All Mitch Davis could do was chuckle.
On No. 18 at Forest Park Golf Course, the Chesterton junior watched his chip shot land about 3 feet below the pin and then trickle off the front of the green onto the fringe.
Davis made a 15-foot putt for birdie to finish with a 7-over-par 77. That was good enough for medalist honors Friday in the Valparaiso Sectional.
They were honors about which Davis was slightly embarrassed.
The course won.
At least, however, Davis got the walk-off birdie.
“It lightened up coming to the clubhouse,” Davis said of the final birdie. “Seventy-seven is a bad round of golf especially on a par-70.”
Valparaiso won, shooting 334. Chesterton (339) and Portage (356) also advanced to Thursday’s Lafayette Jefferson Regional.
There was plenty of grumbling about pin placements, which were deemed difficult by most of the players.
Valparaiso’s Robert Kreloff, his team’s No.1 golfer, shot 81, which was third individually.
Kreloff has played Forest Park often. It’s the team’s home course.
He said he had a lot of fun playing with Davis and Portage’s Eric Lewis. He also said it was hard.
“It was a good group of guys,” Kreloff said, “God, the pin placements were brutal.”
Davis said it was challenging but he didn’t complain.
“There were some tough pins and the greens were fast,” he said. “At the end of the day, everyone plays the same course.”
Scores proved that something about the course was difficult.
The Vikings won the sectional for the first time since 2013. Valparaiso coach Wayne Lichtenberger has a printout of sectional team scores since 1988 when he took over the program.
Before Friday, the highest winning team score during that span was Valpo’s 319 in 1992.
Last year, Chesterton won with 299 and Davis shot 69.
Lichtenberger said the pin placements were virtually the same as last year. He said they were changed by inches for 16 holes. Two others were in different quadrants of the greens.
“It was tough,” Lichtenberger said. “I don’t have an answer as to why it was so hard. You have to be ready with your short game.”
Lichtenberger wasn’t sure how to process the team victory.
His team beat the Trojans at Valparaiso Country Club earlier this year, but he didn’t expect to win the sectional.
“I’m shocked,” he said of the victory. “They struggled some. The difference is, we struggled less.”
Harrison Smith, of Hobart, finished second individually at 81. The other two individual regional qualifiers were Boone Grove’s Aaron Lukas (83) and Morgan Township’s Ryan Rassel (87).
Twitter @MikeHuttonPT
