker, Noblesville, 81-81=162, T59. Mike Herber, Fishers, 82-81=163, 61. Sterling Thompson, Westfield 82-83=165.
June 6, IWGA Indiana Championship, Ackerman-Allen Course, West Lafayette
T8. Kristtini Hunt, Fishers, 77; Adrienne Montalone, Prairie View, 77; T13. Christina Pfefferkorn, Carmel, 78, T22. Erin Evans, Carmel, 80, T27. Sydney Hruskoci, Fishers, 81, T31. Sydney Longstreth, Carmel, 83.
June 9-11, Women’s State Amateur Championship, Prairie View, Carmel
2. Haylin Harris, Carmel, 72-71-71=214, 3. Gabriella Gilrowski, Westfield, 73-73-71=217, 4. Jocelyn Bruch, Westfield, 71-69-79=219, T5. Cailyn Henderson, Westfield, 72-71-78=221, 10. Samantha Brown, Westfield, 75-73-76=224, T15. Macy Beeson, Noblesville, 71-77-81=229, T23. Erin Evans, Carmel, 72-75-85=232, 32. Michaela Headlee, Carmel, 78-78-78=234, T40. Ava Nguyen, Carmel, 79-81-79=239; Angelica Pfefferkorn, Carmel, 85-73-81=239, T46. Caroline Whallon, Noblesville 83-79-80=242; Sydney Longstreth, Carmel 79-80-83=242, T53. Claire Swathwood, Carmel 82-83-81=246; Sophie McGinnis, Westfield 83-82-81=246; Adrienne Montalone, Prairie View, 79-81-86=246.
June 14, Indiana PGA Northern Open, Ackerman-Allen Course, West Lafayette
1. Nick Dentino, Carmel, 67; T3. Clay Stirsman, Carmel, 70, T15. Eric Steger, Westfield, 72, T20. Brad Fellers, Prairie View, 73; Gary Robison, Crooked Stick, 73, T32. Luke Prall, Carmel, 74; David Carich, Harbour Trees, 74, T42. Evan Bone, Westfield, 75; Mike Cline, Carmel, 75; Ivan Foster, Bridgewater, 75; T50. Brian Harris, Carmel, 76; Cole Harris, Carmel, 76, T69. Justin Wenger, Carmel, 78; Brad Mays, Pebble Brook 78; Eli Beaverson, Prairie View, 78; Steve Norris, Carmel 78; Jacob Deakyne, Noblesville 78, T85. Tony Pancake, Crooked Stick, 79, T94. Scott Nelson, Fishers, 80, T102. Jesse Hughes, Golf Carmel, 81, T116. Lukas Stitle, Carmel, 85, T125. Braden Estes, Fishers, 92.