Columbus North’s Tyler Wilks watches his tee shot on No. 2 during the Conference Indiana golf tournament at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh, Ind., Monday, May 15, 2023.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
EDINBURGH — Although they finished ahead of Bloomington South in Saturday’s Brownsburg Invitational, Columbus North boys golf coach Doug Bieker knew the 16th-ranked Bull Dogs would have to play much better to upset the No. 6 Panthers again in Monday’s Conference Indiana Tournament.
North did play much better, posting a season-best 292 at Timbergate. But Bloomington South came through with an even better performance, scoring a 287 to take the title.
“That’s really good,” Bieker said. “We’ve certainly got better than last week when we played here. We played pretty well up at Trophy Club, and South did not play well up there. At this golf course, we knew it was going to take a pretty low score, and the guys went out and played well.”
All five Bull Dogs shot 74 or better and made the All-Conference team. John Merritt led the way with a 72 to tie for fourth individually.
“(It was) just being mentally focused being OK with bad shots,” Merritt said. “I had a couple bad breaks out there, but I just had to be positive, be optimistic about how to get onto the green and make it with what I had. My short game was really good today. I had a couple birdies that were really clutch. I birdied the last hole, which was really important to me. I still left a couple of putts out there, but overall, it was a lot better than what it usually is.”
Brady Schneider and Jack Schiavello each shot 73 for North. Tyler Wilks and Willy Davis each shot 74.
“We hung in there and played well,” Bieker said. “A couple bad swings, but we only had one double(-bogey) and one triple(-bogey). If you’d have told me at the beginning of the day that our worst score was a 74, I’d have taken my chances.
“Overall, from 1 to 5, those are pretty good scores,” he added. “If we do that at sectional or regional or at the (state) finals, I like our chances. I’d take 3-or-4-over every round from here on out and take our chances.”
Bloomington South’s Nick Bellush and Happy Gilmore tied for medalist honors with 70s. Bloomington North finished third in the team standings with a 303, followed by Southport (329), Terre Haute North (333) and Terre Haute South (338).
“I’m proud of the guys,” Bieker said. “They’re working hard. I think they still have work to do, and I don’t think this will deter them from accomplishing what I think some of their goals are.”
