Owensboro Catholic’s Jakob Wellman went Monday at the KHSAA State Boys’ Golf Tournament at Bowling Green Country Club ready to compete as he knew he was there for a reason.
That reason turned out to be a 2-under 70 as Wellman is currently tied for sixth with play suspended due to darkness but most of the top golfers had already finished their rounds.
“It was good to see my name under the red number category,” he said. “I didn’t really strike it all that good today, I just kind of missed in all the right spots. Trusted myself around the greens.”
According to a release from the KHSAA, those who still need to finish their rounds will hit the course at 7 a.m. with the second round starting roughly around 8:30 a.m. It’s just before then that second round pairings and tee times will be announced.
Wellman started on the No. 10 tee and finished the front nine at 2-under with birdies on the 12th and 18th holes. The Ace junior backed it up with a birdie on the 12th to sit at 3-under with seven holes to play.
“You feel just kind of a rise of confidence in yourself,” he said. “When you’re around there and you have that many holes left, I definitely felt like I was still trying to make birdies instead of trying to wish my round ended early.”
Wellman went on a run of pars before delivering his first bogey and only on the par 4 8th. He said it’s best to forget bad holes.
“I’m just going to act like it never happened,” he said. “I played the hole well before and I definitely played it not so great but in that stuff, you just have to act like it never happened.
“A short memory is probably one of the best things you can have as a golfer.”
Although he doesn’t know what time he’ll hit the course today until the first round is officially complete, Wellman said he’s ready to hit the course whenever he’s told because he had a delay Monday as well when fog pushed the start.
“I didn’t even know when I was teeing off until right around when I needed to leave,” he said.
There is currently a three-way tie for first with Marshall County’s Jay Nimmo, Christian Academy-Louisville’s Matthew Troutman and Cooper’s Rylan Wotherspoon all sitting at 4-under heading into the second day.
Wellman said he knows he’s going to have to be the aggressor if he wants a shot at the top spot.
“I know those guys are probably not going to come backwards so I’m just going to have to go out and get them,” he said. “I’m going to have to put aggressive swings on the ball all day and trust what I’m doing and not get frustrating if something doesn’t go my way.”
Fellow Second Region golfers Grant Puckett (Webster County) and Jackson Hill (Madisonville-North Hopkins) are T11 at 2-over.
Louisville Trinity currently leads the team scoring as it sits at +12. Marshall County is in second at +19.
Individual Top 10
T1 Jay Nimmo (Marshall County) -4
T1 Matthew Troutman (CAL) -4
T1 Rylan Wotherspoon (Cooper) -4
T4 Luke Coyle (Taylor County) -3
T4 Allan Lockwood (Central Hardin) -3
T6 Jakob Wellman (Owensboro Catholic) -2
T6 Peyton Purvis (St. Mary) -2
T6 Dylan Stultz (Greenup County) -2
T9 Charlie Morgan (Louisville Trinity) -1
T9 CJ Corum (Clay County) -1
T9 Tyler Mitts (Grant County) -2
Team top five
1. Louisville Trinity +12
2. Marshall County +19
3. Lexington Christian +25
4. Taylor County +26
5. Greenwood +36
