5/7/12

Lima, OH – You often hear sayings like “Every shot matters” or “never give up”, but you don’t always see the truth in those sayings. Well, the 2012 ORCC Golf Season did just that. After 7 matches, or depending on your count, after 35 rounds, 126 holes, 1050 putts, 1750 drives, irons, pitches, chips, or punches, it all ended up coming down to just one stroke!

Going in to Friday, the Barons had a three point lead over the Hilltoppers of OU Chillicothe in the ORCC standings. However, after competition ended on Friday, the Barons saw their lead had disappeared, and were now tied for first with the Hilltoppers after a disappointing 4^th place finish at The Pines in Wooster, OH. The Barons shot a 335, which was their highest score of the 2012 season. The team was led by Brady Schroeder’s 82, followed by Shane Lumpkins with 84, Trevor Crites with 84, while the Barons 4^th and 5^th scorers Landan Stahler and Daniel McElwain both came in with 85s. “The team was pretty down emotionally after Friday. But, we knew we still were tied for first in the ORCC, and I just hoped the team could put that day behind them and go after the title on Saturday.” Added Coach Maley.

So, Saturday morning the team arrived the Granville Country Club in Newark, OH with one goal in mind, a Tournament and Regular Season ORCC Title! “We knew it was for all the marbles, we prepped well, and approached the tournament excited for the day.” Said Maley.

Unfortunately, things did not go well in the early going as several Barons were finding themselves in tough spots after a few errant tee shots and missed putts. The one exception however was Senior, Eric Numbers as he was nothing but fairways and greens early on, as he was well on pace to be in the 60s. Then, it was as if the rest of the team took note of what Numbers was doing and quickly picked up their own games, scrambling in to 18, attempting to save as many strokes as possible for the team total.

As the Barons ended their rounds, their scores looked much better than they had at the turn. Schroeder fought back on the back nine to bring in a 78, Lumpkins fired an 80, and Stahler scrambled in for an 85. Those scores alone, looked like the Barons would be in trouble, except they knew that Numbers had been playing well early on. Well, he didn’t let up on the back either, and came in with an amazing personal and team record score of 69, three under par on his round! So, the Barons had a team total of 312 for the day. Now, they had to sit and wait though because the five Barons were among the first groups out on the day while their only challenger for a regular season crown, OU Chillicothe was among the last out. Two hours later the Hilltoppers started to trickle in to the clubhouse. The first three scores were excellent, as the Hilltoppers always are, 77, 79, and 79. This meant that the Hilltoppers needed one of their final two golfers to shoot a 76 for the ORCC Title or at least 77 for a tie. The fourth Hilltopper struggled, and had a total in the 80s, so it now came down to the 5^th Hilltopper. “We were seriously holding our breath, things were pretty quiet in our group as we waited to see what the outcome would be.” Said Maley. Finally, the fifth Hilltopper came in to the clubhouse. Remember those sayings? “Every shot matters” “Never give up”, well, the members of the Barons can all look back on their round and be proud that they didn’t give away any extra shots because that fifth Hilltopper came in with a 78, giving the Barons the 1 stroke tournament and ORCC Regular season Championship!!

Congratulations Barons on a great and very exciting season! Keep up the great play this weekend and bring home the 2012 State Tournament Title too!!

4/30/12

Lima, OH – Barons golf had another great weekend with a team victory on their home course of Hawthorne Hills and a 2^nd place finish at MU Middletown.

Friday, at Hawthorne Hills Country Club, the Barons shot a season best team score of 303, earning them a ten stroke win. The first place finish was the Barons’ 3^rd tournament victory this season, placing the Barons in 1^st overall in the ORCC, just ahead of 2^nd place OU Chillicothe. The Barons were led on the day by tournament medalist, Brady Schroeder who shot a 73. However, even when Schroeder turned in his card with the 73, the Barons were far from knowing their fate as his score was tied with the #1 Hilltopper from OU Chillicothe. Eric Numbers was the 2^nd Baron to finish his round, and he turned in a 78 which was also even with the 2^nd best Hilltopper score, thus building some uneasiness in the clubhouse. With two more scores to come, the Barons needed to beat scores of 79 and 83 by the third and fourth best Hilltoppers. The third Baron to enter the clubhouse was Daniel McElwain who put the Barons in the lead by three strokes with a hard fought 76 after getting out of some trouble on 18. Now it all was up to freshman Trevor Crites, who still was back on #17. Fifteen minutes later, Crites finished his round, and showed the clubhouse crowd that he tore up the back nine with an eagle and two birdies, on way to a 36 on the back nine and a 76 overall, giving the Barons the runaway ten stroke title! “This was by far the best we have shot this year as a team. I think we are heading in the right direction now.” Said Coach Jim Maley.

Saturday, saw more bad golfing weather, which most of this year has been bad news for Barons success. However, this time the Barons found ways to succeed and earned a 2^nd place finishing team score of 324, which was just four strokes shy of another win. Brady Schroeder led the way once again, with a 79. He was followed by an 80 by Eric Numbers, and 82 by Trevor Crites, and an 83 by Landan Stahler.

Next weekend will be the final two matches of the ORCC regular season for the Barons as they travel to Akron Wayne’s “The Pines” and OSU Newark’s “Granville Country Club”. If the Barons bring their “A” game, they should bring home a regular season ORCC title!