Owensboro Catholic’s Jakob Wellman and Daviess County’s Braden Whistle and Grant Broughton will look to carry their momentum from region play to the KHSAA State Golf Championships on Thursday.
Wellman shot an 81 to finish fourth overall at the Second Region Tournament and said afterwards that he would use the performance as a chip on his shoulder for state.
To prepare for the tough course in Bowling Green Wellman has stepped out of his comfort zone in practice.
“I’ve been playing holes more than being at the range,” Wellman said. “I feel like playing holes exposes me to lots of different situations that I could be in this weekend and I want to be comfortable in that position.”
Wellman knows that with high stakes comes great competition and that he will have to bring his best on Thursday.
“There are probably 15 or so guys that could win this thing this year, I know that it is going to take two solid rounds and there will be no limping in to win the tournament,” Wellman said. “I’m looking forward to being out there and competing and to have the opportunity to end off the season and my high school career on a positive note.”
All in all, Wellman obviously wants to win, but is planning on going in with no expectations in order to keep a calm demeanor on the course and excel.
“The goal is always to win, but a goal I have set for myself is to play freely and relaxed and to not worry about shooting a certain score,” Wellman said. “I think this puts me in the best frame of mind to play well and shoot good scores.”
Fellow senior Whistle shot an 82 to earn fifth overall for the Panthers, helping them to second place in the Second Region Tournament.
Whistle said that he’s been focusing on the mental aspect of the game in order to strategically play to the best of his abilities.
“I am preparing for state by mentally preparing for the golf course and knowing what positions I need to be in throughout the day,” Whistle said. “I think the biggest challenge will be the greens and the pin locations,” Whistle said. “They can make the pins very tough and hard to get to. I just have to focus and get on the right tears of the greens and make the best score I can.”
With this being his senior year, Whistle is looking forward to cherishing every moment of his final tournament as a Panther.
“I am looking forward to the experience and just making the most of it,” Whistle said. “This is my last tournament of high school golf, so I’m just going to be out there trying to shoot the best I can and have fun with it.”
Whistle has high aspirations for his final tournament of his high school career, starting with advancing to day two.
“My goal at state is to make it to the second day,” Whistle said. “As an individual you have to beat about half the field to advance to the second day. I’m just focusing on putting a good number up on the board.”
Meanwhile, Broughton shot a 79, finishing two strokes behind first place at the Second Region Tournament.
In hopes of finishing amongst the best the Commonwealth has to offer, Broughton has been working on every facet of his game.
“I have been preparing pretty much every aspect of my game, working on straightening out the driver, being more accurate with my irons, and most importantly getting it in the hole with my short game,” Broughton said
Broughton said that he will have to adjust to the greens, but feels as though he’s ready for the challenge that they will pose.
“My biggest challenge this week will definitely be the fast greens, since putting is not my strong suit,” Broughton said. “I think it might be difficult to get used to the speed of the greens, but I am confident that I have prepared enough to be able to not lose any strokes to putting.”
Broughton is also looking forward to competing amongst such talented individuals and feels that past tournaments have prepared him for state.
“I am looking forward to the great competition at state,” Broughton said. “A few tournaments I’ve played this season has had competition close to what it would be like at the state tournament, such as the St. X KIT, and the KGCA All-State.”
Despite the high level of competition, Broughton has high expectations to close out the year strong.
“I think I can play much better at state than I did at those tournaments,” Broughton said. “My ultimate goal is to finish top-10, and get myself into the First Team All-State as a Freshman.”
