Center Grove’s James Beetz putts during Thursday’s regional at Champions Pointe.
James Pence | For the Daily Journal
HENRYVILLE
Johnson County brought the brooms to the Pointe on Thursday, sweeping the team and individual medalist honors at the Providence Regional.
Eighth-ranked Center Grove fired a 291 to win its second consecutive regional title and seventh in its last eight tries, and Greenwood Christian junior Noah Reed won medalist honors with a 3-under-par 69.
Reed opened with a 4-under 32 on the front nine at Champions Pointe on his way to qualifying for state as an individual.
“I was very happy about that,” Reed said. “I think the back nine is harder than the front, so I knew If I wanted to shoot a good score, I’d have to go low on the front. It’s a great course. I felt like I played pretty good. I hit the ball really well. I didn’t putt the best, but I hit the ball good.”
Reed follows his older brother Ian, who qualified for state as an individual in 2022.
“It’s always been a goal for both of us to eventually make it to state,” Noah Reed said. “He showed me how to do it, so I had to follow in his footsteps. I thought (being medalist) was a possibility, but I was more concerned about making it out and doing what I could to do that. I’m just happy I played well enough to advance to state.”
Meanwhile, Center Grove kept on rolling. The Trojans posted a 291 team score for the third round in a row, matching their winning totals from the Johnson County tournament and Franklin Sectional.
“It’s kind of a consistent number for us, really,” Center Grove coach Matt Rodman said. “The last few rounds, the team is firing on all cylinders, and all five guys have played well. We had all five guys 75 or lower today, which is pretty good team depth.”
James Beetz led the Trojans with a 2-under 70 to finish second overall individually. Beetz closed with a birdie on the par-4 No. 18, one of only three players in the 90-man field to accomplish that feat.
“Recently, I’ve been all over the place, making a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys, but today I stayed consistent and kept a good attitude by only making one bogey, making three birdies and playing a very solid round of golf,” Beetz said.
Beetz was playing in the No. 4 spot for Center Grove. Brody Holubar added a 72, whole Noah Parsetich had a 74 and Nathan Springer and Drew Hardin each shot 75.
“It definitely shows what depth we have,” Beetz said. “All five of us can go low. All of us can consistently shoot in the 70 to 75 range, so I always have confidence.”
“We mentioned it after sectional because James actually tied for the sectional title too, but lost in a playoff (to Holubar),” Rodman added. “All five guys on this team have had a piece of a victory this year individually. They’ve either won a tournament solo, or they’ve tied for a tournament win. That just shows how deep we are from one to five. Anybody can win on any given day.”
Franklin didn’t have quite the same success on Thursday; the Grizzly Cubs finished eighth with a 332.
Kadin Gibson led Franklin with a 73. Luke Bechert added an 85, followed by Jack Lock at 86, Reid Davidson at 88 and Matthew Ferguson at 91.
“We had a rough day, obviously not our best day by any means,” Franklin coach Ted Bishop said. “Kadin Gibson, our No. 1 player, closed out a really solid career. Honestly, that was about our only bright spot. We had a freshman and a sophomore playing in their first regional, so we’re excited about next year’s team.”
Floyd Central (305) and Madison (313) claimed the second and third state berths.
Reed and the Center Grove team will compete in the state finals Tuesday and Wednesday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
“I feel like we’re playing really good at the right time,” Rodman said. “The kids are confident. They’re ready to go and attack Prairie View next week and see what we can do. I think we have some big chances to do some big things, but we just have to keep playing like we have been for the last couple of weeks.”
