Twenty-one Hamilton County golfers qualified for the Match Play round of the Indiana Golf Foundation’s Boys State Junior Championship, which is taking place this week at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville.
The local qualifiers include the top seed. Carmel’s Jeff Doty finished the two-day stroke play event with a one-under par 143, which earned him a trophy for being the low man, along with putting him on the top of the match play bracket. Doty will play Tipton’s Griffin Hare, in the first match of the day. Doty and Hare will tee off hole No. 1 at 8 a.m. today.
Other highly-seeded players include Noblesville’s Clay Merchent, who finished stroke play with 145 and earned the third seed. Merchent will play Fishers’ Nick Fisher, in the first round. Carmel’s Nick Dentino carded 147 to get the fifth seed; he plays Caleb Tidd of Greenwood in a first-round match.
The morning winners will play their second round match later this afternoon. Match play continues with the round of 16 and the quarter-finals on Friday, then the semi-finals and championship on Saturday.
TOP 64 (Advances to match play)
1. Jeff Doty, Carmel 70-73=143, T2. Clay Merchent, Noblesville 70-75=145, T4. Nick Dentino, Carmel 70-77=147, T6. Nels Surtani, Noblesville 75-73=148, T13. Luke Prall, Carmel 77-74=151; Nick Katsis, Carmel 75-76=151; Cole Harris, Carmel 74-77=151; Josh Kehl, Westfield 73-78=151, T24. Clay Stirsman, Carmel 78-75=153, T30. Ethan Lutz, Carmel 78-76=154; Parker Deakyne, Noblesville 77-77=154; Stephen Kochera, Carmel 76-78=154; Jack Crawford, Carmel 76-78=154, T35. Nick Frey, Carmel 72-83=155; T47. Daivic Akala, Fishers, 77-81=158; T51. Shoji Fujita, Carmel 79-80=159; J.D. Dulin, Carmel 84-75=159, T56. Billy McCullough, Carmel 79-81=160; Jacob Deakyne, Noblesville 81-79=160; Curtis Robertson, Carmel 83-77=160; Nick Fisher, Fishers 85-70=160.
MISSED CUT
Daven Bhagar, Carmel 80-81=161, Danny Paris, Noblesville 80-82=162, Drew Alexander, McCordsville 82-80=162, Benjamin Burgan, Westfield 82-80=162, Drake Biggs, Carmel 82-81=163, Mitchell Compton, Noblesville 80-86=166, Stephen Hildebrand, Carmel 79-87=166, Eli Beaverson, Fishers 85-82=167; Andrew White, Westfield 86-81=167, Luke Mattingly, Fishers 83-85=168, Shivom Patel, Fishers 89-80=169, Jackson Deets, Carmel 89-87=176.
HAMILTON COUNTY MATCH PLAY PAIRINGS
1-Jeff Doty vs. 64-Griffin Hare, Tipton, 8 a.m. off No. 1
32-Parker Deakyne vs. 33-Stephen Kochera, 8 a.m. off No. 10
16-Nick Katsis vs. 49-Daivic Akala, 8:08 a.m. off No. 1
17-Cole Harris vs. 48-Ashby Drummond, Fort Wayne, 8:08 a.m. off No. 10
8-Mitchell Davis, Valparaiso vs. 57-Billy McCullough, 8:16 a.m. off No. 1
25-Clay Strisman vs. 40-Trey Mayer, Avilla, 8:16 a.m. off No. 10
4-Joey Ranieri, Zionsville vs. 61-Curtis Robertson, 8:32 a.m. off No. 1
13-Luke Prall vs. 52-Nicholas Hofman, Lafayette, 8:40 a.m. off No. 1
5-Nick Dentino vs. 60-Caleb Tidd, Greenwood, 8:48 a.m. off No. 1
31-Ethan Lutz vs. 34-Jack Crawford, 9:04 a.m. off No. 10
7-Nels Surtani vs. 58-Jacob Deakyne, 9:20 a.m. off No. 1
26-Dylan Zink, Lanesville vs. 39-Nick Frey, 9:20 a.m. off No. 10
3-Clay Merchent vs. Nick Fisher, 9:36 a.m. off No. 1
14-Eric Brinker, Evansville vs. Shoji Fujita, 9:44 a.m. off No. 1
19-Josh Kehl vs. 46-Graham Vogtman, Zionsville, 9:44 a.m. off No. 10
11-Logan Ryan, Fort Wayne vs. 54-J.D. Dulin, 10:00 a.m off No. 1
ABOVE: Carmel’s Jeff Doty was the low man after the stroke play round at the Boys State Junior Championship Wednesday at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville. Doty will be the top seed in the match play round, which starts today.
BELOW: Noblesville’s Clay Merchent is the third seed in the match play round. (Richie Hall)
