CARMEL — For much of his round Tuesday at Prairie View Golf Club, Columbus North junior Henry Kiel had to feel pretty good about how he was hitting the ball.
A few missed putts and a tough end to the day put a damper on things, however.
Kiel limped through his final four holes at 4-over-par, finishing with a 77 after the first of two days at the Boys Golf State Finals. His score put him in a tie for 29th place overall, but still within range of most of the field after a day that saw just two players finish under par.
“He’s going to be disappointed in his score,” North coach Doug Bieker said, “but the scores were high today. If he comes out and shoots a good number tomorrow, he’ll still get in the top 10, I think. He’s got a realistic chance at that.”
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Teeing off on the back nine in the morning, Kiel posted bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes before recovering with a birdie on 16. He then bogeyed 18 to make the turn with a 2-over 38.
Kiel then birdied the par-5 third hole, leaving himself in a tie for fifth at one point, before struggling to the finish. He bogeyed the sixth and seventh holes and then put his tee shot in the water on a brutal No. 9, closing with a double-bogey.
Despite the closing slump, Kiel was pleased with much of his game Tuesday. Cleaning up his putting, he said, will be the main focus.
“Tee to green was good,” he said. “I just need to work on speed control, really. I had three three-putts, four, something like that.”
Only two golfers went under par in the opening round. Chesterton’s Mitchell Davis leads at 4-under 68, three shots better than Carmel’s Clay Stirsman.
Carmel leads the team race after a 295. Center Grove is at 299 and Zionsville is at 304.
Kiel will tee off on No. 10 at 8:09 a.m. today. His mindset heading into the final round is a fairly straightforward one.
“Just try to forget about it, come back and play better tomorrow,” Kiel said.
