The Daily Standard
Story Archive
The Minster boys golf team (back row, from left: Louis Magoto, Tyler Stueve, Bryce Prenger, Andrew Wiss; front row, Jack Meyer, Reese Beair) is preparing for its sixth consecutive Division III state golf tournament when it tees off at the Scarlet Course of The Ohio State University on Friday.
For the sixth straight year, the Minster boys golf team is heading to the Division III state championship.
At Marion Local, it had been 21 years since a golfer went to state before Marcus Rethman earned a spot last Thursday.
Minster is scheduled to tee off at the Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University at 10 p.m. from the No. 1 tee. Rethman will start at the No. 10 tee at 10:50 a.m.
Delphos St. John's and Russia also qualified for the Division III tournament, with St. John's starting from No. 10 at 9 a.m. and Russia teeing off at 9:50.
After 10 seniors graduated from last year's team, Minster had more new faces than it had in three years.
Despite that, coach Jeremy Magoto said that this team has developed strong chemistry, keeping up from previous groups.
"Their excitement about talking about golf, whether it be the Ryder Cup or just professional players in general, and their interest in the courses that we're playing is at a real neat level," coach Magoto said. "They'll discuss the courses at a level that I'm not used to. They do their homework. You've got to love it to do that."
Entering the year, Jack Meyer and Louis Magoto were locked in as the top two golfers - "proven commodities," coach Magoto said. In September, with the Midwest Athletic Conference potentially on the line against Coldwater, Magoto fired a school-record 32 and Meyer was 1-under as Minster won by 19 strokes.
Sophomore Bryce Prenger, the alternate last year, is Minster's No. 3 golfer heading into the Division III state tournament.
Sophomore Bryce Prenger said the biggest thing he's gotten from Meyer and Magoto is their mental game.
"I've learned what they do when they hit a bad shot, how they recover from it," he said.
Prenger moved up to No. 3 after serving as the alternate at state last year. He led the Wildcats with a 76 at the MAC tournament, where they finished a stroke behind St. John's but took back the MAC title.
"Coming along last year and being that sixth man, he took good notes," coach Magoto said. "He paid attention, he understood what it takes to make that jump to the next level of player. … His ability to problem-solve, handle tough situations, take some hits along the way and bounce right back, has been incredible. And playing a course for the first time in practice and then being able to recall situations - basically where not to be on courses - is very effective."
Tyler Stueve, Reese Beair and Andrew Wiss emerged behind those three, but the lineup took time to develop.
"About halfway through the year, Andrew and Tyler got moved up, and they've been solid since," Prenger said.
At state, Stueve will be the fourth golfer, Beair will be the fifth, and Wiss will serve as the alternate.
"Not knowing (in) certain matches who you're going to play is different," coach Magoto said. "The last few years, when sectionals come up, you know who's playing. Districts come up, you know who's playing, and state, you know. Here, there's a lot of competitive challenges to figure that out. But they've jelled really nicely."
Minster won sectionals at Colonial Golfers Club by 14 strokes over St. John's, then shot a 322 at Stone Ridge Golf Club on a rainy, windy Thursday to claim the northwest district title.
This week, Friday looks to be clear, but Columbus is forecast to get rain throughout Saturday morning, with temperatures hovering around 60 both days.
Coach Magoto said that the length and difficulty of the Scarlet Course is a step up. They've looked for heavier rough and quicker greens with multiple breaks, practiced shots from fairway bunkers, and hit irons off the tee in order to practice taking longer second shots.
"Got to keep it straight," Prenger said. "We'll take notes on Thursday's practice round."
Last year at NorthStar Golf Club, Minster placed fifth to match its best finish since 2009. Heading in this year, coach Magoto said the focus has been more on fundamentals.
"Rules, the fundamentals of what moisture does for your distance, what temperature does for your distance," he said. "Just a lot of things that are new. These guys just haven't been through it, so we're trying to give them a whole bunch of knowledge.
"The knowledge we'd lost, we try to impart to them so they're not intimidated."
The last Marion Local golfer to appear at a state tournament was John Dwenger in 2002.
Rethman, a senior, had a strong round in sectionals to earn the first individual berth to the district tournament at Stone Ridge, then got the final berth to state by a single stroke to add to that list.
Going into the year, the state tournament wasn't necessarily on his radar.
"I wanted to make it out of sectionals," he said. "That was a big goal."
Sectionals were again at Colonial, which Rethman said was one of his least favorite courses - "I don't like all those trees," he said - but he shot a 73, two strokes behind Magoto as the medalist.
Marion Local's Marcus Rethman shot a 76 at the district tournament at Stone Ridge to become the first Flyer to advance to state since 2002.
After a strong start at Stone Ridge, Rethman triple-bogeyed No. 15, then picked up a stroke with a birdie before double-bogeyed No. 17. But he pulled out a par on the final hole, and then had to wait three hours to watch the rest of the field finish up.
When the last golfers came back to the clubhouse, his 76 held up.
"Never really how you want to end a round," Rethman said. "I was 4-over on my last four holes. But I knew going into the round that the last few holes were the toughest there. I was able to keep it together on 18 and get a par, and that was big for me."
"A lot of kids would have just said, 'Ah, shoot, it's over,' " Marion coach David Koenig said. "The mental game he's got, he can forget that last shot and move on."
Marion's team run ended when it came up a stroke short of the final berth at sectionals, but Rethman said a few of his teammates and classmates will be making the trip down to Columbus for support.
Rethman's strong suit is his driver, and both said that his swing has gotten more consistent. The focus this season has been putting.
"My putter tended to kill me a lot in the last few years," he said, "so that was definitely an emphasis this year."
"We've been working a lot on his putting game," Koenig said. "Reading a putt and trusting it, that's a lot of the game. When you read a putt and you don't trust it, and you get over it, it's really hard to get it in the hole."
Rethman will see the Scarlet Course for the first time Thursday, and Koenig said that they've talked to Kirk Stucke, a Marion grad and the pro at the Mercer County Elks, to learn from his experiences playing there.
In 2002, Dwenger finished tied for 18th, shooting a 72 the first day and a 77 the second at OSU's Gray Course. Rethman said he's hoping to shoot in the 70s both days, and finishing higher than Dwenger is on his mind going in.
"Just a little goal," he said.
