Pirates boys golf state bound in tie-breaking fashion
Garaway’s AJ Miller carefully lines up a putt on the 18th green at River Greens Golf Course. Miller and the Pirates pushed past Hiland in a tie-breaker to capture a spot in the Div. III state tournament.
Going into the Division III East District boys golf tournament at River Greens Golf Course Wednesday, Oct. 2, most people believed that the season’s final showdown between Hiland and Garaway would determine who advances to state.
Those people weren’t wrong. Both teams fired off scores of 319, but the Pirates captured a trip to state on the strength of the tiebreaker score between the fifth players, where Austin Tedrick’s 86 bested Hiland’s Grant Bille’s 97.
However, the ticket to state came with some controversy — a debate over an incorrectly signed scorecard.
In the end, tournament director Doug Davis said all he could do was put his trust in what the players themselves had recorded and verified on the scorecard of Garaway’s Henry Swartzentruber, whose final score of 77 was signed off by Monroe Central’s Caedyn Silva.
“You get the players together and get a consensus on what the player scored on a certain hole, and at the end of the day, that is what you have to abide by,” Davis said.
With so much riding on the outcome of that decision, it put a damper on what was an exciting finish.
Garaway held a fairly strong lead until the diabolical 18th hole, where the water protecting the green caused plenty of issues for everyone.
However, in the end, Garaway was led again by two-time All-Ohioan Trace Gibson, who carved out an even-par 72 on the day to earn medalist honors. In addition to Swartzentruber’s 77, the Pirates got matching 85s from AJ Miller and Nick Maust and Tedrick’s state-clinching 86.
“It’s going to be a whole lot more enjoyable going to state playing with my teammates than by myself,” said Gibson, who has played at state the past two years as a qualifying individual.
The Hawks were paced by a strong effort from senior Camden Bille, who fashioned a strong score of 75 to earn the lone individual qualifying spot to go to state.
For Bille, it was a bittersweet moment.
“I’d much rather be going to state with my guys,” Bille said. “I played solidly all day. I put together a bunch of pars and stayed away from big numbers. I’m excited to go again, but it’s going to be different going down on my own. I just need to refocus after this and maybe this outcome will give me motivation. I just want to go enjoy my last outing.”
Hawks coach Austin Kaufman said it was another strong year for a program that, like Garaway, has grown into one of the finest small-school programs in Ohio.
“This one hurts a lot, especially the way it played out,” Kaufman said. “But we had a great season, got invited to a lot of great tournaments and had some great results. We finished 12th in the Canterbury, and that is out of all of the divisions. I think people definitely recognize us as a strong program and we’re going to be hungry next year with 25 kids in the program.”
For the Pirates, it is a return to state for a program that has been there plenty of times before, having become one of the most celebrated programs in the state when it comes to qualifying for the big show.
Pirates coach Mikayla Johnson said all of the drama aside, she was proud of how her team came together late in the season and positioned itself to qualify for state, an effort that included a blistering 300 in a sectional championship effort.
“We always preach that it’s not how you start the season but how you end and come late September and early October you want to be playing your best golf,” Johnson said. “We’ve done that, and these kids have earned it. I think that 300 at sectionals was an incredible confidence boost that showed our kids that we can compete with the best, and it put it in their hearts that they can do this.”
Everyone knew Gibson would star for the Pirates, but many question marks were behind him entering the year.
Those questions were answered profoundly, and Johnson said it took a total team effort to get where they were.
“I know we were the underdogs coming into this year. No doubt about it,” Johnson said. “I honestly didn’t know what our season was going to look like. But these guys put in the work and proved to everyone they can compete, and we knew today it was win or go home.”
She said that while the controversy was difficult to work through, at the end of the day the decision was made and now her team will turn its attention to the task at hand, which is competing at the state level, where they will tackle a challenging course at NorthStar Golf Club in Sunbury.
“I love these kids so much,” Johnson said. “We’re going to go to state and give it everything we have. I’m proud of us for the way we stuck with it this year and just kept getting better and better.”