‘This is my day.’ Senior’s 64 helps Madison Central sweep Region 9 boys golf titles.
Madison Central’s Warren Thomis seemingly could do no wrong during the Region 9 Championship boys high school golf tournament at Gibson Bay Golf Course on Wednesday.
Thomis fired an 8-under par 64 to win the individual region title by five shots and helped Madison Central retain its team crown and move on in this postseason with a chance to defend the state championship it won last year.
“It’s our home course,” Thomis said, explaining his bogey-free round that included four birdies on the front nine and four more on the back, including the 18th hole. “I play out here everyday and, yesterday, our practice round was really, really good as a team. I hit it close all day. I gave myself a lot of good looks.”
A perfect flop shot onto the green on the par-5 second hole gave Madison Central’s senior anchor the first hint of what kind of day he could have on Gibson Bay’s 6,704-yard, par-72 layout.
“When I hit that to 4 feet I was like, ‘OK, this is good,’” Thomis said. “Then I started hitting it close. I made another birdie on 4, hit it to a foot on 5, and I was like, ‘This is my day.’”
After a chip-in birdie on the par-5 14th hole, Thomis established a four-shot gap on his playing partners, all of whom finished under par in the top four.
“I kind of feel like I played bad, but, no, he played amazing,” joked Lexington Catholic’s Charlie Spiller, who finished in third at 2-under par. “He kept it in play all day and hit wedges inside of 10 feet and made putts.”
Spiller, one of 10 individual players who qualified for state, overcame a rough start with a bogey on No. 3 and a double bogey on No. 6, both par-3s. He rallied with four birdies and no bogeys over the last 12 holes.
“I just tried to keep it out of the trees for the most part and I started playing some good golf after I made a putt on 10 and made birdie,” Spiller said.
George Rogers Clark’s Jacob Settles birdied the par-3 17th hole to get to 3-under par and push past Spiller in the individual standings. It also helped the Cardinals qualify for their first state tournament trip as a team since 2013.
It was fun. I’m so glad we made it as a team,” Settles said. “I felt like I played pretty good overall and was solid down the stretch.”
Henry Clay freshman survives playoff
Henry Clay freshman Carson Nicholas birdied the 18th hole to move to 6-over par and put himself into a three-way tie for the ninth and 10th state qualifying spots. Then he had to compete in a playoff with Great Crossing’s Brady Parker and Landon Bergman to see who would advance.
Nicholas denied being nervous in the playoff as the three replayed the first hole.
“It was hard,” Nicholas acknowledged. “You just had to make sure you did better than the other person and make sure you get a par.”
He did just that with a chip and a 6-foot putt for par as he and Bergman advanced.
Madison Central looks forward
Madison Central’s team score of 287 also included Reece Keeton’s 1-under-par 71 and a pair of 4-over 76s from Braydon Bond and Radney Bales. The team format includes four of each team’s five golfers, so Seth Barker’s 8-over 80 did not count. Clark finished with a team score of 294.
Madison Central’s finish represented a marked improvement over its two rounds of 300 at last weekend’s All State Championship at the University Club of Kentucky against a field of many of the state’s best teams. The Indians finished fifth in that competition.
“Yeah we definitely were disappointed and knew we had some work to do going into Wednesday here,” Madison Central coach Kyle Congleton said. “Monday and Tuesday in practice was really good … You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the boys. I’m just the organizer. They put in the work and believe in themselves and believe in our system.”
While Congleton couldn’t have predicted Thomis’s round, he said he did sense something more about him Wednesday morning.
“Him being a senior and knowing how good of a player he is, he wanted to not only get the team win, but get (the individual title) on his home course here,” Congleton said. “He had a little extra determination in him and a little more fire under his butt, and I could tell from the get-go he was ready this morning.”
Now, everyone’s attention turns to the KHSAA State First Round, which will be held at Winchester Country Club next Wednesday as the first leg of the state tournament that will continue with the Final Round in Bowling Green. Winchester C.C. is the home course of George Rogers Clark.
The top two teams from Regions 9-12, plus 40 individual qualifiers will compete for the right to advance to Bowling Green. Only three teams and 15 individual qualifiers will move on to compete against the rest of the state’s best.
“There’s a lot of good teams in the state this year,” Congleton said. “The nine teams who make it to state, I promise, are going to have a good shot.”
Boys All State Championship
Greenwood’s Jacob Lang took individual honors and Bowling Green took first in the team competition at the annual KGCA All State Championship held Saturday and Sunday at the University Club of Kentucky.
Lang won by going 7-under par over the two-day event that included the U Club’s Big Blue and Wildcat courses. He got to 7-under all at the Big Blue Course on Saturday as the state’s best girls golfers played Wildcat. Bowling Green finished as a team at 14-over par to beat Christian Academy-Louisville by two shots.
The event marks a top-flight tune-up for the postseason and features the top 15 teams and top 21 individual golfers from across the state as ranked by the Kentucky Golf Coaches Association’s All State Points system.
Lexington Catholic’s Spiller placed third at 4-under par. Clark’s Jacob Settles finished eighth at 1-under. Other Region 9 teams at All State included Lexington Catholic (ninth), Clark (10th) and Frederick Douglass (11th).
BOYS GOLF REGION 9 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Top finishers and state qualifiers: 1. Warren Thomis, Madison Central, 64; 2. Jacob Settles, George Rogers Clark, 69; 3. Charlie Spiller, Lexington Catholic, 70; T4. Reece Keeton, Madison Central, 71; T4. Jace Patrick, George Rogers Clark, 71; T4. Carl Space, Frederick Douglass, 71; 7. Carter Denton, Frankfort, 72; 8. Evan Taylor, George Rogers Clark, 73; T9. Bradford Lacefield, Woodford County, 74; T9. JD Collins, Lexington Catholic, 74; 11. Drew Edwards, Frederick Douglass, 75; T12. Radney Bales, Madison Central, 76; T12. Luke Watson, Frederick Douglass, 76; T12. Braydon Bond, Madison Central, 76; 15. Clifton Scully, Madison Southern, 77; T16. Carson Nicholas, Henry Clay, 78*; T16. Landon Bergman, Great Crossing, 78*.
*Advanced after a one-hole playoff.
Top 10 teams: 1. Madison Central -1; 2. George Rogers Clark, +6; Frederick Douglass, +19; 4. Lexington Catholic, +21; 5. Woodford County, +37; 6. Great Crossing, +39; 7. Scott County, +40; T8. Lexington Christian, +44; T8. Henry Clay, +44; T10. Madison Southern, +58; T10 Frankfort, +58.
Complete results (Sign in: 2023RB): golfgenius.com/pages/9898411405575461891
Boys Golf State Championships
First Round at Winchester Country Club
▪ Tuesday, Sept. 26
Final Round at Bowling Green Country Club
▪ Oct. 5-7
