By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The slimmest of margins. In the sport of golf, that equates to one stroke. And one stroke is the margin by which Coach Carl Schneider and his West Union Dragons boys golf team will be making their second trip to the OHSAA State Tournament in four seasons. After winning the Division III sectional tournament on September 27, the Dragons headed to the Portsmouth Elks C.C. on October 2 to battle it out in the 18-hole district tourney, where once again they would battle their county rival, the North Adams Green Devils, for the right to compete at the state level.
Led by a personal best round from sophomore A.J. Cooper and another solid performance from senior Matthew Griffis, the West Union boys managed to eke out that one-stroke victory over the Devils, compiling a district team score of 339 with defending district champion North Adams coming up just short at 340. To make things even more interesting, third place Waterford finished just two strokes back at 341, making it one of the more exciting district tournaments in recent years.
For Coach Schneider, being at the state tournament is nothing new as this will be his ninth trip in 17 years at the helm, six times taking his team and three times with an individual golfer.
“This trip was unexpected,” said Coach Schneider. Sounding much like the plans of the management of the Cincinnati Reds, Coach Schneider explained that his plan was for his team to make it to state in two years when all of his sophomores are seniors, but like the Reds, that plan quickly got accelerated to the present.
“The experience these younger kids will get at the state tournament will be invaluable,” says Schneider.
“We didn’t play North Adams all year except back at the County Cup”, Schneider explains. “People wrote us off then, thinking we weren’t going to be very good. When we started coming into the postseason, I knew it was going to be close even though we weren’t even mentioned when people talked about the top contenders in the district. A lot of other teams get so concerned about what each player is doing and I emphasize to my kids to just play the golf course. If you worry about what the person you are playing with is doing, you play to that level, you get nervous, and things spiral out of control from there.”
Coming down on the final hole at the district tournament. Griffis was on the green in two-putt range to finish off the victory.
“I told Matthew that if we lost with him making a par, he has to just go shake the other guy’s hand,” said Schneider. “I also told him that I didn’t want to lose with him making a bogey. Just make the par and if it doesn’t work, so be it.”
“There were some other teams that came in to the district pretty cocky, not thinking about the SHAC teams. If you look at the number of SHAC teams that have made it to the state tournament, seven of the past nine years. I didn’t feel real confident but the coach of Dawson-Bryant came up to me after three holes and said ‘You’re going to state.’ My guys started the day strong and led after the first nine holes by nine strokes and I was feeling pretty good. We had a lot of luck on our side, got some fortunate bounces like two balls hit out of bounds that bounced back in and we ended up with two birdies.”
“We were up pretty good and I didn’t know that North Adams had two players in a row chip in on the last hole,” Schneider continued. “That saved them at least four strokes, but I was actually concerned about Waterford, but a couple of their kids kind of blew up at the end. The scoring app we use wasn’t working on the back nine so we had no idea what was actually going on. Matthew hit his last tee shot to the left and behind some trees and asked me what he should do. I told him that he would regret it the rest of his life if he didn’t just go for it, just hit it over the trees and see what happens. there was a huge crowd watching him and he puts it on the green about 25 feet away. He hit his first putt to about a foot and a half away and tapped it in with everything on the line. On top of that, when he finished Waterford called a two-stroke penalty on him that had happened on hole 15 and he admitted that he had made the mistake and that is what narrowed the final margin to just that one stroke. I was proud of him for standing up and telling the truth.”
“In a one-day match, anything can happen. Sectionals and districts are a one-day thing and when you are talking just one stroke over 300 and some shots, that’s just pure luck. I’m approaching this trip to state as our practice round since my goal was to get there in two years. Get the kids familiar with the course, let them have fun and experience the state tournament and then keep working.”
Besides the fine rounds from Cooper and Griffis, the Dragons also got important scores of 86 from freshman Landon McIntosh, 90 from sophomore Tegan Knox and 121 from senior Brandt Seaman.
Though West Union is the only team advancing, there were more golfers from Adams County competing in the district tournament, two full teams and one individual.
It was North Adams who finished the heartbreaking one stroke behind in the team standings and they were led by junior Breestin Schweickart, who shot a 76 for the day, followed by junior Caleb DeAtley at 85. Senior Ethan Taylor shot 88 at the district, with junior Connor Young carding 91 and freshman Cash Hupp coming in at 96.
The Manchester Greyhounds also qualified for the district tourney and finished sixth overall, paced by senior Drew Kennedy and sophomore Parker Hayslip, both of whom shot 82. Freshman Thomas Barnhart shot 91, with sophomore Joel Blythe at 97 and sophomore Ryan Mack at 100.
Peebles send an individual golfer to the district in senior Keltin Robinson. Robinson turned in a respectable performance in his final high school outing, 43 on the front nine and 40 on the back for an 83.
The Defender was able to sit down with the members of the state-bound West Union squad to get their thoughts on playing at the upcoming state tournament, which will take place on October 13 and 14 at the OSU Scarlet Course in Columbus.
A.J. Cooper (Sophomore) – “It’s really nice, kind of still a surprise for me. I think we’ll have fun. If we were to make it to state my next two years, this year will be good so I will know what to expect. I don’t feel the pressure, I just play.”
Tegan Knox (Sophomore)- “This feels pretty good and hopefully we can go the next two years too. I’m definitely shocked that we won and winning by one stroke makes it even better. It’s a tough course up there so bogey golf would be fine for me.”
Carsen Francis (Sophomore)- “It feels pretty good to be going to state. I was a little surprised when we won the district, all the way down to the putts on the last hole. I just want to have fun at state and possibly play a little under bogey golf .”
Brandt Seaman (Senior)- “This was unexpected, but it still feels pretty good. We probably won’t win the state because those are all private schools, but we want to do as good as possible. Our biggest goal was just to get there and I’m going to try and enjoy it.”
Landon McIntosh (Freshman)- “I just don’t want to finish last at the state, but I’m really happy that we get to go.”
Matthew Griffis (Senior)- “This feels great, especially after waiting four years for it. We were the underdogs all the way. We went to state my freshman year but I didn’t play. It’ll be tough at state but I just want to play well and hope we don’t finish last. It’s a miracle that we are going and I’m going to enjoy the experience.”