Their golf season was canceled, but 120 Indiana seniors get closure in 2020 Senior Open

FRANKLIN – It was not a state championship, not in the traditional sense. But you would be hard-pressed to see it as anything but as Tyler Nickol’s teammates doused him with ice-cold water on a scorching Thursday afternoon and his mother, Amy, watched with tears in her eyes.

Nickol, an Avon senior, won the Indiana Class of 2020 Senior Open at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, firing a 3-under-par 141 for the two-day tournament, which was open to the first 120 high school senior boys golfers in the state to enter.

For Nickol, his performance provided some closure for a senior season that never was due to the shutdown of high school sports because of the coronavirus pandemic. Did it feel like a state championship for Nickol, who finished tied for 58th in last year’s state meet?

“Kind of,” he said. “It’s nice to get out at a tournament with all of my friends from my senior year. I was excited coming in and obviously I'm excited to come out with a win.”

Nickol, who will start school at Kentucky Wesleyan in August, emerged victorious from an impressive group of entries. Tipton senior Griffin Hare, a Ball State recruit, finished two shots behind Nickol in second place. Yorktown’s Alex Bratton and Center Grove’s Alex Heck tied for third at even-par and Lafayette Jeff senior Nic Hofman was 2-over par to finish fifth.

The field was cut from 120 golfers to 40 after Wednesday’s first round.

Ted Bishop, the director of golf and general manager at The Legends and coach at Franklin High School, said the tournament was created with the collaboration of several people in the golf community, including Westfield coach Josh Bryant, the president of the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association, and Indiana Golf Association executive director Mike David.

“I think the guys really appreciated it,” Bishop said. “It’s been such a weird spring with everything out of whack. I realize it’s not IHSAA behind the title, but at the same time, it meant a lot. We’ve hosted 30 state championships here and I think there was a true appreciation from everybody here from the parents to the grandparents to the coaches to the players that they were happy to be here. There was nobody complaining about anything.”

Nickol certainly was not complaining about his performance, though he admitted he was a little caught off guard. He works at Golf Club of Indiana near Whitestown and plays there often and is also a junior member at Twin Bridges Golf Club in Danville. But he was waiting on a new set of clubs, which were ordered but did not arrive in time for the tournament.

“I just came out here to have fun,” Nickol said. “I was shocked, to be honest. The first day, I didn’t think I would roll so many putts in. After that I thought, ‘Maybe I can win this thing.’ My clubs don’t fit me. They might be here later (Thursday). I just tried to get my hands where they needed to be and get locked in.”

Nickol shot a 3-under 69 on Wednesday and followed it with an even-par 72 on Thursday. Hare, who tied for 12th in last year’s state meet, fired a 2-under 70 on Thursday.

“It had a state tournament feel to it, though not having a team out here makes it a little different,” Hare said. “I’m happy to be out here playing golf, tough. The virus hasn’t affected me too much because I’ve still been able to get out and practice and play golf. I had multiple people tell me they were just happy to be out here playing with all of these Indiana kids and seniors that we’ve known for so long. It was a cool experience to be playing again.”

There will be another chance next week. On Monday, the Indiana 2020 Team Tournament is set with seven qualifiers to be played around the state, including locally at The Legends and Ulen Country Club in Lebanon. The top 18 teams coming out of the qualifying round will advance to the finals at Purdue’s Ackerman Course on June 10 and 11.

“That is going to be fun,” Hare said. “My younger brother Gavin is an eighth grader and he’s going to be able to play. I’m super excited for that opportunity to try to qualify for Ackerman and to hopefully play well there.”

The top-10 rounded out with Jadden Ousley of Twin Lakes (3-over for tournament), Ben Hoagland of Evansville Memorial (4-over), Park Tudor’s Nels Surtani and Center Grove’s Peyton Short (5-over) and Carmel’s Luke Prall and Center Grove’s Caleb Tidd (6-over).

Nickol finished his tournament with a flourish on the par-4 No. 18, chipping a perfect shot out of the bunker to the right of the green and then knocking in a 10-foot putt for par. His mother, Amy, hugged him tight as he walked off the green before he reminded her of his sunburned neck.

Still, it was a special moment. It may not go down in the books as an official state championship, but it was a memory Nickol will cherish.

“Not having a season was disappointing, but he took it as an opportunity to play and practice as much as possible,” Amy Nickol said. “To come out here and play like he did yesterday and today — I just couldn’t be more proud of him. He proved a lot to a lot of people.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

2020 SENIOR OPEN

At Legends of Indiana, Franklin

1. Tyler Nickol, Avon — 69-72 (-3)

2. Griffin Hare, Tipton — 73-70 (-1)

T3. Alex Bratton, Yorktown — 72-72 (E)

T3. Alex Heck, Center Grove — 73-71 (E)

5. Nic Hofman, Harrison — 72-74 (+2)

6. Jadden Ousley, Twin Lakes — 77-70 (+3)

7. Ben Hoagland, Reitz Memorial — 74-74 (+4)

T8. Nels Surtani, Park Tudor — 81-68 (+5)

T8. Peyton Short, Center Grove — 73-76 (+5)

T10. Luke Prall, Carmel — 78-72 (+6)

T10. Caleb Tidd, Center Grove — 74-76 (+6)

12. Clay Stirsman, Carmel — 76-75 (+7)