SOUTH BEND — Count Nick Bienz, who dreams of someday playing the PGA Tour, as an admirer of Warren Golf Course, the Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw design playing host to the 108th Indiana Open championship this week.
“I love this course,” said the 27-year-old former IUPUI golfer from Hoagland, a tiny town southeast of Fort Wayne who has been playing PGA Tour Monday qualifiers, Korn Ferry Tour qualifiers and various state tournaments this year with hopes of making it to PGA Tour Q-School in the fall.
Bienz doesn’t hit it particularly long but keeps his drives in the fairway — a must on the heather-surrounded fairways and greens excellently prepared by Warren superintendent Matthew Yops and his staff. Bienz used a stretch of nine holes starting at Warren’s No. 15 and concluding at No. 5 and made six birdies on his way to an opening 5-under-par 66 which was good for a one-shot lead over two-time Indiana Open champion — and fellow IUPUI graduate — Michael Davan and amateurs Ben Hoagland of Evansville and Kash Bellar of pear
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“It’s always nice to be leading,” Bienz said, “but after day one it doesn’t mean anything. Last year I shot over par in the first round and had to fight back (to finish tied for sixth at 5-under, seven strokes behind winner Seth Fair in the Indiana Open at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield). It’s nice not to put myself behind the 8-ball this year. That stretch of holes (15 to 5) was where I needed to make birdies.”
Bienz made six in that stretch and had seven on his day to offset a pair of bogeys in his morning round to better the 67s fashioned by Hoagland, a former Evansville Memorial golfer who has two seasons left at the University of Michigan, and Bellar, a junior at Ball State.
“I love the layout, it’s really cool; I love the small greens and the tall trees, it has character,” said Hoagland, who started on the back nine and birdied the par-5 10th and 17th holes and birdied the par-3 14thand par-4 15th holes before making two more birdies to offset a pair of bogeys on his incoming nine holes. Hoagland finished 11thth in the State Amateur and won the Indiana Match Play Tournament this summer.
“I kept the ball in play; I didn’t do anything stupid,” said the 21-year-old Bellar, who birdied Nos. 5, 7 and 9 to turn in 3-under 32 and then added two more birdies to offset a lone bogey for a backside 35. “This is a great layout. It’s definitely one of my favorites in Indiana.”
The 34-year-old Davan, who back on May 1 at snowy South Bend Country Club led the local qualifiers for the US Open, had three birdies and an eagle 3 at the par-5 10th hole during his afternoon round of 67. He also saluted Coore and Crenshaw for their old-school design after only his second round at Warren (he played a practice round last Friday).
“Being from around Indy (Zionsville), you don’t get a lot of (flat) courses like this,” said Davan, who won his previous two Indiana Opens in 2021 (at Purdue’s Ackerman-Allen) and 2019 (at Otter Creek in Columbus). “I grew up in Illinois and played a lot of junior golf around Chicago at courses like this. There’s a lot of old-school flair about this course with a modern touch about it.”
Five golfers were two shots out of the lead at 3-under 68, led by former Firestone Country Club (Akron, Ohio) and current Crooked Stick professional Gary Robison, the oldest player in the 156-player field at 69. Joining Robison at 68 were 2020 Indiana Open champion Eric Steger of Noblesville and fellow professional Brett Seward of Valparaiso plus amateurs Nicholas Dentino of Carmel and Carter Smith of Sellersburg.
There were a group of nine golfers tied for 10th after rounds of 2-under 69. Among them was amateur Michael Sharp of Fort Wayne, the 2018 Indiana Open champion at Carmel’s Prairie View Golf Club and the older brother of Warren assistant pro Katie Sharp. Brayden Miller, a two-time all-state golfer heading into his junior year at Fairfield High School, also shot 69 as did another amateur, New Castle’s Brady Wheeler, who had the shot of the day when he holed a 7-iron from 184 yards, his second shot of the day, at the par-5, 495-yard 10th hole for an albatross.
Another nine golfers shot 1-under 71, bringing the total number of golfers with under-par scores to 27. Five golfers matched par 71, including 20-year-old former Penn standout and current Bethel junior Jonah Kumfer.
Warren assistant professional Alec Dutkowski, who prepped at NorthWood and played his college golf at Taylor, led a group of golfers at one-over 72 with the help of a pair of eagle 3s — at the 518-yard fifth and the 565-yard 17th.
The 153 golfers remaining after Monday’s round were to play their second round Tuesday after which the field will be cut to 70 and ties for Wednesday’s final 18 holes. The cut is expected to be eight-over 150.
108th INDIANA OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
SOUTH BEND – Results after Monday’s first round at the par-71, 6,920-yard Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame:
66 (5-under): Nick Bienz, Hoagland, 32-34
67 (4-under): a-Ben Hoagland, Evansville, 35-32; a-Kash Bellar, Peru, 32-35; Michael Davan, Zionsville, 34-33
68 (3-under): Gary Robison, Carmel, 33-35; a-Nicholas Dentino, Carmel, 33-35; Eric Steger, Noblesville, 34-34; a-Carter Smith, Sellersburg, 33-35; Brett Seward, Valparaiso, 36-32
69 (2-under): Austin Vukovits, Noblesville, 34-35; Blake Wheeler, New Castle, 36-33; a-Hunter Mefford, Hanover, 35-34; a-Michael Sharp, Fort Wayne, 36-33; a-Brayden Miller, Leesburg, 33-36; a-Brady Wheeler, New Castle, 37-32; Cal Elzey, Fort Wayne, 34-35; Graham McAree, Fishers, 35-34; a-Jacob Modleski, Noblesville, 33-36
70 (1-under): a-Garrett Willis, Fort Wayne, 35-35; Matthew Meneghetti, Schererville, 34-36; a-Damon Dickey, Franklin, 35-35; a-Kasey Lilly, Plainfield, 35-35; Andy Winings, Fishers, 36-34; a-Cole Starnes, Fishers, 36-34; Anthony Bradley, Paoli, 33-37; a-Camron Jones, Indianapolis, 38-32; Keegan McCullough, Greensburg, 34-36
71 (even): Jamie Broce, Indianapolis, 36-35; a-Caleb Wassmer, Poseyville, 38-33; a-Preston Broce, Indianapolis, 36-35; Carson Wattenbarger, Greenwood, 39-32; a-Caleb Schnarr, Jasper, 36-35; a-Jonah Kumfer, Mishawaka, 37-34
72 (1-over): a-Noah Ross, Upland, 37-35; a-Brooks Snyder, West Lafayette, 35-37; McCormick Clouser, Bluffton, 37-35; Zack Carrabine, Indianapolis, 38-34; Ivan Foster, Auburn, 38-34; Alec Dutkowski, Elkhart, 36-36; Joey Wiseman, Corydon, 35-37; Todd Sandow, North Manchester, 36-36; a-Benjamin Keil, Lagrange, 35-37; Timothy Wiseman, Corydon, 36-36; Patrick Mudd, Crown Point, 37-35
73 (2-over): a-Javan Johnson, Franklin, 37-36; a-Connor McNeely, Noblesville, 35-38; a-Alec Cesare, Westfield, 34-39; a-Connor McMillan, Fishers, 36-37
74 (3-over): a-Lucas Beck, Carmel, 38-36; Joey Ranieri, Zionsville, 33-41; a-Peyton Snoeberger, Williamsport, 37-37; Michael Vandeventer, Columbus, 38-36; a-Maverick Conaway, Tipton, 34-40; a-Clay Stirsman, Carmel, 36-38; a-Brock Reschly, Middlebury, 37-37; a-Luke Prall, Carmel, 37-37; a-Henry Ashley, Granger, 34-40; Jordan Powell, Marion, 36-38; a-Yianni Kostouros, Crown Point, 40-34
75 (4-over): Adam Wood, Indianapolis, 37-38; a-Nic Hofman, Lafayette, 36-39; Eric Huther, Indianapolis, 35-40; Chad Ayres, Fort Wayne, 37-38; Andrew Sapp, West Lafayette, 38-37; a-Adam Melliere, Zionsville, 37-38; a-Callen Hoskins, Warsaw, 37-38; a-Gavin Hare, Tipton, 38-37; Benjarong Murray, Fort Wayne, 34-41; a-Matt Vogt, Indianapolis, 37-38; Vince Drahman, Fortville, 38-37; a-Nicholas Gushrowski, Michigan City, 38-37; a-Noah Gillard, Greenwood, 36-39; a-Daniel Kasten, Winamac, 38-37; a-Taylor Imel, Bluffton, 38-37; Mitch Davis, Bloomington, 39-36; Wyatt Larkin, Fort Wayne, 37-38; a-Max French, Indianapolis, 41-34
76 (5-over): Michael Asbell, Westfield, 39-37; a-Earl Williams, Nappanee, 36-40; a-Dean Williams, Quincy, 39-37; a-Sam Booth, Carmel, 41-35; a-Jake Miller, Richmond, 37-39; Colton Kuppler, Terre Haute, 37-39; a-Carson Parker, Evansville, 37-39; a-Rob Barber, Bloomington, 37-39; a-Will Schuitema, Indianapolis, 36-40; a-Colin Nasser, Zionsville, 37-39
77 (6-over): a-Nolan Hall, Westfield, 38-39; a-Drake Devereaux, Crown Point, 38-39; a-Carson Stohler, Fort Wayne, 38-39; Shawn Marshall, Seymour, 39-38; a-Ben McLochlin, Noblesville, 38-39; a-Jadden Ousley, Monticello, 39-38; a-Griffin Hare, Tipton, 40-37; a-Kyle Grennes, Valparaiso, 36-41; a-Justin Hicks, Fort Wayne, 40-37; Mike O’Toole, Noblesville, 37-40; a-Evan Bone, Westfield, 39-38; Brian Garrett, Anderson, 35-42; a-Cade Brouyette, Claypool, 40-37; a-Drew Shafer, Noblesville, 42-35; a-Matt McCurry, Martinsville, 39-38; a-Nick Holder, Fort Wayne, 36-41
78 (7-over): a-Adam Gruenig, Winamac, 40-38; a-Ian Perry, Plainfield, 36-42; a-Grant Germano, Indianapolis, 40-38; Craig Isabel, Warsaw, 37-41; a-Andrew Wall, Zionsville, 40-38; Matt Schiller, Carmel, 36-42; a-Augie Mann, Bluffton, 35-43; Kevin Cunningham, Crown Point, 38-40; a-Brandon Heffner, Greenwood, 37-41; Grant Brettnacher, West Lafayette, 40-38
79 (8-over): a-Chris Schweitzer, Auburn, 40-39; Blake Wolff, Indianapolis, 40-39; a-Ian Weyer, Jasper, 35-44; Justin Holt, LaPorte, 38-41; a-Jack Besner, Whiteland, 42-37
80 (9-over): a-Drew Rowen, Greenwood, 41-39; a-Austin Shelley, Greenwood, 40-40; a-Wyatt Johnson, Churubusco, 39-41; a-Ian Harris, Indianapolis, 42-38; a-Owen Sander, Carmel, 41-39; a-Brandon Lemons, Bristol, 41-39; a-Landon Smith, Henryville, 41-39; a-Trevor Vietti, Logansport, 42-38; Matt Smith, Yorktown, 40-40; Brandon Snell, Westfield, 40-40; a-Nick Bellush, Bloomington, 39-41; Jason Niese, Westfield, 41-39
81 (10-over): Scott Nelson, Fishers, 38-43; Chad Robbins, Kokomo, 41-40; a-Stephen Kocerha, Carmel, 37-44
82 (11-over): a-Porter Dick, Frankfort, 40-42; a-Keaton Modleski, Noblesville, 36-46; Jay Williams, Sellersburg, 39-43; Brian Ballard, Westfield, 40-42; a-Keenan Donze, Granger, 45-37
83 (12-over): a-Wes Opliger, Grabill, 38-45; a-Kadin Gibson, Franklin, 41-42; a-Nate Olson, Greenwood, 37-46; a-Caleb Bopp, Fishers, 44-39; a-Spencer Mortola, Howe, 37-46
84 (13-over): Case Blodgett, Indianapolis, 40-44; Chance Bressler, Decatur, 43-41; a-Grant Norman, Fort Wayne, 42-42
85 (14-over): Mat Blair, Rolling Prairie, 42-43; a-Matthew Shull, Westfield, 39-46
86 (15-over): a-Aidan Gutierrez, Valparaiso, 42-44
87 (16-over): Rylan Porter, Indianapolis, 46-41
88 (17-over): Gabe Rohleder, Evansville, 45-43
89 (18-over): a-Thomas Gormley, Indianapolis, 46-43
91 (20-over): a-Bryce Conlee, Zionsville, 41-50
95 (24-over): a-Garrison Barton, Scottsburg, 43-52
DNF: Brian Maurer, Richmond; a-David Cooke, Indianapolis; Bradley Murray, Carmel
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Nick Bienz leads Indiana Open after day one at Warren Golf Course