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High school golfers compete one last time in Indiana Boys Golf ‘Senior Open’ 2020
Director of golf and general manager at The Legends Golf Club, Ted Bishop, helped orchestrate the Indiana Boys Golf “Senior Open” 2020 for 111 high school competitors in June. Pictured from left to right: Center Grove senior Caleb Tidd, Center Grove senior Alex Heck, Ted Bishop and Center Grove senior Peyton Short. (Courtesy: @tedbishop38pga/Twitter)

High school golfers compete one last time in Indiana Boys Golf ‘Senior Open’ 2020

FRANKLIN, Ind. (BVM) COVID-19 has had a significant effect on the sports world, and perhaps the greatest has been to high school sports. Throughout the months of March and April, winter and spring sports were postponed and eventually canceled, leaving many high school athletes – especially seniors ready to compete for the final time – heartbroken.

One of the sports most affected by the cancelation of spring high school athletics was boys golf. In Indiana specifically, senior golfers across the state had their last chance to hit the links taken away. But as golf courses began to open up throughout the spring, many began to contemplate what they could do to get golfers back on the course representing their schools one last time.

Ted Bishop, director of golf and general manager at The Legends Golf Club, was one of those looking to help. Bishop – also the 38th President of the PGA where he has been a part of many accomplishments to help better the game of golf – has been at Legends since it was created in 1992, overseeing construction of the course nearly three decades ago. 

The course was originally the vision of several business partners, which included legendary Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight. Designed by Jim Fazio, The Legends Golf Club has hosted numerous events over the years including USGA qualifiers, the Indiana PGA Championship, and Indiana State Amateur Championships for both men and women. The course was also the host site for the IHSAA state golf tournament for both boys and girls from 2000-2015.

In the meantime, Bishop has also coached golf for several years and was in his first season coaching the Franklin High School boys golf team this spring along with co-coach and PGA professional, Crystal Morse. 

Franklin had just one senior this year that was affected by the spring sports cancellation, but Bishop saw the effects it had on other seniors who are members at The Legends Golf Club such as Center Grove graduates Alex Heck, Peyton Short and Caleb Tidd. As it was for everyone, the news that there would be no golf season this spring hit the seniors hard.

“Those are some of the guys who motivated me to want to host this tournament,” Bishop said. “I was a high school athlete myself and the first question I asked was how would I have felt if any sport I played would have been canceled. To be honest, it was hard to relate to that.”

Along with the collaboration of others – including Westfield golf coach and Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association president, Josh Bryant, and Indiana Golf Association executive director Mike David – Bishop began organizing a tournament to be held at his course in June: The Indiana Boys Golf “Senior Open” 2020.

Bishop reached out to former high school classmate, Mike Petrie, to help out with the event. Petrie is the chairman of Merchants Bank of Indiana, and helped sponsor the one-time tournament.

This allowed the event to be open to any high school senior in the 2020 class, free of charge. The two-day tournament was held June 3 and 4 with 111 players competing in the first day of the event, and 40 golfers making the cut to compete on day two.

Although the tournament was not an ISHAA state event, it did at times take on that type of feel.

And even if competing in the event may have not been at a state tournament level either, being able to represent their school one last time meant everything to a lot of the seniors.

“Having hosted as many state championships as we have here, the tournament in itself certainly took a different flavor on,” Bishop said. “But I felt like in all the events that I have hosted here at The Legends in 27 years, I’m not sure there has been a group of players, parents, or grandparents that appreciated an event more than these people did.”

As Bishop noted, players of all levels came to play in the tournament, all competing for similar reasons. Thirty-six holes were played at the par-72 course which spans over 7,000 yards from the back tees. Many top seniors competed in the event – several of which were highly ranked golfers in the state. But after all was said and done, it was Avon High School golfer Tyler Nickol who won it all with a 141 stroke, 3-under performance.

Avon’s Tyler Nickol, center, won the Indiana Boys Golf “Senior Open” 2020 shooting 3-under par over 36 holes. (Courtesy: @CoachBryantJ/Twitter)

Nickol shot a 3-under, 69 on day one, and followed it up with an even par round of 72 on the tournament’s final day. Nickol will go on to attend Kentucky Wesleyan in the fall, and the tournament win was impressive considering he finished 58th at state just last season. 

He was followed by Tipton senior Griffin Hare, who finished just two strokes behind in second. Alex Bratton of Yorktown and Alex Heck of Center Grove finished in a tie for third, while Lafayette Jeff’s Nic Hoffman rounded out the top five.

Although several of the golfers who were in the event will be playing in college, the final chance to compete in high school was a moment to cherish for many.

“The two-day atmosphere was very refreshing and gratifying,” Bishop said. “If I’m being honest it was an emotional experience, even for me. I had no seniors who were even involved but this was one of the coolest things that I have done in my life as a golf professional.”

The collaboration between The Legends Golf Club and the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association created a special moment for athletes in one of the most unique circumstances high school sports has ever faced. The tournament was an overall success, and Bishop, along with the others who helped create the Senior Open, couldn’t be happier.

“I was extremely pleased with everything and it was unique. But overall I think the tournament was a total success and a good way to cap it all off,” Bishop added.

The Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association also helped form the Indiana 2020 Boys Team Finals held the following week, at Ackerman-Allen Course at Purdue University. Center Grove High School’s “Center Grove Legacy” ended up taking home the team title in what was yet another satisfying event for high school golfers that did not get to compete this spring.

Despite the success of the competition, all involved hope things are back to normal next spring, with an IHSAA state golf tournament being held once again. But the fact this will likely be a one-time event is part of what made competing in it special.

“Everyone has looked at this as a one-off and hopefully it’s a tournament that there is no reason to host again,” Bishop said. “But given the fact this will probably be the one and only Senior Open is a special thing for seniors in the Class of 2020 to look back on.”

Regardless of what the future holds, athletes in the Class of 2020 deserve to be celebrated considering all they have endured this year. And the Indiana Boys Golf “Senior Open” 2020 could not have done a better job in doing just that.