The St. Henry boys golf team and four northern Kentucky individuals have punched their ticket to Bowling Green.
The first round of the state tournament took place on Monday at Shelbyville Country Club for Regions 5-8, the top three teams and the next best 15 individuals qualifying for the second and third rounds of the state tournament at Bowling Green Country Club.
Conditions made for a rough day, just four players finished under par in a field that featured some of the strongest golfers in the state.
The Crusaders finished 19-over as a team, good for a 307 and in third place behind Trinity at nine-over (297) and Christian Academy-Louisville at 14-over (302).
Ben Carter paced the Crusaders once again, fresh off a Region 7 title and shot even par, good for a tie for sixth in the 80-player field. Ben’s brother Will shot three-over, Parker Isaacs was five-over and Will Hammond at 11-over to round out the Crusaders scoring that counted. Jake Montgomery was the No. 5 man at 15-over.
St. Henry will now advance to play in Bowling Green on Oct. 8-9, they’ll have a practice round on Oct. 7 and have guaranteed themselves as a top 10 team in the state with only nine teams making the second and third round.
Ryle finished fourth at 27-over, putting an end to their season as a team. The Raiders got one individual to Bowling Green, a surprising one as seventh grader Hayden Li qualified with a four-over-par 76. Li was the No. 5 man for the Raiders for the majority of the season, but his steady play off the tee helped him get to the final rounds.
Rounding out the scoring for Ryle was Paxton McKelvey at seven-over, Andrew Roach at eight-over, Thomas Leone at eight-over and Jake Roscoe at 15-over.
Bishop Brosart finished tied for sixth at 42-over, Highlands finished eighth at 45-over. Bluebirds Nate Surrey survived a five-man playoff for the final three individual qualifying spots to advance to Bowling Green. Surrey finished five-over on the day.
Campbell County’s Talen Beane also qualified, he was involved in the five for three playoff, also finishing at five-over-par and advancing out of the playoff.
Covington Catholic’s Joseph Mangine was the third man out of the five to qualify from the five-man playoff, also finishing with a 77 on the day.
The three edged out Bishop Brossart’s Cole Bricking and Elizabethtown’s Ben Hanson in the playoff.
The girls first round of the state tournament is Wednesday at Shelbyville Country Club.
TEAM SCORING (*Qualified as a team)
*Trinity — 297
*CAL — 302
*St. Henry — 307
Ryle — 315
Central Hardin — 329
Bishop Brossart — 330
Bullitt East — 330
Highlands — 333
INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS (QUALIFIED AS INDIVIDUAL)
Par 72
*Colton Woosley, South Oldham — 68
*Luke Bryant, Eastern — 70
Will Judd, CAL — 70
*Graham Schmidt, North Oldham — 71
*Griffin Barke, South Oldham — 71
Ben Carter, St. Henry — 72
Trent Harley, Trinity — 72
Carson Long, Trinity — 73
*Luc Kelty, St. Xavier — 74
Zach Gladieux, CAL — 74
*Jackson Mayes, Grayson Co. — 74
Will Carter, St. Henry — 75
*John Combs, Harrison Co. — 75
*Cade Wilson, Brown — 75
*Max Terrell, South Oldham — 75
*Blake Pollock, DeSales — 75
*Ethan Lewis, Central Hardin — 75
*Hayden Li, Ryle — 76
Grant Howard, Trinity — 76
William Hudson, Trinity — 76
Parker Isaacs, St. Henry — 76
*Joseph Mangine, Covington Catholic — 77
Liam O’Grady, Trinity — 77
*Talen Beane, Campbell Co. — 77
*Nate Surrey, Highlands — 77