Royals 10th after one day at state

By LONNIE McMILLAN

Sports editor

SPRINGBORO — Playing against the best teams in Ohio in the state tournament is supposed to be a challenge, and it certainly was for Wynford on Monday, though the Royals came out OK.

After one round in its first-ever appearance in the Division II state girls golf tournament, Wynford is in 10th place with a first-round 390 at Heatherwoode Golf Club.

“It was a tough course, definitely one of the nicest courses we’ve seen the entire year,” Wynford coach Sean Weisenauer said. “The scores were a lot higher, but just being here is definitely a special moment for all the kids.”

Caroline Sheldon led the Royals with an 11-over-par 82 that has her in 18th place individually.

“It was a little up and down,” Sheldon said. “We all had great holes, and we all had not great holes, but we came through strong and had great mindsets.”

Starting on the back nine, considered to be the tougher portion of the course, the Royals were plagued by a few really bad holes that inflated their scores.

One example was Rylee Robinson taking a 12 on her second hole, the par-5 No. 11. She settled in to still shoot a 49 and then carded a 48 on the back nine for a 97.

“The high scores happened their first nine of the day,” Weisenauer said. “Their second nine, they kind of put it past them and gave it their best effort and did what they could.”

The brightest moment of the first nine holes was Maggie Ridge carding a birdie on No. 13. She had a perfect drive to the middle of the fairway and then put her next shot on the green before putting in a medium-length putt.

Ridge mostly avoided any really bad holes and played pretty consistently with a 49 on the back nine and then a 48 on the front.

“It was pretty fun,” Ridge said. “I was just happy to be here for the experience, wasn’t really worried about getting a good score but just playing hard and staying in a right mental state.”

Wynford’s other two golfers, Willa Johnson and Megan Young, found trouble on a couple of holes that inflated their scores. Johnson had back-to-back holes of 13 and 9 on Nos. 14 and 15 on her way to a 60, but she improved on the back nine with a 54 for a 114 total.

As the first Wynford player to tee off, Young had a rough start with an 8 on her first hole. She also took a 9 on No. 6 and finished her round at 115.

“It wasn’t a whole lot of holes,” Weisenauer said. “It was two kids having one bad hole and that kind of made their score go a little bit higher, but the rest of the way, they played pretty well considering how tough the course is.”

While the start was rough, the finish was strong. Sheldon closed out the day for the Royals with a birdie on No. 9, the only birdie they managed besides Ridge’s early one.

Sheldon said she was just happy to be making history as part of the first Wynford team at state, no matter how the team finishes.

“It’s pretty cool honestly,” Sheldon said. “Yeah, we’re not going to win it, but that’s fine because we’re all here with each other. My best friends are here with me. We get to stay overnight two nights with each other, and that’s a great experience for all of us.”

Defending champion Columbus Academy took a 10-stroke lead on the first day with a 317. Madeira was second at 327, with Bishop Fenwick in third place at 343.

While a handful of teams were well ahead of the Royals, they are within striking distance of most of the field. They are only 13 strokes back of sixth-place Van Buren, with fellow Northwest District qualifiers Wauseon and Archbold also in between.

“That was our goal,” Weisenauer said. “We just wanted to compete with the teams in our district and even just compete with everybody else. The teams here are solid teams. Just to come here to compete is a goal we had.”

Individually, Columbus Academy’s Eva Lim shot a 1-under-par 70 for a one-stroke lead over Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s Sophia Fink and Madeira’s Ellie Hartung.

After Sheldon, Robinson and Ridge are tied for 44th in the individual standings with one round to play.

“My honest goal is just to shoot lower than I shot today, but also just play smarter in general,” Ridge said.

Sheldon said she thinks the Royals will have a better go of the course in the second round.

“To shoot good this course, you definitely need to see it previously,” she said. “If you go into this course blindly, it’s not going to be your greatest round because there’s so many hazards and everything, so that’s where you have to know the course and play it a couple times.”

The forecast for today’s round does not look nearly as pleasant. While Monday’s conditions were dry and hot for early October, with temperatures well into the 80s, the forecast for the second day is for temperatures about 10 degrees cooler with rain, including possible thunderstorms.

However, the Royals played a couple of matches in similar conditions and performed very well, so Weisenauer said his team will not be bothered by wet weather if that is what they get.

No matter what, they are just trying to soak in the experience.

“It’s definitely pretty awesome,” Weisenauer said. “It took a couple days just to set in. Even when we got down here, just sitting in the hotel, I was like, ‘We’re here at state. This is our first time we can play 36 holes and just go out and play.’ We have everything to gain and nothing to lose at this point, so just enjoy the moment, enjoy the now. It’s awesome seeing all the parents here, Wynford staff here coming to support. We’re just enjoying it.”

Based on their 10th-place standing, the Royals will be paired with the 11th- and 12th-place teams from the first day, Ridgewood and Piketon. They start again on No. 10 at 9:05 a.m. today.

Round 1 team results

1. Columbus Academy 317, 2. Madeira 327, 3. Bishop Fenwick 343, 4. Keystone 349, 5. Chagrin Falls 364, 6. Van Buren 377, 7. Zane Trace 379, 8. Wauseon 387, 9. Archbold 387, 10. Wynford 390, 11. Ridgewood 391, 12. Piketon 414.

Round 1 individual results

Wynford: Sheldon 39-43—82, Robinson 48-49—97, Johnson 54-60—114, Ridge 48-49—97, Young 58-57—115.

Top 10: Lim (Columbus Academy) 36-34—70, Fink (Cincinnati HIlls Christian Academy) 36-35—71, Hartung (Madeira) 38-33—71, Pollock (Chagrin Falls) 35-37—72, Baker (St. Clairsville) 40-33—73, Kim (Mansfield St. Peter’s) 36-37—73, Lattavo (Zane Trace) 36-38—74, Chebli (Columbus Academy) 40-35—75, Clarico (Keystone) 39-36—75, Adams (Van Buren) 40-35—75.