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Girard’s Standohar gets his chance at state
Girard senior ‘nervous, but excited’ for Division II tourney
By BRANDAN BLOM
Midway through the golf season, at the Ursuline Invitational at Youngstown Country Club, Mark Standohar shot 1-under par to win the event and beat out defending Division II state champion Charlie Toman of Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
The win gave the Girard High senior a confidence boost and now Standohar is preparing to compete in his first state this weekend.
“I’ve been telling him all year that he can be as good as anybody,” Girard golf coach David Leo said. “But talk is just talk. I think that win showed him how good he can be.”
Standohar qualified for the state tournament by one stroke after a bad start at the district tournament almost sunk his chances. He came back from a 42 on the front nine to shoot 34 on the back nine and just make the cut.
“You can never quit. You never know, golf is a weird game,” Standohar said. “Anything can happen. I learned a lot from that match.”
To prepare for the tournament Standohar has been practicing at The Links at Firestone Farms, a big links-type course that has similar conditions to the layout he will be playing this weekend at the NorthStar Golf Club in Sunbury.
“I kind of have mixed emotions. I’m a little nervous but also excited,” Standohar said. “I’ve been doing a lot of putting and chipping because that’s what you need to do well to score.”
Standohar and the Girard High golf team have enjoyed their share of success. In his four seasons on the team they have lost just four matches. According to Leo, Standohar’s teammates have been pushing the senior all season.
“[Junior] Anthony Graziano was a few shots behind Mark all year,” Leo said. “These guys just pushed each other all year. Even at practice they would be going at it.”
According to his coach Standohar’s strength is in his short game.
“He is a real good putter. He’s not the longest guy out there, but generally he stays straight,” Leo said. “[Assistant coach] Joe Sproviero worked a lot with Mark this year and I think that made a difference.”
Standohar, who is the first Girard player to qualify for the individual state tournament in 30 years, gave up baseball during his junior year so that he could focus on improving his golf game. The sacrifice paid off and now he is just days away from achieving his goals.
“I wanted to improve from last season, which I did,” Standohar said. “I wanted to win [All-American] Conference player of the year, which I think I might, and I wanted to go to states. I wanted to go out with a bang and I think I did that.”
As for expectations for the tournament Standohar said that he is aiming for a top-20 finish.
“Getting top-20 would be a really good accomplishment,” he said. “I’m just going to give it my best. Thats all I can ask for.”
As for Leo, just making to tournament is enough.
“We are playing with house money right now,” the Indians coach said. “Mark has been looking forward to this for four years.”