The way Damon Dickey talked about his round after Thursday’s Johnson County golf tournament, you’d have thought the Franklin senior had gotten lucky just to break 80.
“I was kind of struggling with the putter,” he said, “but I got lucky a few times on the back, just keeping my head down and not making any mistakes.
“I was on the good side of a bad round today.”
Good side, of course, turned out to be an understatement. Dickey torched The Legends for a 6-under-par 66, five strokes clear of the field and enough to lead the 14th-ranked Grizzly Cubs to a three-shot victory over No. 3 Center Grove.
Franklin finished with a team total of 293, with the Trojans close behind at 296. Greenwood Christian was third with a 322, followed by Greenwood (336) and Indian Creek (349).
Dickey — who chipped in on the par-5 first hole and putted in from off the green for eagle on the par-5 15th — had plenty of help from his teammates. Quin Edwards came in with an even-par 72 to tie for third overall and earn all-tournament recognition, while Ian McCullough (76) and Nate Blackwell (79) also had solid rounds.
“Those guys have been working really hard this year, and they deserve it,” Dickey said.
Franklin co-coach Ted Bishop made no effort to downplay the significance of the moment.
“When you beat these guys, it’s a tremendous win,” he said. “I don’t care how long I coach; this’ll be as good a victory as we ever have.”
And it came against a Center Grove team that didn’t play poorly at all. The Trojans got rounds of 72 from Sam Slaughter and Sam Hord as well as 76s from Brandon Heffner and Drew Rowen.
Had the two teams finished in a tie, Center Grove’s fifth score — a 78 from Luke Beetz — would have settled the tiebreaker.
“I mean, 296 is not a bad number to put up there on the board,” Center Grove coach Matt Rodman said. “Kudos to Franklin and how well they played today; they hit the ball well and they made good clutch putts. We’ve just got a few things to clean up here and there … We’ll come back ready to roll on Monday.”
GCA, which secured its best-ever county finish, was led by a 74 from Ian Reed and a 76 from Sutton Piercefield. Coen Bauschek (84) and Evan Stinnett (86) rounded out the scoring for the Cougars.
Jackson Watkins shot a 73 for Greenwood, good for sixth place individually. The Woodmen also got an 82 from Elijah Poe.
Indian Creek was paced by strong rounds from Braxton Christie (76) and Clark Haywood (82).
“I had a lot of birdies on the back,” Christie said, “and made a few bad holes — had a 7 and a 6, so it was kind of tough. But overall, it was decent.”
Whiteland was sixth in the team standings with a 372, but the Warriors secured a spot on the all-tournament team courtesy of Will Davis, who wound up second on the individual leaderboard with a 1-under 71.
The only player ahead of him? Dickey, who Bishop said is now 21 under par over his last 117 holes. The Butler recruit is playing as well as anyone in the state right now, and if he gets the same sort of support in Monday’s sectional as he did on Thursday, the Grizzly Cubs should again be able to contend.
That support will be very much necessary, though. Knocking off the Trojans, after all, isn’t a one-man job.
“It takes four guys to beat these guys,” Bishop said.
