Coffman on top of its game, shoots 286 to win Wooster Invitational
By Brian Questel
September 14, 2011
548
Make no mistake: Wooster saw a taste of state during the Wooster Golf Invitational.
My goodness, they threw out a 76! said Wooster High assistant golf coach Ron Culbertson after Dublin Coffman won the 15th annual Wooster Golf Invitational Sept. 12 with a record 286 at the Wooster Country Club. That was two strokes better than the 288 posted by Dublin Jerome in 2006 and a dozen strokes in front of runner-up Tallmadge. Jerome was third, shooting a 300.
The Shamrocks put together a trio of 71s and a 73 for their second straight win at Wooster. Jeromes Chad Merzbacher was medalist with a 69, while Tallmadges Matt Shomo closed his day with a 70 to place second.
It was a long day, though, for the host Generals, who came in 22nd and 23rd with their two teams. Colby Jeffries shot an 83 to pace the Wooster Blue team to a 363 while the Gold team finished with a 387.
I hit my driver good and I normally dont, said Jeffries, who wasnt happy with his round for the day. I missed a lot of really short putts. The greens were faster than Im used to – it was not a good putting day. I dont know how to explain it.
Jeffries had only one double bogey on the day but only a couple of birdies. His day was mainly par and bogey, he said.
Im better with the longer stuff, said the sophomore. My putting is OK, but thats not my strong point. Today I kept (my driver) in play and I wasnt off the fairway. I left it in places where I could hit the green.
Colby is one of our better ball strikers, said Wooster coach Mark Snowbarger. It was good for him to play in a group with a couple other good players so he could see what he needs to do to compete. He has the best talent and game – now he needs to transfer it to the course.
Jeffries was followed on the Blue team by Thomas Huettners 91, followed by a 94 by Grant Logee, a 95 by Nick Buckingham and a 97 by Evan Bahler. For the Gold team, Brett Lepley shot a 93. Trevor Gant carded a 95, Ben Oberg shot 99 while Matt Friedhoff (100) and Luke Flechler (101) reached triple digits.
Our scores were higher than the boys would have liked, said head coach Mark Snowbarger. A lot of them are struggling, but they are working hard at it. Were struggling to keep the ball in the fairway. Hopefully in the next couple weeks we can right ourselves.
Course management is the big thing, said Culbertson. Those issues dont go away.
Hopefully we will learn, added Snowbarger. If were not young by age, were young by tournament experience.
Monday was nearly perfect weather for the 24 teams in the tournament, which was a pleasant reward for tournament director Sam Linnicks preparation.
Sam put together a wonderful tournament, said Snowbarger. (Teams) are elated to come. When they go through the final line, they are saying I hope we can come back. This is a good test because (the course) is so different side-to-side.
The Wooster Invite wrapped up an intense stretch of play as they pointed toward the Ohio Cardinal Conference match at Mohican Hills Sept. 30, followed by sectionals at Barbertons Brookside Country Club.
Were coming through a stretch where the guys got to keep their heads in the game and focus, said Snowbarger. We had six matches in seven days – Sunday was the only day off – and then we (played) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with OCC matches. Thats the mental part of the game. Once we learn that, our guys are going to better able to handle the mental along with the physical part of the game.
