Young Hawks golfers gain valuable experience at state
Jack Mast’s second day effort pushed him all the way into the top five, where he grabbed Div. III first-team All-Ohio honors. The youthful Hawks fought back through the field to finish fourth as a team.
The Hiland Hawks, who have been a perennial participant in the Division III state golf tournament the past decade under the tutelage of OHSAA Hall of Fame coach Austin Kaufman, were at it again this year.
During the Div. III state tournament at Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus Oct. 13-14, the Hawks, who captured the Div. III state title as recently as 2021, knew that with a young and somewhat inexperienced team, it would take a lot to challenge for a title.
After day one the Hawks sat in seventh place, and their hopes of a state title were remote at best, but with six teams bunched in a pack from third to eighth, there was still plenty to fight for.
When the final stroke was tallied, Hiland ended up fourth with a two-day score of 669 (336-333). It was 21 shots off the pace of champion Warren JFK, which recorded a victory by one solitary stroke over runner-up Newark Catholic, but that Hiland score also was just one stroke out of third place, one shot behind Youngstown Mooney.
Asked if his crew was more disappointed with not winning a state title or losing by one shot to Mooney for third place, Kaufman said, “I think the guys are more aggravated right now about losing by one stroke to Mooney. We came into day two packed into a tight bunch of teams fighting for that third spot, so yeah, losing by one shot stings. We were pretty far back after day one, so we were gunning for third and just missed.”
On a day that started in torrential rain and ended with blustery winds, scoring was tough to come by, but the Hawks posting a 333 under difficult circumstances pleased their head coach.
On day one Jack Mast shot a 79 to pace the Hawks, with Camden Bille firing an 82, senior Monty Coblentz carding an 86, Andrew Beun adding an 89 and Grant Bille tacking on a 100.
Day two saw the Hawks improve slightly, mostly on the shoulders of Mast, who fashioned a spectacular closing score of 74. Camden Bille added an 84, Coblentz remained steady with an 85, Beun came in with a 90 and Grant Bille finished with a 113.
For a group boasting one senior, one junior, one sophomore and two freshman, it was a steady performance.
“This was a great experience for our younger kids,” Kaufman said. “We knew it was asking a lot to come in here and win, but we came in with the attitude that we had a shot at this thing. We would have had to play really well, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility looking at the final scores.”
Sophomore Jack Mast was part of the celebration for the Hawks.
Mast’s total score of 153 tied him for fifth, meaning he found himself on the podium at the trophy presentation accepting a medal as a Div. III first-team All-Ohioan.
“I didn’t have any expectations going out there today (Saturday). I just wanted to go out and do my best,” Mast said. “Things worked out well. I thought I played a decent round on the first day, but fortunately, I got rolling and stayed steady all day to move past a lot of guys to make it.”
Mast said he did have a secondary goal coming into the final day of making the top 10 to earn All-Ohio status, but his biggest goal was for the team to bring home another state title.
He said this experience was going to entice all of the team coming back next year to get better and mature as players.
His head coach couldn’t disagree.
“I know after getting this in their blood, it’s only going to spur these guys on to work even harder than ever,” Kaufman said. “We really improved this year as the season went along. Our course management got so much better, and these guys are so dedicated to the game. They’re competitors. I’m proud of Jack doing what he did as a sophomore. As for Monty, who tied for 39th overall with a 171 total, it was a season that saw him start as the No. 1 man, struggle out of the gate, then turn it around and finish strong over the second half.”
This state performance marks the sixth time one of Kaufman’s teams have made it to state since 2004.