Columbus North’s Luke Schneider watches his tee shot on No. 3 against Columbus East at Otter Creek Golf Course, Thursday, May 6, 2021.
The Republic file photo
The 2022 boys golf season kicks off today with six of the seven local teams in action. Columbus North, Columbus East and Jennings County will play in the Seymour Invitational at Shadowood; while a separate North five, along with Hauser, Edinburgh and Trinity Lutheran will play in the Edinburgh Invitational at Timbergate.
Here is a look at those teams, along with Brown County, which opens Thursday against Hauser.
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs return three of their five golfers from a team that won a sectional title and finished sixth in the regional.
Leading that group is senior Luke Schneider, last year’s The Republic Boys Golfer of the Year. Juniors Tyler Wilks, Jack Schiavello also return from the top five, and Willy Davis played some varsity before being injured midway through the season.
“Those four guys will kind of be the core, and then trying to find that fifth guy is always the challenge,” North coach Doug Bieker said.
Seniors Aditya Banerjee and Damon Gregory and juniors John Merritt and John Ferguson are battling for that fifth spot. Junior Osian Guest and sophomore Alex Clark return from last season’s JV, and freshmen Brady Schneider, Luke Friend and Jason Perkins will look to make an immediate impact.
“I think we’re better this year,” Bieker said. “I think our scores will be better top to bottom. I think Luke Schneider has a chance to impress a lot of people as a senior, and if the juniors can improve over what they did last year, we should be OK. We have some guys that will push us to get better, and that’s what makes us a good team.”
With Harrison Lake Country Club under renovation, the Bull Dogs will play almost all road matches this season. The do have a home match against Bloomington North at Timbergate and will host the Conference Indiana Tournament at Timbergate.
“It’s definitely going to be a unique season for sure,” Bieker said. “It’s going to be a struggle. The kids will get home later. But Timbergate has been more than gracious to allow us to practice as much as we want to and play matches there.”
Columbus East
The Olympians have a new coach in Keith VanDeventer, the pro at Greenbelt and Par 3 Golf Courses.
“The kids have been very good to work with,” VanDeventer said. “They have some good attitudes. We know we have to work hard to continue to improve to get to where we want to.”
Columbus East’s Pierce Arnholt hits his tee shot on No. 3 against Columbus North at Otter Creek Golf Course, Thursday, May 6, 2021.
The Republic file photo
East lost its top two golfers, but return sophomore Pierce Arnholt, junior Spencer Erfmeier and lone senior J.T. Kuhlman to the varsity.
“Having some experience will be a big plus for us,” VanDeventer said. “We’re going to continue to work real hard, and hopefully there will be some competition with guys wanting to fill those other spots.”
Freshmen Carter Greene and sophomore newcomer Ben Luedeke will fill those spots to begin the season. Freshman Jared Brooks also will play for the Olympians today at Seymour, and junior Conrad Eggers will play as an individual.
“We’re really a young team and a new team,” VanDeventer said. “We’re just really stressing the importance of working hard and trying to work hard as the season goes. Who knows where we can get to at the end of the year, but we just want to continue to improve.”
Hauser
Like other area teams, the Jets have battled the weather so far this preseason.
“It’s been a pretty rough spring,” Hauser coach Mike Compton said. “We’ve had a couple practices where we’ve been out there, and it’s in the 30s.”
Senior Chase Martoccia played No. 1 some last season. Sophomore Caleb Wallace and junior Jesse Bragg also return to the varsity.
“We feel pretty good with three of our five back,” Compton said.
Senior Ben Johnson played a little varisty last season. Freshman Brenden Burton and Marshall Moody are battling for varsity spots, along with junior newcomer Bryce Kunze and sophomore Zach Weichman.
“Our main goal is just to keep them all improving throughout the season and peak at the conference,” Compton said. “Our goal at the sectional is for everybody to shoot the season-best score, and hopefully, they’ll do well enough to have a nice finish over there.”
Jennings County
The Panthers lost a pair of varsity players, but return three others.
“We’re still real young,” Jennings coach Justin Earl said. “But we have two sophomores with a lot of experience playing last year.”
Those sophomores, Jack George and Jake Grider, played Nos. 2 and 3 for the Panthers. Junior Tanner Stearns also played some varsity.
Senior Rowan Cook, who was the No. 6 golfer last season, and freshman Davey Shaw will step into the lineup.
“We do have some experience,” Earl said. “We do have some talent. More than anything, we have some potential. We have a core group of players that put in the work in the offseason. They’re just young right now, so they have some room to grow.”
Brown County
The Eagles have nine players this season after playing with only five for most of last year.
“We’re going to have plenty of players, but a lot of inexperience,” Brown County coach Brad Baughman said. “We look a little rusty, and we have a lot to work on. But for the most part, we’ve looked pretty solid. We look like we’re going to be better than we were last year.”
Senior Cooper VanNess is back for his fourth year of varsity and again will lead the Eagles from the No. 1 position.
“He’s the only one with a lot of experience,” Baughman said. “We’re going to lean heavily on him and then build in around him. It may be late April or early-to-mid-May to kind of see what we’ve got.”
Senior Jordan Burnett, juniors Bradley Arndt and Dylan Taylor and sophomore Clay Austin also played varsity last season. Senior newcomers Kody Walsh and Eli Sichting and freshmen Wesley Arndt and Liam Cassiday also are pushing for spots.
“I think those two seniors that we picked up will help us, and then those freshmen, we may be able to get some scores out of those two, as well,” Baughman said.
Edinburgh
The Lancers will be experienced with their entire top five returning.
“We’re a year older, and we’re adding a few pieces to the puzzle,” Edinburgh coach Kyle Dell said. “We’re junior- and senior-heavy, so expectations will be a little bit more this year.”
Junior Max Blandford missed by only two shots of qualifying for regional as an individual last season. Also back are seniors Trevor Moon and Cash Cunningham and juniors Mason Calhoun and Devyn Milburn.
Juniors Keegan Smith and Devin Hamilton, senior newcomer Ian Buchanan, sophomore newcomer Wyatt Burton and freshman D.J. Riddle also are pushing for varsity spots.
“Our 1-through-4 is pretty solid,” Dell said. “Then, 5-through-10 is pretty competitive. With the more people we have on the team this year, practices are going to be a little more competitive for those last couple spots.
Trinity Lutheran
The Cougars welcome back four seniors who have played since their freshman years.
Senior Jacob Sabotin returns as the No. 1 golfer.
“He can hit the ball a mile,” said his father and coach, Doug Sabotin. “I’m working with him on the mental game. This could be a really exciting season for him.”
Seniors Caleb Williams, Kade Hill and Preston Kovener also are back. Beyond that, Trinity has three newcomers in senior Brayden Stockelman, junior Gabe Lorenz and freshman Wylie Jones.
“We’ll have a full roster this year, which is great,” Doug Sabotin said. “I have kids that want to learn and play golf and win matches.”
The 2022 boys golf schedules for Bartholomew County schools:
Columbus East
Today;at Seymour Invitational;9 a.m.
April 9;at Floyd Central Invitational;2 p.m.
April 11;Shelbyville;4:45 p.m.
April 16;at Jennings County Invitational;9 a.m.
April 19;at Jennings County;4:30 p.m.
April 20;at BNL Invitational;8:30 a.m.
May 2;at Seymour (with New Albany);4:30 p.m.
May 5;Columbus North;4 p.m.
May 7;at Bloomington North Invitational;8:30 a.m.
May 9;Madison;4:30 p.m.
May 17;at New Albany;5 p.m.
May 18;at Jeffersonville;4:45 p.m.
May 19;Batesville;5 p.m.
May 21;HHC at BNL;9 a.m.
May 26;Columbus North, Providence;4 p.m.
May 27;Greensburg;4 p.m.
May 28;at Providence Invitational;1 p.m.
May 31;Bloomington North;9 a.m.
Columbus North
Today;at Seymour Invitational;10 a.m.
Today;at Edinburgh Inviational;10 a.m.
Tuesday;at Brownstown Central;5 p.m.
April 9;at Floyd Central Invitational;2 p.m.
April 16;at Center Grove Inviational;9 a.m.
April 16;at Jennings County Invitational;9 a.m.
April 25;at Bloomington South;4 p.m.
April 26;at Hauser;4:30 p.m.
April 30;at BNL Invitational;8:30 a.m.
May 4;at Franklin (with Center Grove);5 p.m.
May 5;at Columbus East;4 p.m.
May 7;at Bloomington North Invitational;8:30 a.m.
May 12;Bloomington North (at Timbergate);4 p.m.
May 14;at Brownsburg Invitational;8 a.m.
May 16;Conference Indiana (at Timbergate);9 a.m.
May 17;at Seymour;4:45 p.m.
May 23;at Greensburg;4:30 p.m.
May 26;at Columbus East (with Providence);4 p.m.
May 28;at Providence Invitational;1 p.m.
May 31;at Zionsville Invitational;11 a.m.
Hauser
Today;at Edinburgh Invitational;10 a.m.
Thursday;at Brown County;4:30 p.m.
April 16;at South Dearborn Invitational;1:30 p.m.
April 18;at Edinburgh;4;30 p.m.
April 21;North Decatur;4:30 p.m.
April 22;Austin;4:30 p.m.
April 26;Columbus North;4:30 p.m.
April 28;at Morristown;5 p.m.
May 3;at Trinity Lutheran;4:30 p.m.
May 7;Hauser Invitational;9 a.m.
May 9;North Decatur;4;30 p.m.
May 10;Brown County;4:30 p.m.
May 19;at Southwestern (Shelby);4:30 p.m.
May 21;MHC at North Branch;8 a.m.
May 23;at Rushville;4:45 p.m.
May 25;Indian Creek;4:30 p.m.
