Eagles win county title at Ulen

Apr. 20—LEBANON — The three Boone County boys golf teams got an early look at the sectional course on Monday afternoon for the Boone County Tournament.

The teams played the front-nine at Ulen Country Club, which will host the sectional in early June.

"We love playing over here and I would play the county here every time just to see Ulen," Zionsville head coach Steve Simmons said. "We brought some younger guys today so they could see the course — and it turns out they are all members up here so they see it all the time."

Zionsville won the county title, shooting a 161 in the windy conditions.

"I really liked getting the experience out here today," Simmons said. "Most of these guys probably play out here when its hot and calm. It is good to see it when the wind is blowing 25 miles per hour. We have had tournaments out here in the past when the wind blows, and this becomes an entirely different course."

Western Boone and Lebanon each shot 189s on Monday, with Western Boone placing second on the fifth-score tiebreaker.

"I am overall pleased with how we played," Western Boone head coach Willie Smith said. "We had a rough week last week, where everyone was shooting around 50 and shot a 204. We started to figure things out this weekend, and for us to have a 189 tonight in these conditions — I am OK with that."

For Lebanon, it was another good chance to gain experience for the Tigers.

Head coach Sam Godby said that it was a good test for the team to have to adjust mid-round to the changing conditions.

"It was good to get out here and compete with these guys," Godby said. "The conditions today progressively got worse and I was proud of the way the guys battled and fought. This is spring golf, and this is the conditions we get, so you have to learn to expect it."

Lebanon's Toby Meyer and Zionsville's Adam Melliere were co-medalist of the county tournament.

Both golfers shot a 38.

"He had a couple of three putts early, but he finished really strong," Godby said of Meyer. "He had four pars to end the round, and it was good to see the way he battled. I think he is starting to turn it around here and play some good golf."

Melliere has gotten off to a strong start for the Eagles.

He led the team at the Harrison Invite at Coyote Crossing, and has been a steady presence in the Eagles' line-up.

"He has had a great start to the year," Simmons said. "Emotionally, he is so even-keeled all the time. For the most part, he has control of his golf ball and keeps it in play. He doesn't miss greens with wedges, he always keeps himself below the hole — and when you do those things at a place like Ulen, you are going to score well."

Brian Behrens shot a 39 for the Eagles, who also got a 41 from Andrew Wall and 43s from Hayden Orbaugh at Evan Poland.

Simmons said the Eagles have a good foundation for the rest of the season.

"We have a lot of solid players, and we don't know what the line-up is going to be like in 2-3 weeks," Simmons said. "They are high school players and golf is an up-and-down game. We are hoping as the season goes on and we get to conference time in the middle of May, we have a good idea who the top-5 are, but until then it's a lot of qualifying and putting guys in different situations."

The Eagles were coming off a third-place finish at the Highland Invite with a 309.

Colin Nasser led with a 72, with Wall shooting a 75 and Orbaugh and Melliere 81s.

Zionsville is off until Saturday when they go up to Sandy Pines.

"We had a really good performance from Colin Nasser," Simmons said. "Colin shot 72 and I don't think he made a putt longer than 5-feet, so he really struck the ball well. That was a positive and we got a great back-side from Andrew Wall — shooting a 1-under over the final nine. We have a lot of room for improvement, and we are going to keep working at it so we are at our best come sectional time."

Luke Marsh led the Stars with a 41.

Tyler Dickerson and Damian Stout each shot a 48, with Levi LaGrange and Noah Cox shooting 52.

"(Luke) didn't start the season well," Smith said. "He actually qualified out of the top-5, but he was my wild card pick because I knew he was going to play better. He worked a lot on the range with his dad and he figured it out in the middle of the round Saturday. I was glad to see him extend that into today."

Smith said Monday was a good early test for the Stars, not only seeing the sectional course, but seeing a conference rival like Lebanon.

The Stars saw a lot of the other conference teams at Danville on Saturday as well, and now have an idea where they are at.

"What we have noticed after a week and a half is that the conference is wide open," Smith said. "With Toby being able to shoot in the 70s, we are going to have to make sure we beat that with depth. It would be great if we could have someone shoot in the mid-70s also, but we are going to need depth. Tying Lebanon today on their home course, that is a good start."

Western Boone is heading to Southmont on Tuesday, hosts a dual on Wednesday and have a tournament at Southmont on Saturday.

"We have a lot of young kids in the line-up," Smith said. "They are going to get it figured out. I am pleased with where we are at. Saturday was our first 18-hole rounds."

Along with Meyer's 38, the Tigers got a 46 from Alex Emenhiser and a 48 from John Gascho.

Caleb Girdley shot a 57 and Reed Bean had a 59 for the Tigers.

"We have a couple sophomores playing 2 and 3, and it would have been huge to get that experience playing last year," Godby said. "Now they are having to learn now. Anytime we get a chance to come out and play, it's valuable time for them on the course."

Lebanon has another home dual on Wednesday, and then is heading to Noblesville for a tournament on Saturday.

"For the most part, it's just limiting the big numbers," Godby said. "We have to make the smart plays and control the simple stuff."

Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.