Luke Johnson tees off on No. 16 for Warsaw during the 2014 Wawasee Invitational at South Shore Golf Club. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – Many area schools came together Saturday morning for the annual Wawasee Invitational at the South Shore Golf Club, displaying some of the regions best golfing talents.

Though the event included 15 schools hailing from different conferences, the Northern Lakes Conference was strongly represented throughout the day as six of the NLC’s members took part in the tournament.

The conference season is still over a week away but that did not stop NorthWood from flexing its muscles on the course. The Panthers were spectacular all day and would finish in first with a score of 311. The final score gave NorthWood a very comfortable cushion over second place Culver Military Academies and third place Northridge, both of which finished with a score of 322. Wawasee (329) placed fourth while Warsaw (350) and Whitko (374) finished ninth and eleventh, respectively.

NorthWood benefited from its top three golfers. The Panthers were anchored by the No. 2 and No. 3 players Logan Kauffman and Brayden Glaser, both of whom recorded a 74 for the round. The Panthers top player, Alec Dutkowski, finished with a 75. No other team managed to get three players to score in the 70s. While the win is meaningless in NLC standings, it gave the Panthers any early showcase to the majority of the conference and sectional fields of their talent.

Goshen’s Michael Chupp tries to chip out of the trap.

Warsaw did not have much to show at South Shore on Saturday, but that did not bother coach Ben Barkey because several occurrences prevented his usual lineup to be on the tees for the invite. Instead, the Tigers used several newcomers to piece together what became a very solid team.

“I think today’s performance was fine,” said a pleased Barkey. “In terms of what we had in experience, it was great. We had three or four new guys playing today and we were very pleased with what we got out of them. For Luke Johnson to step in and shoot a 42 on one side and a 48 on the other, I thought that was fantastic.

“This was a good showing today. Now, next week we will have our regular five back and we will obviously expect a much lower score.”

Johnson took over the No. 1 spot for the Tigers and, as Barkey mentioned, did a fine job in the role. Johnson highlighted his day with birdies on holes four, nine and 15. Michael Jensen (88), Josh Ahlersmeyer (98), Reid Cannon (95) and Jonny Hollar (76) rounded out the scores for the Tigers. Hollar’s 76 earned him 10th place overall for the invite.

Warsaw was missing the trio of Will Petro, Brandon Eckert and Ryan Cultice from its regular lineup. The three were taking part in an academic competition on Saturday.

Wawasee had its fair share of ups and downs on the course as well. The Warriors finished in fourth place but know that they can be better than the score they posted on Saturday.

Jeffrey Moore led the Warriors with a strong 75, good enough for fifth in the tournament. Moore shot a 38 on the front nine, getting a birdie on one and eight. The sophomore then shot a 37 on the back nine with birdies on 12 and 18.

Wawasee’s top golfer, Tristen Atwood struggled early on and would finish with an 82. The junior was disappointed with the score, but his coach was happy with the finish his player made.

“Tristen came up big for us towards the end of his round,” said Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone. “For the good of the team, he kept fighting. He did not get down on himself and he ended up parring four of his last six holes which really helped our score.”

Brandon Buss putts onto No. 18.

Mason Germonprez finished with an 88 for Wawasee while Rasmus Rich signed for an 84. Cal Heinisch had a 40 at the turn but finished with just a 90. Coverstone knows his team has some kinks to work out and knows that is just pat of the process.

“We just had some guys that made a few mistakes out there today,” said Coverstone. “Jeffrey (Moore) played very well and we were thankful for that. We know our other guys can play, we just need to get them to all play together. Cal (Heinisch) had one of those days where you just lose it. He had a 40 at the turn and ended up shooting a 50 on the back nine. It was just one of those days.”

Wawasee’s junior varsity team also participated in the invite. The JV Warriors finished with a score of 394. Brandon Buss led the Wawasee Gold team with a 94. Dominik Sanderson finished with a 95.

Whitko was another team that struggled to get things going in Saturday’s event. The Wildcats were led by Daniel Zawlocki’s 84. Will Peters was the second lowest golfer for Whitko with a 93. Cole Bechtold golfed second for the Wildcats and shot a 95. Matt Hathaway (102) and Tim Gensch (109) rounded out the scores for the Wildcats.

Warsaw, Wawasee and NorthWood will renew the NLC love on Tuesday night at the Rozella Ford Golf Club in Warsaw. The teams will be three of several local schools competing in the annual Joe Harris Invitational.

Final Standings

1. NorthWood 311
2. Culver Military Academy 322
3. Northridge 322
4. Wawasee (Green) 329
5. Plymouth 330
6. Homestead 330
7. Columbia City 343
8. Chesterton 346
9. Warsaw 350
10. Fairfield 363
11. Whitko 374
12. Goshen 373
13. Lakeland 376
14. Elkhart Central 381
15. Wawasee (Gold)
16. Manchester 402

Whitko’s Tim Gensch looks at his drive.