Columbus North’s Willy Davis watches his chip shot on No. 9 during a match against Columbus East May 5 at Otter Creek Golf Course.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North didn’t achieve its season-long goal of reaching the Boys Golf State Finals, but the Bull Dogs did come away with a pair of individual state qualifiers from Thursday’s Providence Regional.
Senior Luke Schnieder and junior Willy Davis will represent North on the big stage today and Wednesday when 15 teams and 25 individuals tee it up at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
“It’s not easy to get to the state finals either as an individual or as a team,” North coach Doug Bieker said. “We’re kind of spoiled to some degree because we’ve been there pretty frequently. But I told the five guys on the bus Thursday it wouldn’t surprise me if any one of them would make the state finals as an individual because they were all capable of it. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it as a team, but I’m really excited for Willy and Luke.”
Schneider will be making his second appearance in the state finals. He was a member of the Bull Dogs team that qualified when he was a freshman in 2019.
Columbus North’s Luke Schneider watches his drive on No. 9 during a match against Columbus East May 5 at Otter Creek Golf Course.
The Republic file photo
The past couple of days, Schneider has gotten reacquainted with Prairie View. He went up there to work on the course’s short-game facility on Sunday, then went back up for a practice round with Davis on Monday.
“The whole mindset is to keep it in play and let the putter do the work on the greens,” Schneider said. “I just want to hit fairways and hit greens. I’m trying to get my short game ready for Tuesday and Wednesday.”
Schneider, who committed last week to continue his career at University of Evansville, is hoping to solidify his chances at earning All-State honors.
“I feel comfortable about my past achievements for All-State,” Schneider said. “I hope and think I should be All-State, regardless of this week, but top 10 has been my goal all along.”
Meanwhile, Davis will be making his first trip to state.
“I’m stoked,” Davis said. “I’m really excited to have the opportunity to play. I’m looking to play pretty well and really just have a fun time out there. Ultimately, a big goal would be to get All-State and get top 10, but if I shoot two rounds in the 70s, that would be a big success for me.”
Davis made a 10-shot improvement in the regional over his 85 that he shot in the Providence Invitational 12 days earlier at Champions Pointe. After that match, Bieker removed him from the lineup for the regular-season finale at Zionsville to allow him to work on his game.
“He struggled a little bit in the middle of the season,” Bieker said. “I actually took him out of the lineup late in the season so he could work on some things. He kind of struggled down at Champions Pointe in the Providence Invitational, and rather than throw him back out on that Tuesday to the wolves, I just didn’t think he was in the right mindset on a difficult golf course on a difficult day.”
“I think it helped a ton,” Davis said. “I just want to thank coach Bieker for setting me up for success. I’m just glad it’s been able to work out like it has the past two weeks.”
Davis won medalist honors with a 72 at the Greensburg Sectional, then shot 75 in Thursday’s regional to put himself in a three-way playoff for the final two individual-qualifying spots. He earned one of those with a par on the first playoff hole.
“He worked really hard and put himself in position to shoot a really good number at Champions Pointe on a really difficult day and then win in the playoff,” Bieker said. “It didn’t really shock me. I kind of had those expectations for Willy at the start of the year.”
Schneider will tee off at 9:57 a.m. and Davis at 10:06 a.m. today, both on No. 10. All golfers will play again Wednesday, regardless of how they fare today.
Forecasts are calling for temperatures in the high 90s both days.
“It’s going to play firm and fast with the weather going to be the way it is,” Bieker said. “I don’t think it’s going to be an advantage or disadvantage when they’re going off.”
