WARSAW – It is a tradition that rivals many others in the Kosciusko area, the Joe Harris Invitational. Three local schools competed in the annual tournament on Tuesday night. When the final scores were turned in, it was the Warsaw Tigers that took top honors with a score of 311. Plymouth took second with 314 while NorthWood took third with a 321. Wawasee finished in fourth with a 325 while Triton finished sixth with a 341. The Warsaw orange, or junior varsity squad took a 364, good enough for eighth place.

Will Petro led the field with a 74 at Tuesday’s Joe Harris Invitational. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

“The greens were tough today,”said Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone. “We really have to learn the greens out here for sectionals. We had a few guys playing on them for the first time and that took a toll on us.”

Wawasee finished at a respectable fourth place in the tournament  but left too many chances on the course to move into the top two or three of the tournament.

“We had way too many big holes out there today,” said Coverstone. “Our guys need to learn how to play this course before sectional time and right now we just had a tough time struggling to find that right combination.”

The Warriors were not bad on Tuesday evening, but did struggle on certain holes. Wawasee finished with a 325 as a team. Tristen Atwood led the Warriors with a 78. Jeffrey Moore finished with an 80 while Cal Heinisch signed for an 81. Mason Germonprez shot and 86 in the four spot. Rasmus Rich forgot his clubs but was given some loaners, but still had an off night with a 97.

Wawasee’s Mason Germonprez smacks a drive during Tuesday night’s match.

Warsaw’s varsity team came to play as the Tigers finished with a total team score of 311, led by a 74 from Will Petro, a score that proved to be the lowest of the day at the tournament. Warsaw’s Jonny Hollar came up big for the Tigers as he recorded a 75 of the day. Head coach Ben Barkey missed Tuesday’s victory as he was under the weather, but the Tigers still managed to celebrate with assistant coach Dave Bailey at the helm.

“I really just tried to stay out of the varsity’s way, to be honest,” said Bailey. “The greens were fast so our guys were trying to adjust to that. Our top two guys played well tonight and that really set a tone for us and led to the win.”

Reid Cameron and Brandon Eckert both shots 81s and Ryan Cultice’s 82 rounded out the scores for Warsaw.

Triton had its fair share of ups and downs but the Trojans head coach Jack Carpenter said his team is going through some growing pains right now and there will be no excuses come sectional time.

“We are a young team,” said Carpenter. “This is our home course so we know it better than anyone and this is where sectionals are this year and we had a few of those sectional teams here tonight in Warsaw, Plymouth and Wawasee.

“We’re going to have a nice advantage in sectionals because we will get to play this course more than anybody else has, but our team is still learning how to play from certain positions. The guys are still learning course management. That will be our biggest challenge going forward with a young team, course management.”

Greg Music, a player described by Carpenter as one of his more consistent golfers as of late, led Triton in the No. 2 slot with an 81. Tanner Shepherd shot an, Lucas Shafer an 86 while Branden Kraft had a 91. Jordan Anderson came in with a 105 for the Trojans.

Jordan Anderson tees off on No. 7 for Triton.

It was a fun day on the course for the coaches, fans and players, but one man enjoyed it more than anyone else, Joe Harris.

“It’s just a pleasure and an honor to come out here and watch these boys play,” said Harris. “I get to come out here and see a lot of old friends and talk to the young guys and it’s just tremendous.”

Harris became the boys head golf coach in 1966 and coached the Tigers for 24 years. Though current head coach Ben Barkey could not be at Tuesday’s match, Harris offered some kind words about the Warsaw coach.

“He’s done a great job,” Harris remarked. “It’s great to see what he does with the boys, he has held up the tradition of Warsaw being a great golf team.”

Warsaw will travel down south this Saturday to compete in a tournament in Carmel at the Prairie View Golf Club, which will be the site of the State Finals starting next season. Wawasee will head to Mill Creek on Wednesday night to golf with Tippecanoe Valley.

Robbie Sullivan sizes up his putt. Sullivan shot a 96 for the Warsaw junior varsity squad.