After playing in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots for Columbus North his first two years, Drew Smith made the big leap this season.
Smith played No. 1 for the Bull Dogs the entire season. The junior ended up leading the team with a 38.1 scoring average and was the individual runner-up in the Conference Indiana Tournament and the Greensburg Sectional.
“I was happy that I improved a good bit from last year,” Smith said . “Playing No. 1 this year, there was a little more pressure, but I think I did pretty well, a little lower than my expectations.”
Smith’s performance led to his selection as this year’s The Republic Boys Golfer of the Year.
This season, Smith thought his biggest improvements were in his ball-striking with his short irons. He was able to put his approach shots between 130 and 160 yards closer to the pin.
“I made better decisions this year, and I played a lot smarter than I used to,” Smith said. “I’m looking for that trend to continue in the coming years.”
Beginning today, Smith is playing in Boys State Junior Championship at Purdue’s Kampen Course. He also will play in the Northern Junior Masters and Southern Junior Masters, the Junior PGA Championship and Age Group Championship before taking a nine-day golf trip to Scotland with his father Jeff, North assistant coach David Lacey and former North and current St. Francis golfer Bryce Turner and his father.
Smith is thinking about going into law and is planning to play golf in college. He has visited DePaul and Washington and Jefferson College (Pennsylvania) and has visited Hillsdale (Michigan) twice. He also has been talking to coaches at Earlham and Purdue-Fort Wayne (formerly IPFW) and St. Francis.
“I’m not a big fan of the golf-before-academics mindset that takes place at a lot of the Division I schools,” Smith said.
Earlier this month, Smith and the Bull Dogs came agonizingly close to making it to state as a team. They tied for the third-best score in the Providence Regional, but lost on the fifth-score tiebreaker for the final state-qualifying spot.
That followed a sectional championship.
“The team did a lot better than I expected,” Smith said. “I wish we could have made it to state, but it was really close, and I think we’ll make it next year. We had a lot of guys step up, and once we improve in the offseason, we’ll be pretty good next year.”
North did have one golfer qualify for state. Junior Henry Kiel made it as an individual.
Smith was at state both days to watch and support his classmate and teammate.
“It couldn’t have been easy for him to be there and watch, but that’s the kind of kid you want on your team,” North coach Doug Bieker said. “He cares about his teammates.”
Smith and Kiel were the leaders on a senior-less Bull Dogs team this season. With them and the rest of the squad back next year, they have high hopes to make it to state.
“Both of them needed to be leaders for our team, and Drew and Henry filled those roles pretty admirably,” Bieker said. “They would have liked to have seen our team up there (at state). Certainly with Drew and Henry as leaders next year, I think we’ll continue to improve and maybe surprise some people.”
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This year’s The Republic All-Area Boys Golf team:
Drew Smith, Columbus North: The junior averaged 38.1 per nine holes and was Conference Indiana and sectional runner-up.
Henry Kiel, Columbus North: The junior averaged 38.6 per nine holes and was an individual state qualifier.
Parker VanNess, Brown County: The junior averaged 36.5 per nine holes and was an individual regional qualifier.
Kody Reynolds, Columbus East: The freshman averaged 38.1 per nine holes and was sectional medalist.
Mark Mayhew, Columbus East: The junior averaged 40.3 per nine holes.
Adrian Adams, Columbus East: The sophomore averaged 41.2 per nine holes.
Avery Foist, Columbus East: The senior averaged 41.5 per nine holes.
Justin Compton, Hauser: The senior averaged 40.3 per nine holes.
Bryce Kirchner, Jennings County: The junior averaged 40.4 per nine holes.
Honorable mention
Columbus North: Jackson Kerber, Reese Moore, Jacob Niedbalski, Luke VanDeventer, Cameron Ziegler. Edinburgh: Bladen Hancock. Jennings County: Adam Leach, Austin Roscoe. Trinity Lutheran: Jacob Keith.
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