Crown Point’s Grubnich puts past behind him

Updated: June 15, 2011 12:38PM

It was a moment that could’ve deflated any high school golfer — scratch that, any athlete in general. But for Nick Grubnich all that’s the left is the present.

Being a strong suit on the state golf scene for the past few years, Grubnich knows the Legends of Indiana Golf Course in Franklin very well. As a freshman in 2008, the newbie broke through with a robust third place finish at the state meet. Then two years later, things were going even better. On Day 2 of the 2010 tournament, he was six under-par heading into the par-4 18th hole. A par there would’ve meant an stroll to second place.

But, things didn’t go quite as planned. The Crown Point golfer carded a quadruple bogey, (four-over-par), and ended up finishing fifth. Adding to the situation was the fact that a 10 on the par-five eighth hole at Lakes of the Four Seasons, just two weeks prior, squashed his medalist chances in the Boone Grove Sectional. Over the summer, Grubnich was left with his thoughts.

“It was hard to get those thoughts out of my mind, but with consistently driving it straighter (and) hitting it straighter ... the bad thoughts just went away,” said Grubnich after finishing a practice session at the Legends course on Sunday.

And why shouldn’t the senior be positive? Even against what has been one of the wettest and sloppiest springs for area golf and a constant rotation of teammates (Crown Point coach Del Kutemeier juggled 13 players to make up the team’s four other spots this season), Grubnich is having the best year of his high school career. Plus, to sweeten the situation, he’s also heading to Indiana University next year on a golf scholarship.

Although his first few matches weren’t his best, largely because of the weather, he is 1-under par for the season as a whole. As the weather faded from the frigid and wet to moderate and stable, Grubnich helped fuel Crown Point to a 10-4 finish in the super competitive Duneland Conference race. In the process he provided guidance for his teammates that were trying to fill the holes.

“I kind of just tried to help them all,” he said. “I like the other guys on the team. So, if they asked for help, I just would just try to tell them what I know.”

What Grubnich knows, especially in 2011, is how to control his swing. That was one of the areas that he focused improvement on.

“My misses aren’t as sporadic; they’re on the golf course instead of in the parking lot,” he said with a slight laugh. “I kind of matured a little more. More control of my golf swing and I don’t have to worry as much if there’s trouble out there, because I have more control of my golf swing.”

This postseason has reflected that work. At the Boone Grove Sectional he upended last year’s result by scoring a 72 for the medalist honor at LOFS. And at the LaPorte Regional, amid an excruciatingly tight field in which 72 was the cut, he bested everyone with a 3-under 69 score (improving from a 35 front-nine to shoot 34 on the back) repeating as the medalist. 

According to Kutemeier, Grubnich has been a boost to the caliber of Crown Point play.

“His caliber of play is great, he shoots to the pressure,” he said of the player that has been All-State three times and four times all-DAC. “It’s great; it picks the caliber of play, of everyone else, up.”

With the past behind him, but as a constant reminder, experience could benefit the recent high school graduate.

“Maybe just having more experience in that role (playing on day 2), it’ll help me a lot more to close the day,” Grubnich said. “I’m feeling pretty good about everything heading into (today).”

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