Coach Snowbarger sees positives in WHS linksters
Call it inexperienced experience.Wooster High golf coach Mark Snowbarger graduated several of his top golfers a year ago, but still welcomed back a half-dozen linksters who all saw enough time to earn their letters. Now a year older, Snowbarger has seen some positive results from that coaching decision.
The Generals opened their season at Brunswick’s Pine Hills “where we struggled a bit,” according to Snowbarger, en route to a sixth-place finish out of 14 teams. The Generals rebounded with a third at Garaway and a fourth at Deer Ridge, both in 19-team fields, to close out the first week of action, and then finished sixth with a 340 in the Park Mazda Invitational at Hawks Nest Monday evening out of 14 teams.
Although there are four seniors out of the six returning letter winners, gaining consistency and staying away from big scores is what Snowbarger hopes to see as the season progresses.
“At Hawks Nest we had a couple guys with decent scores, but for the most part we had too many big numbers,” said Snowbarger. “On the par 5s, we were 13-over par. Par 5s are usually easier. You want to keep it in play and not go in the bushes, and usually you can birdie par 5s. But, we were struggling to make pars.
“You add in those what we call ‘others’ – we had a couple 9s and 10s – and it makes it hard.”
There is an upside to those scores Snowbarger has seen, though.
“It’s a lack of concentration and course management, and that’s what we’ve been working on in practice to get better,” said Snowbarger. “The kids have been listening well and trying to get better – they aren’t bucking the system. They are listening to (assistant coach) Ron Culbertson and me, and want to get better.
“I think part of it was a lack of playing this summer,” he added. “They could have played more and I think they would look back and say the same thing.”
Still, Snowbarger has seen positives at the beginning of the young season. Sophomore Brady Kelly and senior Winston Gordon both lettered a year ago, while seniors Brody Arnette, Anthony Zerrer and Emily Zimmerman, along with junior Evan Bahler, also lettered.
That group, along with senior Austin Hackworth and sophomore Nick Buckingham, are among the top group of golfers this year.
“Brady … and Winston played some fourth-man last year. Brady was probably fourth in three-fourths of our matches,” said Snowbarger. “Our fifth and sixth spots were by committee … we did that since we were so young and we wanted to get some experience. No one blew our doors off, so that gave us a chance to get everyone some experience.”
Another positive was what Snowbarger and Culbertson saw following the match at the Hawks Nest.
“We got home about 3:30 and Ron had the JV at the Wooster Country Club, so I stopped by. While I was there, we had four (varsity) players show up too and work on things,” said Snowbarger. “Those are the things that make you feel good as a coach.”
The Generals will open their dual-match season August 31 in an Ohio Cardinal Conference showdown against Ashland at the Wooster Country Club.