Columbus North’s Brady Schneider watches his tee shot on his first hole of the day during the first day of the Boys State Golf Finals June 13, 2023 at Prairie View Golf Club.
The Republic file photo
Six of the seven area schools with boys golf programs will open their seasons on Saturday at either Seymour or Edinburgh.
Columbus East and Columbus North will send teams to both of those invitationals. Jennings County and Trinity Lutheran will be in the Seymour Invitational at Shadowood, and Hauser and Edinburgh will compete in the Lancer Invitational at Timbergate.
Here is a look at those teams, along with Brown County, which begins its season next week:
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs won the Greensburg Sectional and made it to the state finals last season, but lost four of their top five golfers to graduation.
Junior Brady Schneider is the lone returning regular.
“We’re going to look to him for some leadership this year,” North coach Doug Bieker said. “He’s really going to be the guy with experience to help those younger guys that haven’t played much tournament golf at all.”
Juniors Luke Friend and Joseph Perkins and seniors Alex Clark and Brennan Kushman and sophomore Parker Brown saw a little varsity action last season.
“We had a pretty stable varsity for a few years, so some of those younger guys didn’t get tons of experience,” Bieker said. “It will be a little challenging this year at different times, but I’m excited to see how those younger guys step up and what they’re able to do when it comes time to it.”
A trio of freshmen — Tyler Dillingham, Austin Perry and Ryder Allman — will push for spots in the lineup.
“It’s going to be a different kind of year,” Bieker said. “Sometimes, these rebuilding years are a whole lot of fun to coach. I’m looking at kids that may not know what to expect yet, but I think we might surprise some people when we get to the end.”
Columbus East
The Olympians have high hopes for this season with the return of their top three golfers.
Columbus East’s Pierce Arnholt tees off on No. 1 during the Providence Regional June 8, 2023 at Champions Pointe Golf Course near Henryville.
The Republic file photo
Junior Carter Greene and seniors Pierce Arnholt and Ben Luedeke led East to sectional runner-up finish and regional appearance last year.
“We feel like those guys have worked very hard the last couple years,” East coach Keith VanDeventer said. “The attitudes of these other kids eager to get in that lineup and play, there’s going to be ups and downs, but they want to play golf and it’s just nice to see.”
Juniors Mason Reeves and Keaton Stephenson, who saw some varsity action last season, and sophomore Luke Rice are battling for the Nos. 4 and 5 spots. Junior newcomer Ethan Bumbalough, junior Danny Coriden and freshman Luke Hunter also could push for spots in the lineup.
“It’s a good group of kids,” VanDeventer said. “They’re very excited to play, and we’re excited to get the season started. It’s our third year with them, and they’ve come a long way. They’ve matured a lot. They’ve worked really hard at it.”
Hauser
The Jets were Mid-Hoosier Conference runner-up last year, but sustained a big setback when senior Caleb Wallace was in a car accident last fall an had a compression fracture in his back and compound fracture in his arm. Also, two other varsity players from last year decided not to return.
“We’ve had some turnover from the previous year,” Hauser coach Steve Todd said. “At the end of last year, we had everybody coming back, and I felt very good about this season and next season. But since I had some people that decided they didn’t want to play, we are trying to figure some things out.”
Junior Hunter Pappano was the Jets’ No. 1 golfer last season. Junior Marshall Moody was their No. 4, and junior Colton Hatton played some No. 5 and No. 6.
Sophomores Gavin Bain and Elijah Price and freshman Kooper Brown are battling for No. 4 and 5 spots. Junior Kolton Wallace also is playing high school golf for the first time.
“The biggest thing right now is just to get them some experience,” Todd said. “It’s going to be new for them.”
Jennings County
The Panthers return their top four golfers from a team that qualified for regional last year.
Seniors Jake Grider and Jack George and juniors Davey Shaw and Eli Simmons return. Junior Sam Hauersperger also saw some varsity action.
Battling for the other varsity spot are senior Brathon Malone, juniors Cole Bingham and Berkley Foist, sophomores Brady Sentz and Konner Brown and freshman Aaron Lewis.
“We have some promise,” Jennings coach Dave George said. “We’re excited about what we can do. Our goal was regional last year, and now, our goal is to exceed what we did last year.”
Brown County
Four of the top five golfers return for the Eagles.
Senior Clay Austin and sophomore Wesley Arndt played No. 1 and No. 2 last year.
“That’s promising,” Brown County coach Brad Baughman said. “Having the 1 and 2 guys back is kind of nice.”
Junior Liam Cassiday played No. 3 and No. 4, and senior Jon Kirchofer was the No. 5 golfer. Senior Will Hiatt also returns.
Newcomers include seniors Cord Smith and Brandon Saecho and freshmen Colbie VanZuiden and Ayden Jackson.
“It’s good to have a little something coming back,” Baughman said. “If these guys have a little higher starting point than we did last year and improve, we could be ready to compete for the (Western Indiana) conference.”
Edinburgh
The Lancers have a new coach in Brad Teter, a teacher at the school.
Senior Wyatt Burton and senior Gabe Bennett were Edinburgh’s top golfers at the end of last season. Junior Trenton Schmidt and seniors Austin Brockman also return.
Matt Burton heads a group of newcomers battling for the other varsity spot.
“We have a mix of returners and beginning players,” Teter said. “They’ve been working hard. I think we definitely have some room to improve, but we’re definitely starting off pretty good with them.”
Trinity Lutheran
Kim Overgaard, who was an assistant coach last year, takes over for Todd Jack, who will remain as the Cougars’ boys soccer coach.
Junior Wylie Jones and sophomore Alex Overgaard were Trinity’s No. 3 and 4 golfers last year. Sophomores Sam Lorenz and Jeremiah Clay also return.
Freshmen Rylan Adair and Nolan Teipen round out the six-man team.
“We’re very young,” Kim Overgaard said. “There’s definitely promise. We’re building for the future, so we’re working on mechanics and a bit on the strategy part on how to play the holes and the short game and getting off the tees and put in on the green from inside 100 yards. We spent quite a bit of time working on putting and reading greens and the speed of greens. Especially early in the season like this, that’s what we’re working on.”
The 2024 boys golf schedules for Bartholomew County schools:
Columbus East
Saturday at Seymour Invitational, 9 a.m.
Saturday at Edinburgh Invitational, 10 a.m.
April 6 at Floyd Central Invitational, 2 p.m.
April 9 vs. Shelbyville, 5:15 p.m.
April 13 at Center Grove Invitational, 9 a.m.
April 16 at Jennings County, 4:30 p.m.
April 23 vs. Brownstown Central, 4:30 p.m.
April 27 at Bedford North Lawrence Invitational, 8:30 a.m.
April 29 at Seymour (with New Albany), 4:30 p.m.
May 2 vs. Columbus North, 4 p.m.
May 4 at Bloomington North Invitational, 8:30 a.m.
May 6 vs. Madison, 4:30 p.m.
May 14 vs. New Albany, 5 p.m.
May 16 vs. Batesville, 5 p.m.
May 20 in HHC Tournament at Floyd Central, 10 a.m.
May 24 at Greensburg, 4 p.m.
May 25 at Providence Invitational, 1 p.m.
May 28 at Fishers Invitational, noon
Columbus North
Saturday at Seymour Invitational, 9 a.m.
Saturday at Edinburgh Invitational, 10 a.m.
Tuesday vs. Brownstown Central, 5 p.m.
April 6 at Floyd Central Invitational, 2 p.m.
April 13 at Center Grove Invitational, 9 a.m.
April 18 at Shelbyville, 5:30 p.m.
April 22 at Bloomington South, 4 p.m.
May 1 vs. Center Grove, 4:30 p.m.
May 2 at Columbus East, 4 p.m.
May 4 at Bloomington North Invitational, 8:30 a.m.
May 9 vs. Bloomington North at Timbergate, 4 p.m.
May 11 at Brownsburg Invitational, 8 a.m.
May 13 in Conference Indiana at Timbergate, 9 a.m.
May 14 vs. Seymour, 4:45 p.m.
May 18 at Franklin Central Invitational, 8:30 a.m.
May 21 at Greensburg, 4:30 p.m.
May 25 at Providence Invitational, 1 p.m.
Hauser
Saturday at Edinburgh Invitational, 10 a.m.
April 4 at Brown County, 4:30 p.m.
April 15 at Edinburgh, 4:30 p.m.
April 16 vs. Austin, 5 p.m.
April 18 at Batesville (with North Decatur), 4:30 p.m.
April 22 vs. Waldron, 4:30 p.m.
April 25 at Morristown, 5 p.m.
April 30 at Jennings County (with Trinity Lutheran), 4:30 p.m.
May 1 vs. Perry Meridian, 5 p.m.
May 9 at Franklin (with Martinsville), 4:30 p.m.
May 14 vs. Morristown, 4:30 p.m.
May 16 at Southwestern (Shelby), 4:30 p.m.
May 15 at Greensburg (with Rushville), 5 p.m.
May 18 in MHC at North Decatur, 8 a.m.
May 20 vs. Batesville and Rushville, 4:45 p.m.
May 21 vs. Indian Creek, 4:30 p.m.
