Tristen Atwood will look to help pull Wawasee out of its slump this weekend at the sectional. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

WARSAW – After both teams faced a daunting regular season haul, neither the Warsaw nor Wawasee golf team is catching much of a break heading into the postseason.

Both teams will compete this Friday in the Warsaw Sectional at the Rozella Ford Golf Club to open the 2014 IHSAA Boys Golf State Tournament. Only the top three teams in the 13-team field will qualify to move on to the Warsaw Regional, so play this weekend from both teams will need to be at its best.

The Warriors and Tigers face a very tough field this season. Columbia City, Culver Academies, Plymouth, Triton and Huntington North should all be near the top of the field, along with Wawasee and Warsaw, looking for a chance to get out.

Warsaw has the designation of being the host team for this year’s sectional and the obvious advantage of playing at a course that is a short walk from its campus. Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey offered his thoughts on the course and the field as a whole.

“We know Rozella well enough to play our best,” stated Barkey. “Looking at the field, Culver Academies, Columbia City, Triton, Plymouth and Wawasee certainly seem to be the teams that will be the toughest on Friday night. One thing we’ll have to look out for is the greens. They can get fast and tricky at Rozella.”

Warsaw has already began practicing at Rozella and won the Joe Harris Invitational at the course earlier in the year. The Tigers certainly seem to have a leg up on most of the competition at Rozella heading into Friday’s tournament.

Ben Barkey talks with Will Petro during a match at Maplecrest Country Club. Petro will be a key player in Warsaw’s performance this Friday.

One school that may have the bigger advantage is Triton. The Trojans play all of their home matches at Rozella during the season, so if any team will know the ins and outs like the back of its hand, Triton is it. Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone knows that the Trojans will be yet another team for his Warriors to try and leap frog on Friday.

“Anytime you play at home you have a big advantage,” said Coverstone. “Triton and Warsaw will both get to play on a course that the players are familiar with. We have practiced there once already this week and will get one more practice round in there before Friday’s sectional. We did get to play in the Joe Harris at Rozella earlier this year so we have some understanding of the course.”

Wawasee started out its season in a good spot but has since hit a rough patch, finishing 4-3 in the Northern Lakes Conference after the regular season, but just eighth at the NLC Championship. Warsaw, on the other hand, started its NLC season out with a loss to the Warriors, but finished 5-2 in NLC play and tied for second at the conference tournament.

“We are going to have play really well if we want to get out,” said Coverstone. “This is a tough field. We’ve seen how good Warsaw and Plymouth can be on several occasions and Columbia City just beat us on its home course last week. We can’t have a bad day and expect to sneak through to the regional. We have to play our best golf of the season this Friday.”

Culver Community, Lakeland Christian Academy, Manchester, Northfield, Tippecanoe Valley and  Whitko will make up the remaining field of teams for Friday’s sectional. First tee is set for 8 a.m.

The top three teams earn a spot in the Warsaw Regional on June 12 at Stonehenge. They will be joined by the top three teams from sectional play at East Noble, Fairfield, Fort Wayne Canterbury, Peru and South Bend Riley.

Warsaw shot a 314 to edge out Triton (315) for the sectional title a year ago at Stonehenge. Columbia City placed third with a 319.

Wawasee competed in the Fairfield Sectional at the Black Squirrel Golf Club in Goshen in 2013. The Warriors shot a 330 to finish in fifth place in that sectional, which was won by NorthWood (299).