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Warriors back at state
Brookfield golfers hope to improve on fifth-place finishes in Columbus
By JEFF ZUPANIC
Brookfield head golf coach Larry Smoot doesn’t believe there’s any pressure on his Warriors boys golf team heading into the Division III state tournament this weekend in Columbus.
Winning a third straight district title last weekend alleviated all that pressure because the Warriors were expected to get to district and win it.
The state tournament is a whole new ballgame, but a game that Smoot and his talented team are quite familiar with having been there the last three years.
Throw in a few new teams this year and Smoot feels good about the Warriors’ chances after back-to-back fifth-place finishes.
“I’ve had a chance to study the field and look at the other scores and I think we are one of the top five teams,” Smoot said. “We certainly have a wealth of experience with a team of juniors who have been there twice before.
“I saw that the four teams that finished ahead of us last year did not make it back this year.”
The Warriors are scheduled to tee off starting at 9 a.m. Friday with the No. 5 man. By the time 9:40 a.m. rolls around, all five will be on the course with hopes of besting those fifth-place finishes.
Justin Atkinson shot a 72 at district, followed by Connor Stevens (74), Anthony Clark (78), John Hiner (82) and Jake Shingledecker (84) for a team score of 306.
The only state qualifying team with a better district score was Wellington, which shot a 295.
Defending state champion Worthington Christian shot a 296 at the district but did not advance because the central district only sends one team and one individual to state.
Another positive for the Warriors, according to Smoot, is getting to play on Northstar Golf Course again. The Division III tournament rotates every other year between the Scarlet Course and Northstar.
Two years ago, Brookfield shot a 684 and finished 36 shots behind Cincinnati Seven Hills at Northstar.
“It’s not a straight course that lets you just go up in the tee box and let it rip. It’s a very calculated course and challenges you to think and strategize,” Smoot said. “There’s some run-ins with sand traps, water hazards and some swamp-like areas.
“We have a team that can hit it very long off the tee and set up some shorter iron shots so we will need to be mentally ready and always thinking out there.”
To help prepare for this weekend, Brookfield practiced at Kennsington Golf Course in Canfield on Monday.
Smoot let his five players along with Campbell Memorial’s Dean Austalosh, who qualified as an individual, split into groups of three and work on strategy and situational golf instead of just playing a practice round.
“I got a call over the weekend from former Warren JFK head coach Jim St. George and he works at Kennsington and he told me he thought from his experience with Northstar this would be a good course for the kids to play and practice,” Smoot said.
Smoot revealed getting back on the course after winning the district last week didn’t go smoothly at first.
“During the season we never practice on Friday because of football and Saturday was our homecoming so we had that off, too and when we got back on the course [on Sunday] we were a little sluggish,” Smoot said. “We had a homecoming hangover.”
The northeast district, which Brookfield competed, qualified two teams and two individuals.
“I think from my looking at the teams and the scores we have a pretty good shot if we go out there and play smart,” Smoot said. “Having those two years [of state experience] under our belts should give us an advantage.
“But I am willing to take any luck that might want to come our way.”