BOYS GOLF: Logansport, Caston advance individuals past sectional

Jun. 2—Twin Lakes was once again the top team while Logansport and Caston had individuals advance at Friday's boys golf sectional at Dykeman Park.

The Indians three-peated as sectional champions with a school-record 299 on the hot and sunny and overall great day for golf. Rochester (327) and Rensselaer (342) placed second and third to also advance as teams to next Thursday's regional at Sandy Pines Golf Club.

Logansport was on the outside looking in with a fourth-place finish with a 355. But the Berries had two individuals advance as senior Brady Bair (86) and freshman Logan Lange (84) had top scores among individuals on non-advancing teams, as did Caston senior Colby Pugh (86).

The three Cass County golfers saw their seasons and in the case of Bair and Pugh high school athletic careers continue for one more week.

Bair was the starting center for the Berries' best football team in at least 15 years this past fall. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound senior also has a nice golf swing as he hits his drives close to 300 yards to help get him out of the sectional.

He said he had to finish strong to advance.

"It was tough. I fought through the last few holes with birdie, bogey, birdie which saved me a lot with the bad scoring," he said. "But other than that I had a great time, nice day to play golf. It's better than being at school, being at work working. I want to be mad but I made it out so I can't be mad at all."

He added football has helped him in golf, in particular coach Mike Johnson's weighs program.

"It's helped me out because I have a lot more power playing football and I can hit the ball farther, especially being in coach Johnson's weights it's really helped me out," he said, adding, "Just being a center helped me out with being a great team player because you have everyone around you and you know how to pick people up. Same thing with golf, you pick people up when they have a bad round."

Lange, who just completed his freshman year of high school, ranks his sports as soccer No. 1, basketball No. 2 and golf No. 3. But he was able to advance with his best-ever tournament score.

"I had shot an 88 at conference which was my lowest," he said. "Going into the turn having a triple bogey I was not feeling confident but I strung a few pars together and it came together. I was very pleased with it.

"I think it's fun. I was really hoping we would go as a team because I think it'd be a fun experience. But if not it's just me and Brady, I think we'll compete and just go there and do our best. I'll celebrate it."

Lange spends a lot of his time playing soccer and basketball but he also finds time for golf.

"Golf, I'm adapting more to it. I've spent a lot of time outside of practice, but it's definitely one you can just come out by yourself and enjoy unlike the other two," he said. "It's taken a lot. I've been struggling with putting because I just got a new putter. It's taken a lot of hours but it's finally coming together. I'm getting some one-, two-putts. It's been nice."

Pugh, of Twelve Mile, is finishing up a Caston career where he advanced out of the sectional for the fourth time in his Comet career. He was part of two straight sectional champion boys basketball teams, though the 2020 team memorably did not get to compete in a regional. He was also part of the 2021 sectional champion soccer team at Caston.

"I'm speechless right now really. I've only been playing for three years. It's a big dream," he said. "It was tough. I hit the ball really well but I got to the greens and couldn't putt very well. It went well really overall."

Pugh's main sport was basketball but he also put in the work in golf during the summers.

"I played basketball, travel some and then I golfed every weekend, most days during the weekdays, mostly with my dad [Chad Pugh] and we just went out and practiced and focused on mini things. That's really what made me improve so much," he said.

Pugh was hoping his teammate and classmate AJ Dague, the HNAC champion this year, would make it out, but Dague finished two strokes out with an 88. Dague plans to play at Trine University.

"He is very good. He helped me a lot," Pugh said. "I worked with him for two years at Pond View and he really pushed me to get better. It makes me upset that he didn't make it through but he's a big reason I made it."

Twin Lakes left little doubt who the top team was. The Indians' Leo Dellinger was the medalist with an even-par 70, followed by Nick Alexander (74), Jamison Ousley (76), Jack Kaufmann (79) and Cole Woodley (85).

Logansport coach Pete Lundy said Twin Lakes, a future Hoosier Conference opponent, is enjoying a good run of golf like his program had a few years ago.

"Twin Lakes is a program that they remind me of us. They're hitting that point where we had the teams in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, they're hitting that stride," he said. "They've got families of golfers where their kids love the game. And they're multi-sport athletes too, they play different sports, but it's kind of like talking about guys like Brady, they're on the course all the time and they're just course rats and they learn how to play the game and they learn what's important.

"They're a good team, they're well coached, coach Harker does a good job with them. They play at a phenomenal facility over at Tippecanoe Country Club. That's a golf course where it's going to teach you to get better. I give them a lot of credit. They do it the right way. Their kids are always great to be around, very competitive in nature but at the end of the day, the sportsmanship is there. I appreciate that from them. We always accommodate each other if they want to bring more players over to our invitational they can and if we want to bring kids over to their place, they're always open to that. It's good for competition and that's what it's really about. They're a good team."

Rochester's runner-up team included golfers JR McLochlin (76), Drew Strasser (79), Noah Riffle (81), Ashton Musselman (91) and Enrique Navarro (94).

Logansport's sectional lineup included Bair, Lange, Bryce Howard (88), Dylan Hamm (97) and Eli Baldwin (100).

The Berries started two seniors, Bair and Howard, and three freshmen.

"We've got a very young team coming back next year," Lundy said. "We've got some eighth graders coming up that are course rats like those guys that are out here all the time. They're playing in tournaments already starting next week. It's going to be another battle next year for playing time and that's what kind of breeds a good program is that guys are pushing each other and you're either going to get better or you're not going to see much as far as varsity goes. That's really the message is keep putting in work.

"When you look at our team the scores don't reflect probably where we've been in the past, but it doesn't reflect the work that guys like Brady are putting into it. Our young guys have played some junior high golf so they understand what the expectations are. You see a kid like Logan play today and he's low man on the team shooting an 84 and it's a situation where it's do or die and you've got to play your best or you don't get a chance to move on, it's exciting.

"Those guys, they try their hardest, they show up for practice and they grind. They struggle but they continue to push and they try to get themselves better. A kid like Brady Bair started his sophomore year really playing golf. The last two years he's put in a ton of time. I know he didn't play the way he wanted to play today but he finished strong to get himself in contention to move on to regional.

"We saw that today. If we don't make it out as a team that'll be the first time in probably a decade that that's happened but it doesn't mean we didn't have a successful season. 355 is our lowest 18-hole tournament score of the year. We've played some incredibly hard courses and done OK. It's a huge learning curve for the young guys and I'm happy for them. I'm thrilled for guys like Logan and Brady.

"Bryce was just a couple shots out and I wish for Bryce that he would be able to move on because he's been what we envision our program and our culture to be about is that he shows up every day, he's got a good attitude and he tries his best. He tries to work hard, he doesn't try to do too much. He stays within himself and what he's capable of and I know he's going to be rooting for those guys as they move on."

The final team scores included Twin Lakes (299), Rochester (327), Rensselaer (342), Logansport (355), Winamac (377), Pioneer (384), Caston (409), Tri-County (410), North Newton (456), West Central (466) and South Newton (472).

Brendan Hines led Winamac with an 88, followed by Logan Fredel (91), Talen Garner (92), Cooper Fulmer (106) and Will Biros (107).

Micah Rans led Pioneer with an 89, followed by Jaden Seward (95), Tayt Smith (98), Brady Price (102) and Cole Franklin (103).

Following Pugh's 86 and Dague's 88 for Caston were Luke Graham (112) and Chas Warpenburg (123).