By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
St. Henry golf coach Jerod Cahill said twin brothers Will and Ben Carter played in every major tournament the team entered over the last three years and the two seniors extended that streak in Wednesday’s season opener.
The Crusaders won a tiebreaker to take the team title at the Highlands Invitational with all five golfers carding a 76 or better on the par-70 Kenton County Pioneer course. Ben led the St. Henry lineup with a 71 and Will shot a 76 that decided the fifth golfer tiebreaker by 12 strokes.

“Me and my brother are supposed to be the leaders, but he had a tough day out there, which is going to happen sometimes,” Ben said. “It was really a team win and shows how deep we are. If one of us doesn’t play their best, everybody else can step up.”
St. Henry’s other scoring golfers in the tournament were freshman Parker Isaacs (72), senior Will Hammond (75) and junior Jake Montgomery (75). None of them can match the experience level of the Carter brothers, who have played on the varsity team since they were freshmen.
Two years ago, St. Henry won the Region 7 championship with Will placing second and Ben tying for 12th on the leaderboard. Last year, Ben was region runner-up and Will placed seventh, but the Crusaders finished third in the team standings.
“We won region our sophomore year and felt like we should’ve won last year, but out third golfer got injured,” Will said. “We also lost in the All “A” (Classic) state (tournament) by one stroke last year, which stung pretty bad. We definitely want to get back and try to win it this year, which we think we can do.”
A few weeks before their senior season started, the Carter brothers played in the Greater Cincinnati Junior Metropolitan tournament. They both shot 3-over 75 in each of the two rounds and tied for 10th place.

“Being that their scoring averages are so close, their games are quite similar, but they do have different strengths and weakness,” coach Cahill said. “Will is probably a better ball striker and Ben probably has a better short game.”
Seniors won the last two Region 7 tournaments. Ben finished one stroke behind last year’s medalist and Will was four strokes behind the 2022 winner. The twins are considered top contenders for this year’s region title, but that doesn’t seem to be their top priority.
“It’s always a goal to win as an individual and we’re both kind of competitive about that because we want to beat each other,” Will said. “But at the end of the day winning as a team is what’s most important. If I win as an individual, that’s a bonus and I’d be really excited to do that. But to win as an individual you’ve got to put up a good score and that will help my team win, too.”
Winning the Highlands Invitational was a good way to start the season for the Crusaders. They outscored Ryle and Covington Catholic, the two teams that placed ahead of them in last year’s region tournament.
Making a run for the All “A” Classic state championship in September and the Region 7 team title in October are two major goals the St. Henry team wants to attain this season.
“We have four seniors who’ve talked about that the past two years because we knew we were going to be really good this year and we just hope we can get it done,” Will said.