For The Tribune

Trinity Lutheran juniors Cory and Chad Stuckwisch tied for medalist honors with scores of 41 (+5) to lead the Cougars to a 176-223 win against Jac-Cen-Del on Friday afternoon at Shadowood Golf Course.

Cougars Coach Greg Personett said the course was in good shape despite the recent rain.

“Actually, the course was pretty dry,” he said. “The greens were playing pretty fast. They dried up pretty well from the rain earlier in the week. The wind was down, and I actually thought the course played well today.”

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Next for the Cougars was Drew Royalty with a 46, followed by Jonathan Keith at 48.

“Our score was a little high,” Personett said. “I really thought we could have played better. We’re not quite as sharp as we need to be right now. We had a tough week of practice. We missed a match (Tuesday against Edinburgh at Timbergate) because of weather.

“Practice has been limited because of weather, and it showed today. They know what they’ve got to work on, their short game. They’re struggling with their putting and short game. They’re all striking the ball really well. It always comes down to the short game.”

Today the Cougars will shoot for their fourth straight title in the Cougar Invitational at Shadowood.

Jac-Cen-Del will be back for the tournament, and other teams entered are Crothersville, Southwestern (Hanover), Salem, Oldenburg Academy, Christian Academy of Indiana, Greenwood Christian, and Trinity’s B team.

All golfers tee off at 8 a.m. in a shotgun start.

“We’ve got a pretty decent field this year,” Personett said. “We’ve got some new teams we haven’t had in the past. I’m looking forward to seeing them.

“I think we’re going to be very competitive. We’ve got the Hauser Tournament next week, and these will kind of lead up to the (sectional) tournament.”

The sectional will be conducted June 3 at the Indiana University course in Bloomington.