Two County golfers had memorable seasons their junior year.
Crawfordsville’s Devin Guard and Southmont’s Charlie
Bullerdick took the course by storm in their third year of high school golf and
are The Paper’s 2016 Co-Golfers of the Year.
Each had a definable round of their seasons and remembered a
specific tee shot from their big meets.
Guard finished the IHSAA Sectional 19 meet with an 83, along
with two other golfers. The trio was sent to a playoff round.
This was a familiar situation for Guard. He ended the
Sectional meet the same way his sophomore year – on the first hole at Harrison
Hills Country Club.
The crowds gathered both years for the tee shots.
“Going from a couple people watching you to everybody there
– two years in a row – it’s probably my favorite shot,” Guard said. He said it
was similar to a basketball atmosphere. (Guard also plays on the basketball
team for Crawfordsville.)
“It’s a lot more adrenaline than you are used to. It’s
almost more of a basketball game with everyone there.”
Guard followed a straight tee shot with a long putt for par
to advance to Regionals.
“It was an up and down journey,” he added. “I’ll definitely
remember that one for a lifetime.”
Bullerdick started off the Montgomery County golf meet the
same as he would end it – on top. He was the last one to tee off in his group
and both previous golfers’ drives were slightly off.
“It felt great off the tee and it went right where I wanted
it to,” he said. This first shot set up Bullerdick to win the County title with
a 78, his season best. But his favorite part about the meet was playing with
fellow County golfers.
“The best thing about County was getting to play with the
number ones from the other schools because we’re in the same grades and we’ve
played each other for years,” he said.
Both Guard and Bullerdick started playing golf in fifth
grade with their dads.
Guard distinctly remembered his first shot with his spiffy
new golf clubs.
“My very first one went so far left,” he said. “It was
really bad but that’s how it is and sometimes it still happens.”
The bad shots are weighed with the good ones and Guard’s
best ones came at the Southmont Invite at Crawfordsville Country Club when he
hit his season best of 77.
“It was at my home course; I was more comfortable,” he said.
“I knew how everything was going to pan out from hole to hole, so really didn’t
have to worry about much on the greens.”
He also finished tied for 10th at the Sagamore Conference
meet with an 84. He received 2nd Team All-Conference.
Bullerdick also shot his best at the Southmont Invite with another
78 and went on to a third place at Conference. He shot a 79 there and received
1st Team All-Conference. He shot an 84 at Sectional, one stroke away
from making the playoff round.
“My main goals were winning County and keep shooting lower
scores and be consistent,” he said. “In past years I’ve shot some higher
numbers but I was able to keep it low this year.”
Consistency was also on Guard’s mind, which he maintained,
up until the Regional round.
“Golf is different day to day and I had a different swing
going in,” he said. “I kept overthinking things which caused me to shoot my
worst round in high school.”
Golf is centered on the mental game. In a sense, that gives
a unique competitive edge to the game and both Guard and Bullerdick enjoyed
that aspect when they each started playing in middle school.
“I’m a pretty competitive person anyway so once I started
playing I just came out here every day,” Bullerdick said. He looked for more
tournaments to play in and find more competition.
Guard contrasted it with basketball.
“It’s the most competitive sport that I’ve played,” he said.
“Not just in playing in a meet, but every day you really just play against
yourself.”