It's a beautiful time of year for golf in Geauga County. And while out on our beautiful Geauga courses, you will often see local high school golfers practicing and participating in high school matches.
It’s a beautiful time of year for golf in Geauga County.
And while out on our beautiful Geauga courses, you will often see local high school golfers practicing and participating in high school matches.
The high school golf season is one of the first OHSAA sport seasons to begin each school year. In fact, this year, our county’s high school golf season began Aug. 4.
Just two weeks into the season, on Aug. 21, the Kenston boys golf team participated in its fourth match of the season as they took on Mayfield at Punderson State Park Golf Course, which is the home course for the Kenston golf team.
On a bright, sun-shiny day with very little wind, Kenston and Mayfield played to a tie, both teams recording a total score of 178.
Mayfield officially won the match, however, since the tie-breaker goes to the team whose fifth golfer had a lower score than the other team’s fifth lowest score. Mayfield’s fifth golfer carded a score that was three strokes lower than Kenston’s fifth golfer.
“We ended up in a tie, so that’s a good thing,” Kenston Boys Golf Coach Bill Germana said.
All of Kenston’s top four golfers carded scores in the 40s against Mayfield.
In particular, Kenston was led by Nolan Gelin, who shot a 40.
“(The match started off rough); I didn’t have a good drive,” Gelin said. “But I started picking it up; I had like five pars in a row and ended alright.
“(I had) a few bogeys (and) ended with a 40, which is an alright round for me.”
Just like all competitive golfers, as Gelin reflected upon his round, he mentioned things he hopes to improve upon during the season. In particular, he spoke about the need to improve his short game and his approach shots into greens.
“There is some improvement needed for me on the greens and getting closer to the pin,” Gelin said.
Other top scores for Kenston were shot by O’Ryan (44), Austin Stephens (45) and Hunter Brownfield (49).
With such an early season, the team has already been quite busy.
On Aug. 8, it hosted the Kenston Invitational at Punderson Golf Course. The Bombers boys golf team finished in 10th place as a team, and leading the boys golf team individually were Graysen Bischof and Hunter Brownfield, who both carded 92s for the 18-hole round.
On Aug. 15, Kenston also had its first of two WRC matches against Riverside.
In the first match, leading Bombers were sophomore Graysen Bischof, who shot a 42, and Austin Stephens, who carded a 47.
The team then traveled to Riverside’s home course Aug. 17. In that second match, the Bombers were led by Avery Siperke, who shot a 47, and Graysen Bischof, who shot a 48.
In overviewing the golf matches so far, Gelin talked about how the season has progressed and what he is looking forward to during his junior year of golf.
“It’s going alright,” Gelin said. “Hopefully we can pick it up and win a few matches and win conference.”
Kenston boys golf would also have a busy week ahead, scheduled for matches with Willoughby South on Aug. 28, Mentor on Aug. 29 and Twinsburg on Aug. 31.
