GRC sophomore surprises, Madison Central reign continues in 9th Region boys golf

Not even lightning could delay the inevitable at the 9th Region boys golf tournament.

Madison Central, the three-time defending state team champion, won its fifth straight region title as a unit Monday at the University Club at Arlington. The Indians were barely threatened: Their senior foursome of Jake Feldhaus (1-under-70), Boo Crawley (+1), Tucker Jones (+3) and Seth Barker (+3) finished with a collective 286, six strokes over par. Madison Central could have thrown in No. 5 player Brayden Carlisle (+4) and still upended runner-up Frederick Douglass (301) by double digits.

Both teams and its respective golfers advanced to the first round of the Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac/KHSAA State Golf Tournament. That event begins Sept. 30 at three sites across the state before getting completed a week later in Bowling Green.

The most unpredictable hurdle between Madison Central and its latest No. 1 trophy was weather. Entering Monday, much of central Kentucky was in a moderate drought, but rain was forecast for most of this week. Competition teed off under light rain and dark clouds loomed much of the day, but most of the tournament was contested in dry conditions. Wind gusts were the only noticeable deterrent Monday.

“We all play golf year-round so we know what to do,” said Feldhaus, who finished as the individual runner-up. “You’ve gotta flight the ball, and usually when the temperature drops the ball’s not gonna fly as far so you’ve gotta adjust your yardages and make sure you’re paying attention to the details.”

Feldhaus, who transferred to Madison Central ahead of his junior season, was critical to the Indians’ title defense last season. The Indians bettered state runner-up Trinity by four shots by the end of last year’s state tournament.

St. Xavier, which leads the state with 21 titles, is the only other program to have won three straight team trophies. Madison Central in a few weeks could become the first to win four in a row.

“Hopefully St. X will be there, it’d be a great competition,” Feldhaus said. “That’s all we’re looking for, to give it a run and make history.”

Strong finish for GRC’s Andrew Perry

A competitive summer competition season yielded ideal returns for Andrew Perry, a sophomore at George Rogers Clark. He birdied his final three holes to finish at 3 under on the day and lock up sole possession of first place.

He and Feldhaus were the only golfers who finished under par.

“I was a little nervous,” Perry said. “If you don’t make it out of here, it’s the last tournament of the year. I knew if I came out here and played my game, I could play with anybody out here. That’s the mentality I had coming into it.”

Perry entered the tournament ranked 39th in all-state points, behind nine other golfers in the 9th Region.

“He’s got ‘it,’ man,” GRC head coach Stuart Taylor said. “He had a big summer. He got to go out to Oregon and play in a big AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) event he qualified for, played really good in the Kentucky Junior Am. He’s continued on and we’ll see what happens.”

Perry will have a nice advantage going into his next tournament: The 9th Region’s first-round site is Winchester Country Club, his literal home course; his family lives there.

“We’ve lived on a golf course since I was one and a half,” Perry said. “I’ve been going out there with my dad since I was 2.”

Five were in the running for final state spot

In addition to all members of the winning and runner-up teams, every region tournament sends 10 additional individual qualifiers through to the first round of state.

Scott County’s Wyatt Merkins emerged from a field of five challengers following a two-hole playoff to settle the final spot. Through 18 holes, he and teammate Clay Wachter matched GRC’s Knox Taylor, Madison Southern’s John Harris and Woodford County’s Bradford Lacefield with a score of 5-over par.

Wachter was eliminated after the first playoff hole. Merkins, who survived a 10-man playoff for three spots at last year’s region meet, finished a stroke better than the remaining golfers to extend his senior season.

“It doesn’t even feel real to be honest,” Merkins said immediately after locking in his state berth. “I finished the round and I was even questioning if there would be a playoff. I was lucky to even still have a chance.”

Lacefield defeated Taylor in an additional playoff hole to determine a state-alternate should any of the qualifiers not be able to participate.

Frederick Douglass back to state tournament

Lexington’s newest high school advanced to the state tournament for the first time in 2024. It repeated that feat this fall with a largely new cast of characters, edging Lexington Christian Academy for the second-place team trophy.

Ashton Gordon led Douglass with a 1-over par round. Teammate Anderson Lang (3 over) also posted a top-10 score. They were the only holdovers from last year’s team and were the No. 3 and No. 4 scorers from that edition. This year, they led the way ahead of teammates Blake Thomas (+6), Brody Hayden (+11) and non-scorer Joel Frese (+15).

“After last year we didn’t know cause we lost three of our top five,” Gordon said. “I’m proud. We got a four-man that got us through here today. We have a lot of chemistry and practice a lot more. We’ve done a good job.”

Rhett Robinson, the Broncos’ head coach, in part credited the relatively nascent program’s stability to casting a wide net.

“We’ve decided that we’re just gonna take a lot of kids, get ’em started as part of the program at a young age,” Robinson said. “We started with five boys in 2017 and this year we have 26 boys and 16 girls. It took some patience and coming out here and getting thumped on a little bit.”

Other state tournament qualifiers

Winston Zhuang, a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar, matched Gordon for the highest score posted by a Lexingtonian. He was in contention for the individual title down the stretch but didn’t seem aware of that.

“I don’t really keep track of my score, so I didn’t feel any pressure,” Zhuang said.

Four other Lexington golfers qualified for the state tournament: Henry Clay’s Carson Nicholas (+2), LCA’s Parker Geldhoff (+3), Lafayette’s Clay Noble (+3) and LCA’s Breck Tatem (+4).

Aside from the aforementioned qualifiers, they’ll also be joined by two from Frankfort — Carter Denton and Josh Tandy (both +2) — and Scott County’s Brady Parker (+3).

9th Region Championship

At par-70 University Club at Arlington, Richmond

Top 10 teams (top two advance to state tournament): 1. Madison Central +6; 2. Frederick Douglass +21; 3. Lexington Christian Academy +23; 4. George Rogers Clark +26; 5. Scott County +27; 6. Henry Clay +29; 7. Paul Laurence Dunbar +35; 8. Lafayette +41; 9. Lexington Catholic +43; 10. Great Crossing +46.

Top 10 scores: 1. Andrew Perry, GRC, -3; 2. Jake Feldhaus, Madison Central, -1; t3. Boo Crawley, Madison Central, +1; t3. Ashton Gordon, Douglass, +1; t3. Winston Zhuang, Dunbar, +1; t6. Carson Nicholas, Henry Clay, +2; t6. Josh Tandy, Frankfort, +2; t6. Carter Denton, Frankfort, +2; t9. Brady Parker, Scott Co., +3; t9. Seth Barker, Madison Central, +3; t9. Tucker Jones, Madison Central, +3; t9. Parker Geldhof, LCA, +3; t9. Anderson Lang, Douglass, +3; t9. Clay Noble, Lafayette, +3.

This story was originally published September 23, 2025 at 7:54 AM.