Ben Divido put an exclamation point on his fabulous freshman golf season Wednesday, June 18.
The Elkhart High School freshman fired a round of one under par 71 to finish at 146 in the weather-delayed IHSAA state finals held at the Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
Divido, who led his team to a sectional title, finished in a tie for 12th place among the field of 108 golfers in the two-day event and earned All-State honors for his performance. He tied with Zionsville’s Macaculay Myers as the top performing newcomers at the state finals.
The Lions shot 328 in the final round to finish with a two-day total of 650 as a team to finish 13th in the field of 18 teams.
South Bend Saint Joseph shot 323 Wednesday to finish at 647 overall and place 12th.
“Ben just battled all day today,” said Elkhart coach Todd King by phone Wednesday night. “He just showed a lot of mental toughness. He had a great round. I’m not surprised at all. I told someone that he would shoot under par today. That’s just his mindset.
“He bounced back. He putted a lot better today than Tuesday and that was the big difference for him. He only hit eight greens, so he scrambled a lot, but he made putts. It was neat to see. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Westfield won the team title with a two-round score of 568, setting a new state record. Homestead was runner-up with a 598, while Noblesville (600), Zionsville (601) and Evansville North (607) rounded out the top five.
Westfield senior Will Harvey fired a two-round total of nine-under par 135 to claim the individual state title. Fairfield senior Brayden Miller, who won the state title in 2024, finished in a tie for eighth place with a 144 after shooting a 74 Wednesday.
Jackson Cressy, a sophomore at Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, shot 87 Wednesday to finish at 175.
Divido was not deterred by anything in his final round. The talented frosh endured a three-hour delay right near the end of his final round as play was halted due to threatening weather in the area.
King, admittedly exhausted as he prepared to drive the team bus back to Elkhart late Wednesday night, said his team just waited out the weather.
“We just hung out,” said King of the three-hour delay. “There were tornado warnings in the area, so we just hung out. We sent our guys who were done with their rounds home with their parents and then we just hung out on the team bus. Then they had a 20-minute warmup and Steven (Webb) who was finishing his last hole and Ben went out and finished their rounds.”
Senior Steven Webb shot a round of 80 for Elkhart to finish at 160. Sophomore Cameron Miller shot 86 to finish at 171 with senior Will Cochrane shooting 91 to finish at 173 and senior Ben Miller 96 to end at 183 for the Lions.
“We’re already looking forward to next year,” King said. “This group set the standard for us this season. They put us on the map. I’m going to miss all of our seniors. I’m really proud of the culture they built for our program.”
Junior Tate Guyton and sophomore Zach Matthys each finished at 158 to lead the way for Saint Joseph. Each shot 79 in both rounds of the tournament. Senior Beau Basney finished at 163 after a round of 82 Wednesday. Senior Thomas Raster shot 83 to finish at 168 and senior Jake Hirschler shot 90 to finish at 180.
Elkhart won the South Bend Sectional title before Saint Joe claimed the Lake Central Regional crown over the runner-up Lions.
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