By GARY R. RASBERRY
grasberry@dailystandard.com
It was a day where both golf coaches from Celina and Defiance
had to shake their heads and wonder what was going on.
Defiance came down to The Fox’s Den for a Western Buckeye
League dual match and left shooting a round of 182 with the
best score a 42.
In the event that whiplash was not in style yet, it was when
Celina totaled its scores, finishing with a staggering 188 to
lose the dual and drop to 2-4 in WBL matches. Defiance improves
to 2-6 in league matchups.
Afterwards, both coaches were amazed, to use one term, in the
play of the team.
“It was very disappointing and very frustrating,”
said Celina coach Keith VanDeventer. “We expected to play
a little better than that.”
Veteran Defiance coach Phil Eberle agreed.
“This isn’t the way Celina plays and not the way
we expect them to play,” said Eberle. “We were fortunate.
I guess the course played a little tough because there are some
good players with high scores. There are no excuses I can give
for either team. Both teams are not happy with their scores,
but we’re happy for the win.”
Celina juggled their pairings a little for the match, the most
noticable being Rob Grubaugh joining Scott Boley on the first
group. Through the first few holes, it looked to be a good match
as the pair shot well and stayed close with their Defiance brethren.
Then came the fifth hole, and some trouble for all six varsity
golfers. Boley played a nine on the par-four hole. Scott Luthman
later had a nine as part of the third and final varsity group.
The roughest day on the hole belonged to Tony Bidlack, who carded
a 12.
The aftermath of the fifth hole saw Celina get a little frustrated
and forcing some tough shots the rest of the way. When the scores
came into the clubhouse, Boley was low man with a 44, eight
over par on the front nine at the Den. Grubaugh finished with
a 45. Patrick Bailey, playing in the final pairing, nearly chipped
in a strong finish on nine and carded a 49. Bidlack, Luthman
and Eric Schneible each finished with 50s on their card.
Defiance, as Eberle mentioned, didn’t fare much better.
Cody Griffith’s 42 was good enough for medalist. Partner
Jace Neal shot a 46, as did Tyler Burgoon. Ryan Mack rounded
out the scoring round with a 48 with Ben Brown carding 54 and
Aric Everhart finishing with 57.
“I was totally surprised in seeing the final scores,”
said Eberle. “Absolutely. All I can say is thank you,
Merry Christmas and all that.”
VanDeventer was even more frustrated by the the fact that his
team did not shoot well on a course they practice and hold matches
on.
“It’s one thing to go on the road and play bad when
you haven’t played the course much,” said VanDeventer,
who is the club professional at the course. “When you
play at home, you feel you might have a course advantage. Then
your guys don’t manage the course very well, it’s
very frustrating. There was some big numbers on holes these
kids know how to play. I take that back to course management.”
The Celina junior varsity also shot a 188 on Monday, the difference
being the jayvees beat Defiance 188-231. Cassidy Lowe took medalist
honors for Celina with a 44. Cory Rolfes was second lowest with
a 47.
Celina returns to the Den on Thursday to face Elida in another
WBL tilt.
|
