MUNCIE — Pendleton Heights junior Cohen Gray is making progress.

Though disappointed with his round, the Arabian golfer was glad to get an opportunity to play in the Muncie Central Regional at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown on Thursday, June 9.

Gray, the lone Pendleton Heights golfer to qualify for the event, shot a 12-over-par 84 and did not advance to this week’s IHSAA Boys Golf State Finals.

A year ago, he missed advancing to the regional by one stroke.

“I was definitely super thankful to be here,” Gray said. “It was fun to get here, especially after missing it by one stroke last year.”

Appreciative to be there, but he would have liked to have played better.

“It wasn’t too great,” Gray said about his 18-hole round. “I started off real hot. I was one-under through three (holes). A Par 3 got me on No. 5. There were a rough stretch of holes from there.”

Gray shot a 41 (+5) on the front nine and a 43 (+7) on the back.

“I just didn’t come off the tee well, and it hurt me more on the back than it did on the front,” Gray said.

He got a birdie on No. 2, a Par 5. He shot par on each hole from Nos. 15-18 to finish his round.

As a junior, Gray hopes to be back again next year, with his teammates.

He and sophomore Sam Denny earned All-Hoosier Heritage Conference honors last month. The majority of this year’s team was made up of freshmen and sophomores.

“Overall, we had a pretty good season,” Gray added. “We’ve got a lot of good freshmen that came out this year that helped a lot. Having them all return will be nice for next year. Hopefully we can make it to regional as a team.”