Chesterton sophomore Jake Bobin the individual Valparaiso sectional champion and the Trojans advance to regional by placing third behind Valpo and Boone Grove

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The Chesterton boys golf team’s late-season improvement reached a new level Friday when Jake Bobin added sectional medalist to the list of accomplishments from the team.
A sophomore who played for the JV last season, Bobin fired a 3-over par 73 at Forest Park, where sectional host Valparaiso won the tournament on its home course with a team score of 314. Boone Grove placed second with a combined 325 strokes from its top four players, and Chesterton earned third and final qualifying spot for next week’s regional tournament at Sandy Pines by shooting a 337, four strokes ahead of fourth-place Portage.
Colin Kaleth (77) and Reid Carlson (78) from the sectional champion Vikings were the only golfers joining Bobin in breaking 80.
Bobin’s a year-round golfer, taking his game so seriously that he even finds way to use snow to sharpen his game by hitting chips off it.
“Jake was great today,” first-year Trojans boys golf coach Marc Bruner said. “He’s our hardest worker and never seems like he’s at a moment that’s too big for him. He had himself in a few tricky spots today, but he got himself out of them and made it look much easier than it was.”
Bobin didn’t have a number higher than 5 on his card. Not a single double bogey. That’s consistency in a sport where that is an elusive quality for far more experienced golfers. He carded nine pars, six bogeys and three birdies.
“Overall, he managed the course exceptionally well and his putting was as good as it’s been all year,” Bruner said. “Good putting and managing mistakes will put up a low score, and that’s what he did today.”
Bobin was the lone golfer on the team to finish in the top 10. Junior Drew Pacilio finished 13th, shooting an 86, and senior Tyler Brown was 15th with an 88. Seniors Griffin Stanley and Ryan Kasper both shot 90.
Lake Central is the host school of the regional scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 12 at Sandy Pines. Schools from five sectionals feed into the regional and only the top three teams advance to the state tournament.
The players have a second path available to qualifying for state. The top three finishers, excluding golfers who advance with a team, also qualify for the state tournament, scheduled for June 17-18 at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.