PREP BOYS GOLF: Miller in contention after day one of state meet

Jun. 13—CARMEL — If Brayden Miller didn't respond to your text messages Tuesday, don't be offended.

The Fairfield sophomore is focused in on the boys golf state finals.

Miller posted a 3 under 69 in the first round of the IHSAA state tournament Tuesday at Prairie View GC in Carmel. That puts him in third place in the standings going into the second and final day Wednesday.

Guerin Catholic senior Jacob Modleski and Valparaiso junior Aidan Gutierrez leads the field after they both shot a 5 under 67 Tuesday. Gutierrez is the defending state champion.

"Probably going to stay off my phone for a little bit," said Miller on how he'll stay focused on the task at hand Tuesday night. "Probably not going to check everything because there's going to be people texting me like, 'Oh, you can win!' I'm not going to check it. I'm going to shut my phone off and not worry about any of the outside noise, and we'll see what we can do (Wednesday)."

There were no square boxes on Miller's scorecard Tuesday, as he registered three birdies and 15 pars. He made par on the first seven holes he played, then made a birdie on No. 8. He also birdied holes 15 and 16.

"I played well," Miller said. "I struck everything well. I got off to a super slow start making seven-straight pars. They weren't easy pars, either; I had four or five six-footers that I had to grind for. They weren't given to me, so it was a good 69. It was a good round."

Miller noted that both birdies he made on the back-nine were in spectacular fashion.

"On 15, I drained maybe a 40-foot putt for birdie," Miller said. "And then on 16, I put it in the fairway bunker. My next shot hit the green and spun off, leaving myself maybe a 30-foot chip shot — and I chipped it in."

Last year, Miller shot a 77 on the first day of the state tournament, meaning his chances to make a comeback to win were slim. That's why being able to go bogey-free Tuesday was important for the Fairfield standout.

"I knew around even-par would be a good score and set me up nice for the second day, so my goal at the beginning of the day was that score," Miller said. "I didn't want to make any stupid mistakes that could end up costing me on the second day. I was taking pars all day, and if the birdies dropped, they dropped."

HAARER HAS UP- AND-DOWN DAY

You'd be hard pressed to find a more chaotic scorecard from Tuesday than the one of Silas Haarer.

The Westview sophomore drained six birdies, which was tied for second most among all players in the field. Unfortunately for Haarer, he also had four bogeys and two double-bogeys, giving him a score of 75 (+3) by the end of the round.

"There was a lot of dumb mistakes," Haarer said. "There were a few putts and decisions, like missing in the wrong spots. I definitely had some bigger scores than I wanted, but I also made some other putts, too."

Haarer started on the back-nine, bogeying hole No. 10 and doubling No. 12. After a birdie on 13, Haarer doubled 14 and bogeyed 15 to give him a 5 over through his first six holes.

The sophomore bounced back, though, making a birdie on 18 before adding two more birdies on holes 1 and 2 to bring his score to 2 over at that point.

"On 17, I was able to make a nice putt to get some momentum, and then I kept on making more putts," said Haarer on his mid-round surge. "It started feeling better, and they started going in."

The up-and-down swings of Haarer's round continued after that, as he then had bogeys on No. 3, 6 and 9, sandwiched around birdies on No. 4 and 8.

Haarer summed up his round afterward.

"It was fun for sure, but also it was kind of frustrating with how it started," Haarer said.

NORTHRIDGE STRUGGLES

It was not a great day for Northridge Tuesday, shooting a 355 for its worst round of the season. They are currently in last place out of 18 teams, sitting 16 shots behind Evansville Memorial.

"We haven't been above 330 all year," Northridge coach Ken Brewster said. "I know the course is tough. I don't know if it was too big of a moment at the start ... They just didn't battle as well (Tuesday) as they have all year. I think it comes to a point where, yeah, it's great that we're here and it's great to have fun, but we needed a little more battle in us."

Nerves seemed to play a factor for the Raiders, as there were many big numbers on the scorecard from all five of its players. Once the dust settled on the day, senior Brock Reschly finished with a 79, junior Conner Hochstetler an 88, junior Coby Hochstetler an 89, junior Isaiah Lehman a 101 and junior Vadim Kidun a 102.

"Nerves at the start, and then once you put up a couple of big numbers, you think that you have to make it back all at once," Brewster said. "They tried to hit that perfect shot, and what they need to understand a little better is they don't need the perfect shot, you just need to manage the shots you have."

Brewster outlined what would make a successful day for him in Wednesday's second round.

"I think if we can get to 330 or around that mark, I think we can call that successful," Brewster said. "I'd love for them to come out and shoot lights out and shoot a 315 like we've kind of averaged all year. ... 330 is not unattainable for our guys. A better day doesn't mean we shoot 354 (Wednesday); it's coming out, showing some fight and deciding we don't want to end up 18th."

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.