PREP BOYS GOLF: Northridge team, Westview's Haarer win at Goshen Invitational
Apr. 15—GOSHEN — After struggling a little bit through the first nine holes they played Saturday, Northridge rallied in the second half of its round to shoot a team score of 323, good enough to edge Fairfield by six shots and win the Goshen boys golf invitational at Black Squirrel GC.
The Raiders played the back-nine of the course first, carding a 169 through that stretch. They bounced back on the front-nine, though, scoring 154 as a team.
"I think we could've scored better; they have the talent to score better," Northridge coach Ken Brewster said. "We came out and posted a really good score this past Monday, and (Saturday), I just think we played some holes not as good as we could have. A 323 is still a good score; I'm not going to complain about that. We fought back ... to see the fight out of those guys — I'm glad they didn't give up. I didn't think they would, so it was nice to see."
Saturday was the first 18-hole invite of the season for Northridge. The Raiders had a 3-0 start to its nine-hole match schedule earlier in the week, including shooting an impressive 146 in its season opener this past Monday against Fairfield and Bethany Christian at Meadow Valley GC. They then shot a 160 in a win over Mishawaka Marian Tuesday.
A standout for Northridge Saturday was Isaiah Lehman. It was the first 18-hole invitational the junior had played at the varsity level, and he responded by shooting a 79 to tie him with senior Brock Reschly for best on the team.
"He shot a 36 on Monday, then comes back and shoots a 45 on Tuesday," said Brewster of Lehman. "I'm glad he got his confidence back (Saturday) because he was pretty bummed after Tuesday. Coming down his last hole, he knew he just needed a par to break 80, and that's what he went after. He laid up, he hit his shot onto the green, two-putted and made the par.
"I like to see that smart play because he definitely could've gone for something bigger and ended up worse. It was a very smart play by him."
The other two individual scores for Northridge that went toward the team score were juniors Coby and Conner Hochstetler carding 82 and 83, respectively. Both players struggled in their first nine holes, with Conner shooting a 44 and Coby a 45. They both came back strong in the front-nine portion of their days, though, with Conner posting a 39 and Coby a 37.
"People always look at the No. 1 score and maybe go, 'Oh, OK, that's why they won,'" Brewster said. "But really, it's those No. 2, 3 and 4 players that you really have to make sure they stay steady and come to play all 18 holes instead of just nine holes. They did a really good job of that (Saturday)."
Fairfield was led by a 74 from sophomore Brayden Miller. All five players for the Falcons shot 93 or better, with Miles Nine's 80, Carter Kitson's 85 and Andrew Miller's 90 all counting toward the final team score.
Three other Northern Lakes Conference schools joined Northridge in the top five of the nine-team field. NorthWood had a 348 to finish third, Goshen 352 to place fourth and Concord 355 to take fifth. Westview was sixth, Elkhart seventh, Lakeland eighth and Jimtown ninth.
WESTVIEW'S HAARER EARNS MEDALIST
Only one player was able to shoot a below-par round, and that was Westview sophomore Silas Haarer. He shot a 34 on the front nine and a 36 on the back nine to give him a 2-under 70 for the round, winning medalist honors by four shots over Miller. Haarer had birdies on holes one, six, nine and 13, two bogeys and the rest pars.
Managing course conditions was key for everyone at Black Squirrel. Although it was 75 degrees and sunny outside, most of the course was dry due to the lack of rain in the past week.
"The greens were very hard; a lot of players also said it was very bouncy greens," Haarer said. "Playing it short and being able to get on the green a lot was key, I think. It's also a tight course, so hitting the ball down the fairway was important. ... I tried to hit 10 yards shorter because of the greens."
Saturday's invite featured plenty of the area's top talent, as Reschly and Miller are returning state qualifiers. The likes of Haarer, NorthWood senior Earl Williams and Lakeland senior Ben Keil were regional qualifiers last year too.
"Just playing (Saturday), there was a lot of good competition, so you always have to be playing well," Haarer said. "It's good to see how everyone else is doing up close."
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2023 GOSHEN BOYS GOLF INVITATIONAL — Full results
1. Northridge, 323: Brock Reschly 79, Isaiah Lehman 79, Coby Hochstetler 82, Conner Hochstetler 83, Vadim Kidun 87
2. Fairfield, 329: Brayden Miller 74, Miles Nine 80, Carter Kitson 85, Andrew Miller 90, Jasper Carl 93
3. NorthWood, 348: Earl Williams 78, Caleb Vincent 86, Ashton Hochstetler 92, Sam Holden 92, Bryce Blosser 101
4. Goshen, 352: Todd Kauffman 82, Myles McLaughlin 87, Braxten Sheets 88, Tyler Scott 95, Kael Bestul 107
5. Concord, 355: Charles Deuel 81, Lucas Prough 89, Ben Harris 90, Nate Schraw 95, Tommy Brunner 104
6. Westview, 360: Silas Haarer 70 (medalist), Wade Springer 86, Brett Springer 97, Judson Hershberger 107, Evan Litwiler 109
7. Elkhart, 373: Steve Webb 88, Ben Miller 92, Will Cochrane 93, Colin Krempec 100, Gabe Kazmierczak 103
8. Lakeland, 393: Ben Keil 78, Nate Keil 89, Kyle Hartsough 109, Brady Ferguson 117, OJ Olivares 122
9. Jimtown, 458: Tatsu Gravender 101, Payton Phillips 116, Nick Hoffman 117, Gaege Wachs 124, Connor Watts 125
Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.
