<p>CARMEL</p><p>Center Grove’s boys golf rivalry with Carmel refuses to take a year off.</p><p>The Trojans shot a 303 on Tuesday to sit second after the first day of the state finals at Prairie View Golf Club. Coach Matt Rodman’s squad, the state champion in 2017 and runner-up to the Greyhounds by a single stroke a year ago, trails its conference rival by four shots.</p><p>Players from Carmel, Center Grove and Noblesville will be grouped for today’s final round.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>“We wanted to put up a good score in order for us to play a decent round (Wednesday) and still have a chance at winning,” said senior Luke DeHaven following his round of 2-over par 74. “I think we need to play a little bit smarter.”</p><p>Center Grove’s No. 1 player, junior Alex Heck, led the team with a 73. Peyton Short and Mitchel Sanders both finished with a score of 78, while junior Caleb Tidd had an 85.</p><p>Short parred 15 of the holes, but prevented himself from a special round by double-bogeying Nos. 5, 14 and 17. Sanders birdied five holes to DeHaven’s three.</p><p>“I made a lot of pars today. I feel like I made a lot of silly mistakes that could have easily been avoided,” Short said. “Overall, I feel happy that I made 15 pars, but at the same time I don’t feel like I’m pleased with my round. As a team we have to eliminate the errors and we should be fine.”</p><p>As a team, the Trojans carded 11 birdies, 15 bogeys and a dozen double-bogeys. Another squad in contention is Noblesville, which is two strokes behind Center Grove with a 305. Floyd Central (311) and Guerin Catholic (313) are fourth and fifth, respectively.</p><p>“The course was definitely playing tough, so the number of bogeys and doubles is definitely higher. I didn’t know it was 12 (doubles), but I knew it was a bunch,” Rodman said. “But I was proud of the number of birdies. We typically don’t make that many birdies, so that was good.”</p><p>Four holes gave Trojans players the most problems — the par-4 ninth (5-over), par-4 14th (5-over), par-4 17th (5-over) and par-5 18th (4-over).</p><p>“We have to putt better,” Rodman said. “I figured on hole 17 we as a group, four of them missed a 5-footer for par or bogey. If we make those putts we’re tied. We’ve got to putt better from shorter distances and keep the ball in play, too.</p><p>“We had some uncharacteristic penalty strokes with a ball in the water on 9 and a ball in the water on 18. Get rid of those and we’ll be going pretty good.”</p><p>Franklin sophomore Damon Dickey qualified as an individual but struggled in his finals debut, shooting an 82.</p><p>“It was really bad to start, and I just couldn’t ever figure it out. It just felt weird all day,” Dickey said. “I thought my preparation wasn’t very good for this week. I didn’t think I was nervous. I thought I was ready. I don’t know, just a bad day.</p><p>“I think I was, like, six over through six holes. Just a few errant shots way right, and then I tried to fix it and went way left. I think I’ll be better tomorrow, and I think I’ll be better, hopefully, if I can make it back next year. It’s still a good experience even when I play bad.”</p>
