Wawasee’s Luke Jackson stares down a path before putting Thursday night against Northridge and Goshen. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – “Any time you get a win in the Northern Lakes Conference, it’s a good win.”

Wawasee boys golf head coach Steve Coverstone could breathe a sigh of relief after Thursday night’s triangular conference meet at South Shore. The Warriors picked up their first two NLC wins of the season by shooting a solid 152, topping Northridge (160) and Goshen (165).

Wawasee had come off a dismal showing Wednesday night at Plymouth Country Club in which the Warriors posted a team score of 169, hardly what Coverstone expected at this point in the season.

“We have had an up and down year. We can shoot really well and we have shot really well, we went toe-to-toe with Warsaw last week and then last night we had an awful night in Plymouth and lost to two teams that we really should have beat. Winning those would have put us in a good position for the conference tournament,” Coverstone stated.

Brett Smith chips onto the eighth green for Wawasee.

Senior Luke Jackson performed with style as he posted a 37, leaps and bounds better than Wednesday’s 47. Jackson took a bogey on a few holes but parred on two par-threes. The highlight for Jackson’s day was on the sixth hole in which he birdied the par-five. This came as no surprise as South Shore’s sixth green has been a honey hole all season for the senior.

Dylan Cousins finished with a solid round posting a 37. Cousins started his day off in a big way by getting a birdie on number one and kept his momentum going through the rest of the round to help him tie for the second lowest score on the night.

Jeffrey Moore golfed in the four spot and finished with a 41 while sophomore Mason Germonprez golfed in the five and posted a 45, shaving five strokes off from Wednesday night’s match.

The lowest score on the day, however, came from Tristen Atwood. The sophomore’s score had a lot riding on it as his group recorded their scores last. Atwood’s outstanding round of 35 bested each of his opponents by at least five strokes and helped clinch the Warriors first and only conference wins of the year.

Dylan Cousins of Wawasee tracks his drive on the fifth hole.

The only thing more noticeable than Wawasee’s joy after the match was Goshen’s frustration. The Redskins finish the regular season alone in last place in the NLC with an record of 0-7. Thursday’s loss by just five strokes was a position that coach Brent Randall said his team has not found themselves in very often this year. But Randall was not upset after the loss because he knows his team still has a golden opportunity this year as the NLC tournament goes through his team’s home course, Maplecrest Country Club.

“Playing at our home course is a big advantage. Maplecrest is not a long course, in fact, it’s a lot like South Shore. The Maplecrest advantage is the fast greens. They are naturally slick and I think the course is going to have them as slick as possible for this weekend. You have to play below the pin and teams that can be aggressive yet keep it below the hole will have the upper hand,” stated Randall.

Coverstone has taken his teams to Maplecrest a number of times over the years and he knows what to expect. “It’s a country club course with really fast greens and we have to remain patient if we want to do well. Once we start getting anxious and impatient, that is when we start to play poorly.”

Northridge’s head coach Dennis Sienicki was also asked about what he will be getting his team prepped for this weekend and wouldn’t you know it, Sienicki focused on the greens as well.

“Our kids are comfortable at Maplecrest and I suspect Wawasee’s kids are too. But the greens are a different story. If you don’t keep the ball below the hole and in front of the green, it’s going to be tough,” Sienicki said with a laugh. The Raiders finish with a 3-4 NLC record.

Now that the toughest aspect of Maplecrest has been well established, all that’s left to do is tee off. The Raiders, Warriors and host Redskins will do just that Saturday morning at 9 a.m. in Goshen.

The Warriors JV squad also tallied a pair of wins by posting a 164. The Raiders JV finished with a 175 while the Redskins JV posted a 199. Cameron Adams and Brett Smith led the Warrior JV as both posted a 39.