Beating The Rain: Bull Dogs top Olympians in wet conditions

Columbus North’s Luke Schneider watches his drive on No. 8 during a match against Columbus East at Otter Creek Golf Course.

Tommy Walker | For The Republic

With rain wiping out the majority of the athletic events across the Columbus area, the Columbus North and Columbus East boys golf teams were able to squeeze in their match Thursday night at Otter Creek Golf Course.

Another battle both teams faced, as well, was the darkness, but the match finished just in time for the Bull Dogs to claim a 311-348 victory over the Olympians.

“(East coach) Keith (VanDeventer) and I talked about it earlier today. We figured we might get it in, but also get wet,” North coach Doug Bieker said. “I always tell the kids that we generally don’t mind playing in adverse conditions. I think they’re tough enough to handle that. Overall, I’m pretty proud with how they played top to bottom.”

The conditions didn’t seem to disrupt Luke Schneider. The North senior fired an even-par 72 to win individual medalist honors. Despite the conditions, his round consisted of an eagle and a couple of birdies and a double-bogey.

“Other than that (double-bogey), I played pretty well. I probably should have been a couple under-par, but I’m happy with how I played,” Schneider said. “It was difficult. The conditions were tough. The rain affected me a little bit. It was in sections. It would rain really hard, then stop, then rain again. For it being my last year, I was happy with how I played against East. It was a lot of fun.”

Other scores for North included Willy Davis with a 79 and Aditya Banerjee, and John Ferguson rounded out the scoring with 80 apiece. Jack Schiavello had an 81, Tyler Wilks shot 82, John Merritt and Damon Gregory each carded an 85 and Luke Friend had a 91.

“Really, I think anything 80, 81 or better tonight was really pretty good in difficult conditions in the rain,” Bieker said. “I was proud of the way the kids fought through that and darkness to finish up. With how we played (Wednesday) against Center Grove and here tonight, I’m expecting good things over in Bloomington (for a Saturday tournament).”

For East, Ben Luedeke shot a personal-best 81. Pierce Arnholt finished with an 84, Spencer Erfmeier had an 89 and Carter Greene rounded out the Olympians scoring with a 94.

“(Luedeke) was very consistent. He putted very well today,” VanDeventer said. “I think it was the first time this year Ben’s broke 90. He shot 37 on the back nine , which is very good. He’s rounding into some form to where we thought he’d be playing at.”

Other East scores included J.T. Kuhlman with a 95, Jared Brooks had a 102, Josh Saevent shot a 112, Conrad Eggers finished with a 113 and Keaton Stephenson carded a 114.

“We played hard. We continue to work hard. We’re trying to get better,” VanDeventer said. “This past week has been good for us, but now we look forward to Saturday (also at Bloomington) and see if we can continue to show progress in the right direction.”