Boys golf competition as hot as ever in central Ohio
Friday, August 4, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
St. Charles’ Leo Walling, a Xavier commit, hits a practice shot July 31 at Delaware Golf Club. Photo: John Hulkenberg,
One of the most challenging situations for some boys golfers in central Ohio takes place when they compete for a limited number of spots on their respective teams during preseason tryouts.
That intensity is sometimes only topped for the 12 teams and 12 individuals that will compete a little more than two months from now during the Division I district tournament at Apple Valley.
Those who figure out how to peak at the end of the season will get the reward of qualifying for the state tournament, where area athletes can go in with the confidence that they should be a factor to take home team and individual hardware almost every year.
“I love being in a more competitive environment,” said DeSales senior Vaughn Harber, who is an Ohio State commit. “Playing against other people that I know can shoot well gives me more motivation to work as hard as I can to get better. I’ve been playing against most of the guys out here since I was super young and made some really good friendships.
“I personally don’t get stressed knowing that one or two shots can be the difference between winning. It’s golf (and) that’s how it’s always going to be. Making sure you take your time and stay committed to every shot is all you can do. If someone beats you, then they played better and you go to the next one.”
The tight competition in the big-school division should continue this fall.
Of the 72 players who competed at last year’s district tournament, 53 were eligible to return.
Only six of the golfers who battled at state among the three teams and three individuals that represented the area were lost to graduation.
Harber might the leading central Ohio golfer after he carded 70 at district to finish third and then led area competitors at state with a two-day total of 150 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course that tied him for second, but he’s far from the only seasoned veteran returning.
Dublin Coffman senior Ryan Schiefferle works on his bunker play. Photo courtesy of Mitch Brown at Central Ohio Photo
“I personally love (the competition),” Walling said. “Going into senior year, I feel like I’ve gotten better in just preparing for it. Coach (Brian) Unk does a great job of getting us ready for this. We’re blessed to have that kind of pressure and I think it makes us all better for the state tournament. A lot of state champions come from the Central District.”
Walling shared the district championship with Worthington Kilbourne graduate Owen Kotterman as both shot 67 last season and Walling went on to finish 20th (157) at state as the Cardinals led central Ohio with a fifth-place finish (641). Dublin Jerome was seventh (645) and UA placed eighth (653).
After Akron Hoban won the 2020 state title, Cleveland St. Ignatius captured the last two championships. The Wildcats shot 610 to win last year’s title.
Prior to the current run from the Northeast District, however, Jerome won three consecutive titles from both 2011-13 and 2017-19, St. Charles captured back-to-back titles in 2009 and ’10 and UA won its 17th title in 2006.
“I can tell you first-hand with us, with us having 17 state titles and none since 2006 and we hadn’t even been to state since 2014, last year’s district tournament was one of the most stressful days of my life,” UA coach Troy Arbaugh said. “I’m looking at where my guys were at and it’s stressful. Now that we get three teams out (from district to state), that’s great, but you’ve always got five or six teams that could easily get out and one or two teams breathing down your neck when you’re sitting in third.”
UA and Jerome each shot 307 to earn the final two state-qualifying team berths behind St. Charles (300), but Dublin Coffman (309), Olentangy Liberty (309) and DeSales (314) weren’t far behind.
Senior Ted Cahill, junior Jonas Borland and sophomore Beckham Martin also are returnees for St. Charles.
“We just try to get ready for district every year at Apple Valley, assuming we make it that far,” said Unk, who is in his 10th season as coaching. “That’s kind of the date we have circled on the calendar. Last year was one of the first years we used the online scoring system. We talked about not looking at it that much, but seeing that and seeing that Leo was playing really well, we obviously had a good stretch.
“The 2020 team was probably the best team we’ve ever had considering we won 11 out of 20 tournaments, but we missed (qualifying for state) by one shot. I’m glad we get three teams to state now, and (central Ohio is deserving of) four.”
Upper Arlington senior Brady Catalano, an Oklahoma State commit, practices prior to the season. Photo courtesy of Coach Troy Arbaugh
In addition to Catalano, UA has returned senior Chase Bokker, junior Bric Baird and sophomore Will Mangas.
Jerome coach Colin Seely believes the number of players competing in junior golf during the offseason has played a key role in the depth that central Ohio has possessed.
In addition to returning junior Zach Radtke and seniors Tyler Burnside and Christian Bellinger, the Celtics have a pair of talented freshmen who should be key contributors in Brady Barnum and Evan Menges. Barnum shot a 63 during a practice round Aug. 1 to set a course record at Turnberry as well as a program record.
“Personally this upcoming season, it’s going to be 10-fold (as deep in central Ohio),” second-year Celtics coach Colin Seely said. “There’s six or seven teams that could easily come out of the Central District (and advance to state). These kids are playing year-round. Personally at Jerome, I’ve got kids going down to Florida, California, Mexico just for the weekend to play (during the offseason).
“I had five new kids on my starting roster last year and (none of them) had (ever) been to the district tournament, so there were nerves, but those guys had played Apple Valley before and were able to find their groove.”
Coffman is hoping to get back to state after qualifying in 2021.
Seniors Ryan Schiefferle and Julian Myers, who shot 75 and 76, respectively, at district, as well as seniors A.J. Frost and Tyler Redman and junior Luke Siefker, all have returned for the Shamrocks.
According to coach Scott Sutherland, the biggest key to being ready for district is to have a challenging regular season.
“Last year we had a good day and missed (qualifying for state) by two strokes,” Sutherland said. “We didn’t play too bad, so I wasn’t disappointed with how we played. The good thing is that we play an extremely competitive schedule all year. While I don’t put a lot of pressure on them to say we need to finish in the top three at every tournament, we just want to compete. We’re playing the best competition on the toughest golf courses on a day-to-day basis and it prepares us for district.”
Liberty qualified for the state tournament five times from 2013-19 and is expected to be led by senior Carter Rutherford and sophomore Jackson Harris, who each shot 75 at district last season.
St. Charles’ Jonas Borland hits a practice putt July 31 at Delaware Golf Club. Photo: John Hulkenberg