.png)
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Greg Miller had his battles with Rozella Ford Golf Club in Warsaw that might not have gone how he would have hoped.
He won the final one however.
And for that, Miller is our RTC Boys Golfer of the Year for the second straight year.
Miller, an IUPUI signee, advanced from the very difficult Warsaw sectional at Rozella Ford to the regional as an individual by winning a sudden death playoff from Huntington North’s Cole Collins on June 2.
Though he was eliminated at the regional, it had to be a fulfilling finish for Miller, who lost his freshman season to the pandemic in 2020 and was by far Valley’s best player each of the last three years.
He missed the regional by one stroke as a junior but inched his way in this year.
Miller leads our All-RTC boys golf team.
This list puts a little more weight on the 18-hole events over the weekday nine-hole matches. We also place an emphasis on the conference and postseason tournaments.
We would like to thank area coaches for helping us out with scores and their thoughts. (After often spending four or five hours out in 50-degree weather, golf coaches are an especially hardy lot.)
Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it.
All-RTC
Greg Miller (Tippecanoe Valley) (Player of the Year) – Miller plays like how you might like to play if you could. He crushes the ball off the tee but is also calculated. He knows when to take chances – I don’t think we have ever covered a golfer getting more eagles in a season than Miller did this year – and when to play it safe. He also made the all-conference team in all three years of his prep golf career. He is an IUPUI recruit.
A.J. Dague (Caston) – Dague, a senior, won Hoosier North medalist honors, playing through brutal conditions before another heartbreaking miss at the Logansport sectional. He’s another player who combines smarts with skills.
Noah Riffle (Rochester) – Riffle is a golf junkie whose hard work earned him a spot on the all-TRC and as the No. 1 player on a regional qualifier. When his putting is right, he’s likely going to break 80.
Colby Pugh (Caston) – Pugh had the round of his life at the Logansport sectional to qualify for the regional. A senior like Dague, they were probably the best players Caston has had since Eli Douglass.
Drew Strasser (Rochester) – It was a close call for our final spot, but we will give the nod to Strasser for his touch around the greens and general consistency from tournament to tournament.
Honorable mention
Wes Parker (Tippecanoe Valley)
J.R. McLochlin (Rochester)
Micah Rans (Pioneer)
Steven Pugh (Culver)
Ethan Young (Tippecanoe Valley)
