Weathering the weather at Valpo

Updated: April 30, 2011 11:26PM

VALPARAISO — It was good news and bad news on the weather front Saturday at The Aberdeen Classic, a boys golf meet hosted by Valparaiso High School at The Course at Aberdeen.

The good news? Clear blue skies for the first time in ages, and temperatures that edged comfortably into the 70s.

The bad news? A wet course thanks to weeks of rain. And probably even worse, jarring winds that gusted into the 30-mph range and probably well beyond at times.

Valparaiso conquered the conditions better than any other team in the nine-squad field, shooting a 315 to take the team title by 10 strokes over second-place Harrison.

“I was very pleased. Considering the weather conditions, I would have estimated our score to be a little higher,” Valparaiso coach Wayne Lichtenberger said.

Justin Woods of Harrison was the overall individual winner with a 75. Right behind him were Kyle Meihofer and Andrew Gariup. The Valparaiso teammates each shot 76.

“Those were two very solid scores,” Lichtenberger said.

Bobby Jacobs of Valparaiso, who won this event last year, shot an 80, good for a sixth-place tie. Rounding out Valparaiso’s scores were Logan Bertalan’s 83 and Michael Gariup’s 87.

West Lafayette was third among team totals wth 338. Penn, which had beaten Valparaiso twice previously, finished with 343 in fourth, followed by Munster (347), Lake Central (348), Michigan City (359), Elkhart (362), Kokomo (368), and Valparaiso 2 (369) and 2A (384).

The weather has impeded area golf teams’ chances to practice extensively every day. Valparaiso was hoping to play at Aberdeen on Monday and Tuesday, but inclement weather meant that the Vikings were only able to get in nine holes on the course on Thursday.

“It was pretty wet,” Lichtenberger said of Saturday’s conditions. “There was grass that hadn’t been cut because it’s been so wet. The bunkers, most of them were unplayable. The wind was just unbelievable today.”

Lichtenberger said that he is happy with the progress that his team has made, and he’s hoping that his players can build upon Saturday’s success as they prepare for the postseason.

“I feel really good about where we are right now,” he said. “We’re in pretty good shape.”

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