By MIKE DEAK
Sports Editor
mdeak@the-papers.com

Saturday was not an ideal day for golf. For the golfers, coaches and spectators, a sleet-filled start to the Wawasee Invite at South Shore Golf Course may have been the most miserable way to start the long day. By the end of the afternoon, the course had absorbed the moisture nicely and Warsaw left all smiles as champions.
The Tigers used a medalist 73 from Tyler Ostrom and a 76 from Jonathan Schram to compile a 308 to steer clear from runner-up NorthWood’s 316. Homestead were third at 322 while Wawasee’s gold squad, comprised of its main varsity roster, fell to ninth at 349, the Wawasee green squad were eleventh at 365 followed by Whitko at 370 in the 15-team field.
Ostrom finished even on the front side, nailing a 45-foot birdie putt on nine to rescue his 36 and was one over on the back nine. The momentum made on the long putt on nine helped salvage what Ostrom said was a frustrating couple of holes, including a double bogey on eight.
“I didn’t hit the ball well today, honestly, but my short game saved me,” Ostrom said. “I made a lot of putts to save par. That gave me some confidence. The 45-footer on nine was a confidence boost. I felt like I stole one on that hole.”
Schram might have medaled the Invite had it not been for a nine on the third hole, but a pair of birdies on the front side helped make up the one misstep. A 79 from Bennett Hollar and 80 from Tim Ahlersmeyer gave coach Ben Barkey additional reasons to relish the championship accolades.
“I give all the credit to the five players that played today,” said Warsaw head coach Ben Barkey. “For a day like today, with the rain early and all the wind, its key to be able to block that all out and just go play. They stayed focused and put their mind to it. When you are able to block that out and play your game, I can’t be more happy about how we played.”
Wawasee fell off pace early on the front side. Choosing to pair its varsity lineup with Warsaw, Northridge and Homestead, the potential regional pairing did not befit a Wawasee side that had just shot a 161 front-nine team score two nights before on the same course.
“It surprised me that we played as bad as we did on the front, I don’t know why we had trouble there,” said Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone. “We learned a little about ourselves today and we learned that we have to play better.”
The ‘gold’ team had a 41 as its best score by Derek Zurcher and just a 176 at the turn, which left the Warriors in ninth place. The ‘green’ roster were just three shots behind at 179 golfing the back nine first. Zurcher wound up with an 83 and Dylan Cousins rallied from a 45 on the front side with a respectable 41 for an 86. Zach Reiff led the ‘green’ unit with a 44-42, 86.
Danny Zawlocki led Whitko with a 40 on the back nine to card a final score of 84.

Wawasee Invitational – South Shore Golf Course
1. Warsaw – 308
2. NorthWood – 316
3. Homestead – 322
4. Northridge – 327
5. Fairfield – 331
6. Chesterton – 333 (fifth score tiebreaker)
7. Plymouth – 333
8. Lakeland – 335
9. Wawasee Gold – 349
10. Goshen – 353
11. Wawasee Green – 365
12. Whitko – 370
13. Manchester – 374
14. Columbia City – 376
15. Elkhart Central – 382

WARSAW (308)
Tyler Ostrom – 73
Jonathan Schram – 76
Tim Ahlersmeyer – 80
Bennett Hollar – 79
Jonny Hollar – 82

WAWASEE GOLD (349)
Derek Zurcher – 83
Luke Jackson – 93
Dylan Cousins – 86
Tristen Atwood – 87
Maclain Herr – 97

WAWASEE GREEN (365)
Mason Germonprez – 92
Zach Reiff – 86
Jordan Melching – 91
Cole Love – 96
Tyler Kissinger – 97

WHITKO (370)
Danny Zawlocki – 84
Josh Busenbark – 89
Colton LeTourneau – 93
Cole Bechtold – 104
Robbie Hopkins – 132