Center Grove’s Brody Holubar hits out of a greenside bunker during Tuesday’s state finals round at Prairie View.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
CARMEL
The two-horse race that played out Tuesday at Prairie View Golf Club might have room for a third.
Center Grove would like nothing more.
Sitting in the 10th position after the opening day of the state finals, the Trojans are 22 shots behind first-place Guerin Catholic and 20 in back of Westfield.
Such a margin would seem too large to overcome, though Center Grove, led by freshman Nathan Springer’s 1-over-par score of 73 and sophomore Noah Parsetich’s 76, find themselves only 10 shots behind third-place Valparaiso.
The Trojans finished with a team score of 313.
“I can’t say I’m happy because we could’ve played better,” Trojans coach Matt Rodman said. “But to say that I didn’t expect maybe a few lumps here and there today would be lying.
“We probably put ourselves off the tee in some bad spots on a few holes that we can improve on. Took a few bad swings here and there. But we’re only 10 strokes out of third place, which can easily be made up in the game of golf if we play like we want to play.”
None of the five Center Grove starters had any state finals experience prior to Tuesday.
Besides Springer and Parsetich, the Trojans received scores of 82 from sophs Brody Holubar and James Beetz, and an 85 from the lone senior, Brady Schier.
Springer, the Trojans’ No. 3 player, admits experiencing some nervousness at the outset.
Once his first drive was airborne, they were gone.
“It was great. The crowds were awesome,” Springer said. “The first tee box was good. I mean, just everything was nice. I played pretty well today.
“The coaches really help. They’re always on our par-3s and the middle of par-4s and par-5s. They’re really hands-on this year, and I like it. They’re almost like a caddy.”
Hamilton County rivals Guerin Catholic and Westfield sped off with respective first-round totals of 291 and 293. As a result, their players will join those from Valpo in comprising the final threesomes.
Meanwhile, Trojan players begin teeing off of No. 10 at 9:48 a.m., grouped with players from Leo and Noblesville.
In many respects, Tuesday’s first round mirrored how the 2022 finals concluded.
Hamilton County rivals Guerin Catholic and Westfield are 1-2; Bloomington South (sixth a year ago) and Hamilton Southeastern (third) are tied for fourth.
Center Grove, which uncharacteristically failed to qualify for state last season, made its return with an entirely new cast from the squad that captured a state championship in 2021.
Springer’s play, as well as that of Parsetich, make solid building blocks for today’s second round of competition.
“Noah and Nathan played awesome today,” Rodman said. “Nathan’s greatest skill is that he keeps the ball in play. He hits just about every fairway, and really doesn’t have any issues getting off the tee.
“Noah, I think, had a few three-putts today or else he probably would’ve scored even better.”
Parsetich, the fifth starter, looks forward to seeing what he and his teammates can accomplish now that they have the initial 18 holes completed.
“As a team, we’ll just go in with nothing to lose, try our best and see how we finish,” he said. “First time being in a big competition. A little nervous at the start, but I just rolled right into it after that.”
