News and Tribune

By MATT CRESS

Providence boys’ golf coach Dave Lobeck says he isn’t worried about who is behind his team in the tournament standings, so long as there is somebody in front of it.

It’s a noble philosophy, but the Pioneers — with four of their starters back from a team that made last year’s state finals — nonetheless left plenty of local teams in their wake at the first meet of the season. Providence beat 10 other teams, including recent two-time state champion Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, Silver Creek and New Albany in a second-place finish at Saturday’s Fuzzy Zoeller Invitational at Covered Bridge Golf Club.

The team portion of the match, a traditional season-opener for many area squads, was won by Evansville Central, which fired a 302 to take down the Pioneers by three strokes. The Highlanders (315) were third, followed by Evansville Harrison, New Albany, North Harrison, Jeffersonville, Shawe Memorial, Washington, Silver Creek, Madison and St. Anthony’s (Ill.).

“It’s always fun to play Floyd Central,” said Lobeck. “It’s into a very nice rivalry. Just like us, they are knocking the rust off their game. We beat them, but we can’t be too excited about (finishing) second. We came in here to win, so I’m not too worried about who is behind us — I’m worried about who is in front of us.”

Meanwhile, Providence senior Trey Pfund finished with an even-par 72 to take medalist honors, but came off the course the first time to discover that he has more work to do.

After 18 holes, Pfund found himself tied at the top of the standings with Evansville Central’s Logan Osborne, forcing a one-hole playoff to determine the overall champion. Pfund could have closed things out on No. 18, but missed a nine-foot putt that would have put him at 71.

Breaking the tie didn’t take long. Racing against late-afternoon darkness, Pfund birdied the playoff hole — the par-5 No. 9 — to outduel Osborne and collect his first individual trophy of the year.

Still, the senior was more energized by the performance of his teammates, three of whom broke 80 on the day. Ben Rose fired a 75, while Robert Spiller improved three shots on the back nine to finish at 79. Ryan Frey had an 82, while Andrew Lobeck ended the day at 85.

“Before we came into this, everyone said that we didn’t have the depth to get back to state,” said Pfund. “What I think is that not everyone played their best today, but for the first tournament, getting second is all right. I just wanted to contribute to the team as much as possible. Everyone on this team is as capable or more capable than I am.”

Floyd Central’s Jerod Sturgeon delivered the lowest round of the day on the back side (34) and led the Highlanders with a 75. Chase Cadle was next with a 79, while David Frank — on pace for a huge day with a 36 on the front nine — ended up at 81. Matt Rayner carded an 80 to complete Floyd’s scoring and Brad Baumann fired an 84.

New Albany finished with the same score as fourth-place Evansville Harrison, but had to settle for fifth by a single shot based on a tiebreaker based on the score of the No. 5 player.

In this case, that player was freshman Damon Nelson, who still managed an 87 in his first varsity match. The Bulldogs were led by junior Logan Bensing’s 78, while their senior trio of Brian Keeler (79), Stephen Kraft (83) and Spencer Moody (84) also had solid days.

“It’s something to build on,” said New Albany coach Rick Belcher. “It’s tough to be nine shots behind Floyd Central and 16 behind Providence, but we left a lot of shots out there on the course. We’re very pleased.”

Matt Thompson’s 18-hole score of 79 tied him for 12th in the individual standings and also helped the Red Devils to a seventh-place finish. Nathan Morrow was next best for Jeff with an 86, while Cody Cunningham (89) also stayed below 90 for the Devils.

Senior Brandon White finished tied with Thompson with a 79 of his own, while teammate Michael Seaton appeared headed for a rough day before rebounding with a 39 — 10 shots better than his score on the first nine holes — on the back side to card an 88.



FUZZY ZOELLER INVITATIONAL

as Covered Bridge Golf Club, Sellersburg

Team scores — Evansville Central 302, Providence 308, Floyd Central 315, Evansville Harrison 324, New Albany 324, North Harrison 343, Jeffersonville 345, Shawe Memorial 397, Washington 352, Silver Creek 364, Madison 414, St. Anthony 415.

INDIVIDUAL TOP 10

1. Pfund, Providence — 72; 2. Osborne, Ev. Central — 72; 3. Spencer, N. Harrison — 74; 3. Merkel, Ev. Central — 74; 5. Sturgeon, Floyd Central — 75; 5. Bruce, N. Harrison — 75; 5. Rose, Providence — 75; 8. Thomas, Ev. Harrison — 77; 9. Bensing, New Albany — 78. 9. Amosky, Ev. Central — 78.



LOCAL RESULTS

Providence — Pfund 72, Rose 75, Lobeck 85, Spiller 79, Frey 82.

Floyd Central — Frank 81, Cadle 79, Rayner 80, Sturgeon 75, Baumann 84.

Jeffersonville — Thompson 79, Morrow 86, Cunningham 89, Plummer 96, Holloway 91.

New Albany — Bensing 78, Keeler 79, Moody 84, Kraft 83, Nelson 87.

Silver Creek — White 79, Seaton 88, Smith 104, Dierking 93, McCauley 112.