Valley’s Miller, Parker join Rochester’s Riffle, Strasser on all-conference team
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
WARSAW — The Tippecanoe Valley boys golf team shot a 335 and finished second, and Rochester shot a 339 and finished fourth out of 10 teams at the Three Rivers Conference tournament at Rozella Ford Golf Club in Warsaw on May 13.
Two players from each area team finished in the top 10 to make the all-conference team.
Valley senior Greg Miller was third with a 76, and freshman teammate Wes Parker shot a 79 and tied for fifth. Meanwhile, Rochester junior Noah Riffle shot an 80 and was seventh, and senior teammate Drew Strasser shot an 82 and took ninth.
Other Rochester scores included J.R. McLochlin’s 84, Ashton Musselman’s 93 and Robert Bozzo’s 94.
Eli Love’s 87, Ethan Young’s 93, and Nash Bouse’s 94 rounded out the Valley scorecard.
Both teams played at the Warsaw Invitational at Rozella Ford 11 days earlier. Valley improved on their score by 10 strikes as compared to that round. Rochester’s TRC score was five strikes lower.
“Second’s alright,” Valley coach Darren Parker said. “Northfield’s really good. Yeah, I’m glad we’re 10 strikes better, but I still think we’re a sub-320 team here though, so there si some good to take from it but also some learning.”
Temperatures were in the low 70s, or approximately 25 degrees warmer for the TRC tournament as compared to the Warsaw Invitational.
Rochester coach Mason Heyde said the team played “pretty well” overall.
“We shot a 335 yesterday from the tips (in a practice round), so fairly comparable but a lot shorter today from the blue tees,” Heyde said. “Noah didn’t hit a lot of greens, but he was pretty good around the greens, so he scored all right. J.R. hit 14 greens but just really struggled with putting, so that could have been a lot lower. Drew’s a little disappointed with his 82, but he played well.
“Musselman, that’s got to be his best 18-hole invite score. I don’t think he’s broken 100. We told him with about four holes left if he just bogeys out, he’s in the 94 range, and he actually parred one of those. He did what he needed to do as our number five, so I’m happy with how they played.”
The course had received rain in the 24 hours prior to the tournament, and coach Parker said the greens “weren’t blazing.” But the rain affected other parts of the course.
“I think probably what was toughest was the rough,” coach Parker said. “The rough’s pretty thick, and when you add that water on top of it, I saw a lot of shots come out clunky out of the rough from multiple teams today, so that was the hardest part was the rough.”
Miller had eight pars and one bogey on the front nine. He birdied Nos. 12 and 14, but those successes sandwiched a quadruple-bogey on No. 13.
Asked to describe Miller’s round, coach Parker said “one blip.” Meanwhile, coach Parker said Wes Parker has been “improving every round.”
Northfield won their second straight TRC title with a 319. Northfield’s Tyson Baer was the medalist with a 72.
Southwood, whom Rochester had beaten at Southwood’s home course at Etna Acres in a nine-hole dual earlier in the week, shot a 336 and finished third.
at Rozella Ford Golf Club, Warsaw, May 13
Northfield 319, Valley 335, Southwood 336, Rochester 339, Manchester 367, Maconaquah 379, Peru 385, Wabash 407, North Miami 411, Whitko 472
NORTHFIELD (319): Baer 72, Shaw 79, Cartwright 83, Hoffman 85, (Ross 89)
VALLEY (335): Greg Miller 76, Wes Parker 79, Eli LOve 87, Ethan Young 93, (Nash Bouse 94)
SOUTHWOOD (336): Chambers 74, Metzger 77, Watson 81, Vanderpool 104, (Trisler 105)
ROCHESTER (339): Noah Riffle 80, Drew Strasser 82, J.R. McLochlin 84, Ashton Musselman 93, (Robert Bozzo 94)
MANCHESTER (367): Trump 84, Luke Gish 87, Felgar 96, Mugford 100, (Landon Gish 102)
MACONAQUAH (379): Brehmer 89, Metcalf 93, Jernagan 96, Miller 101, (Guinan 102)
PERU (385): Schwartz 86, Camden 91, Raglund 103, Bretzman 105, (Kiefer 105)
WABASH (407): Dinkins 90, Carmichael 95, Brooks 111, Christian 111, (Coffman 118)
NORTH MIAMI (411): Stockdale 91, Reshkus 102, Raber 106, Ireland 112, (Wilcox 116)
WHITKO (472): Burnsworth 100, Beer 121, Hill 122, Gaff 129, (Kanyon 137)
All-TRC: 1. Tyson Baer (Northfield) – 72, 2. Griffin Chambers (Southwood) – 74, 3. Greg Miller (Valley) – 76, 4. Keaton Metzger (Southwood) – 77, t-5. Wes Parker (Valley) – 79, t-5. Easton Shaw (Northfield) – 79, 7. Noah Riffle (Rochester) – 80, 8. Luke Watson (Southwood) – 81, 9. Drew Strasser (Rochester) – 82, 10. Cash Cartwright (Northfield) – 83
Tippecanoe Valley’s Wes Parker, left, and Greg Miller made the all-Three Rivers Conference team at the conference tournament at Rozella Ford Golf Club in Warsaw on May 13. Miller finished third in the field of 50 golfers with a 76, and Parker tied for fifth with a 79.
Rochester’s Drew Strasser, left, and Noah Riffle made the all-Three Rivers Conference team at the conference tournament at Rozella Ford Golf Club in Warsaw on May 13. Riffle shot an 80 and finished seventh in the field of 50 golfers. Strasser was ninth with an 82.
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