CARMEL — Sam McWilliams only had one thought on his mind as he lined up his final putt on the par-4 ninth hole at Prairie View Golf Club on Wednesday afternoon.
While for some high school seniors, the emotions surrounding the moment can creep up, realizing their last high school shot is upon them.
For McWilliams, Mt. Vernon’s first individual IHSAA boys golf state qualifier since 2016, he just wanted to finish strong.
After shooting a 4-over-par 76 during the state finals’ 18-hole, opening round in Carmel on Tuesday, McWilliams locked in to conclude the final round Wednesday with three pars on his last three holes to stay sub-80.
McWilliams shot 6-over-par 78 on Wednesday, giving him a total score of 76-78-154 at 10-over-par through 36 holes in two days, which wasn’t his best, by his own admission, but more than enough to make a statement.
“I wish I could say it was a little easier, but it really wasn’t. It was just as hard as the first day. I felt like I was less nervous because I had the experience of the first day, but the nerves were still there,” McWilliams said.
The jitters impacted his putting and led to five bogeys, including two double bogeys on the fourth and sixth holes, but 12 pars and a well-needed birdie on his 12th hole kept him among the state’s top 25.
Of the state’s 103 golfers competing at Prairie View, McWilliams tied for 21st overall, besting both former Mt. Vernon state qualifiers Will Dant in 2016 and Oliver Mast in 2015.
Dant tied for 90th as the Marauders’ last state qualifier with a 33-over-par, 95-82-177, while Mast tied for 54th the year prior at 15-over-par, 78-81-159.
McWilliams’ 154 tied him with Zionsville’s Maclean Dudasko, Bloomington South’s Andrew Todd, Henryville’s Westin Allen and Center Grove’s Brandon Heffner on the state finals’ individual leaderboard.
“I feel like I played 15 holes good today, and then I had those three in the middle that I kind of messed up on,” McWilliams said. “I think it’s pretty cool to put Mt. Vernon back in the state finals, and hopefully, in the future they’ll be back again.”
It took five years — four seasons — to get the Marauders’ boys golf program back to state, and McWilliams nearly made it a state-medal finale.
Unfortunately, birdie putts eluded the future IUPUI golfer through his final 18 holes.
“It was pretty frustrating. I just couldn’t get a putt to drop really until the third hole on the front nine,” McWilliams said. “I thought that would kind of be the thing that got me going, but it just didn’t work out for me today.”
McWilliams started his second round on the course’s back nine, just like on Tuesday, and once again carded a 2-over-par 38 with seven pars and bogeys on the 13th and 16th holes.
On Tuesday, his first of three birdie putts dropped in only six holes into his opening round, but it took 12 holes in his second go-around.
Despite the delay, McWilliams’ score still put him at 1-over-par 50 after 12 holes.
Then, a double bogey on the course’s fourth hole, a bogey on the fifth and another double bogey on the sixth pushed him behind a pack of four golfers that tied for 12th at 151.
A trio of golfers tied for 16th with 152s, two tied at 19th with 153s and four other competitors deadlocked for eighth with 150s as scores jumped throughout the day.
Peru’s Kash Bellar was the only golfer least affected, winning the individual state championship with a 6-under-par, 69-69-138. Guerin Catholic’s Jacob Modleski was second at 2-over par, 74-72-146.
The team state title went to Center Grove with a 30-over-par 606, followed by Guerin Catholic at 607, Carmel at 612 and Bloomington South with a 620.
McWilliams tied two individuals from the event’s top-four state medalist teams, and he was the third-best performer among the Muncie Central Regional’s five individual state qualifiers.
New Castle’s Derek Tabor tied for fourth at 5-over-par, 75-74-149, and Trojans’ teammate Dillon Bergum tied for 12th at 7-over-par, 74-77-151.
If not for a few bad breaks on the greens Wednesday, McWilliams might have been in the mix with his Hoosier Heritage Conference cohorts.
“He had a rough day putting. The struggle really came on his back nine, which was on the front side, where he went double bogey. That stretch really hurt him,” Mt. Vernon head coach Tom Kirby said.
“He had several putts that just lipped out and struggled with putts that he thought would break right and ended up breaking a little left. It was just a tough day.”
McWilliams made up for it on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes with par putts to finish the front nine at 4-over-par 40.
“The one bogey, I just made a bad swing on it to make the first double bogey, and then it kind of compounded. I wasn’t really getting down on myself, but that’s just kind of how it worked out,” McWilliams said. “I really wasn’t thinking about (this being my last round) too much until just now, but it will probably hit me later on.”
His teammates in attendance for McWilliams’ final round won’t soon forget it or his fortitude at the end.
As the Marauders’ No. 1 golfer and team captain, McWilliams helped lead Mt. Vernon to a 10th Hancock County championship in 12 years, a first-ever HHC team title and the program’s first sectional since 2016.
“This season will probably be the most memorable of my three years of high school ball,” McWilliams said.
And, it sets the bar high moving forward.
“It helps tremendously that these guys can come out and see this and they’re all vowing that, ‘We’ll be here, coach. We’ll be here,'” Kirby said. “We’ll see, but it definitely sets the tone.”
