After a record-setting win at Cherokee Hills to open the 2009 season, assistant coach John Blackburn, Louie Durban, Ben Lehrke, Mike Clum, Jared Fristik, Nick Blackburn and head coach Karen Wittrock are looking for bigger and better things as the season moves on. (Photo courtesy of Karen Wittrock)

Longhorn golfers poised to make another run
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published Aug. 26, 2009

Last fall, the Lutheran West golf team had a season to remember. The Longhorns won the Patriot Athletic Conference and came within just five strokes of making the state tournament in Columbus.

With most of its lineup returning for 2009, Lutheran West is poised to make another run.

On top of the talented and experienced ‘Horns, there is plenty more talent around the Westshore. The area’s boys teams have already got in plenty of tournament play, with league play scheduled to begin this week. Westlake, for example, has a pair of tournament wins to its credit, and the Bay squad has turned in a number of strong runner-up performances.

But at Lutheran West, expectations run high as veteran head coach Karen Wittrock begins her 13th season.

“Our guys have really improved over the summer,” Wittrock said. “Their whole outlook has changed from last year. They’ve played in so many state and national tournaments this summer that they are more confident going into the high school season.

“Playing in big summer tournaments is tough,” said Wittrock, whose team won a Division III sectional title last season, but will move up to Division II this fall. “You have to keep your composure to compete at that level. So it’s been a great experience for them, and we’re all pretty excited about our season.”

There are plenty of familiar faces returning for Wittrock this season.

Senior Louis Durban is back and got off to a strong start by firing a 69 on a par 70 at the Copper Top Classic at Cherokee Hills. That gave Durban medalist honors and helped the Longhorns score an event-record 295 for the team win.

Seniors Nick Blackburn (73) and Ben Lehrke (73) fared well at Cherokee Hills, while reigning PAC medalist Mike Clum, a junior, tied junior teammate Jared Fristick at 80 each.

“We’ve upgraded our schedule to help us prepare for the district tournament,” Wittrock said. This year in Division II, her Longhorns will avoid Seven Hills and will compete instead at Windmill Lakes in Ravenna after competing in the sectional tournament at Mallard Creek.

Also looking to compete for a shot at Columbus are the Bay Rockets, who also missed a trip to state last fall by five strokes after finishing fourth in the sectional tournament and tied for fifth at the district tourney. Bay finished 11-4 in the West Shore Conference to tie for the top spot with Firelands and Midview.

“The WSC is loaded again this year,” said Bay’s second-year head coach Rick Manderine. “Of the 18 golfers in the league who won post season honors, 15 of them are back this year.”

Just how close the teams will be this season was evident at last week’s WSC preview out at Eagle Creek in Norwalk. The Rockets won it with a team score of 307, but Firelands was right behind at 308 and Midview a close third at 312.

The Rockets also won the Ranger Preseason Invitational, also at Eagle Creek. They finished second to Lutheran West at the Copper Top Classic, then followed up with second place finishes at the North Olmsted Invitational at Springvale and the Amherst Comet Invitational at Oberlin Country Club.

Senior co-captain Chas Veres and Jess Hunger are back from last year, while fellow senior Mason Wisner has been the team’s most improved player so far in 2009, according to Manderine.

Seniors Kevin Schwede and Tyler Parker are also back, but leading the Rockets so far is sophomore Jack Eifel, who finished second to Durban at the Copper Top classic with an even par 70. He recently turned in a round of 78 at Quail Hollow during the Mentor Invitational.

Bay also has junior John Urwin, who has shot in the 70s three times so far this season, along with fellow junior Jake Wochna, who won the team’s Sportsmanship Award last year. Sophomore Andrew Cooper, according to Manderine, has been putting up varsity-like numbers but is currently competing with the junior varsity.

That, however, hasn’t phased Cooper, who recently used a sand wedge to nail a hole-in-one at Indian Hollow Lake Golf Club.

Rocky River finished fourth at the WSC preview and has played in six tournaments so far this season, according to eighth-year head coach Tom Thompson.

“With the season starting a week earlier this year, we’ve been able to get in three tournaments in each of the first two weeks,” said Thompson, whose top golfer so far is sophomore letterman Tim Smith. River also returns sophomore Max Lurie and junior Greg Manuel. Smith shot a 74 at Copper Top and a 73 at the WSC preview. He had an average score of 43.9 as a freshman.

Senior Mike Coletta joins the team after transferring from St. Edward, with the rest of the lineup made up of junior Tom Marcin, sophomore Cory Almady and junior Jim McFarland. Almady returns to the team after missing last season with a broken wrist.

Fairview has a new head coach in Chris Kaminski, and the Warriors have already had some modest success. At the WSC preview, Adam Sanders took medalist honors by firing a round of 71. Fairview was seventh overall in the team standings at Eagle Creek.

In the Southwestern Conference, it’s looking like Westlake will be heavily favored to repeat as champions.

The Demons, undefeated in the SWC last year at 14-0, won the Comet Invitational with a team score of 310. In comparison, Bay was second with a 327 and Olmsted Falls third at 330. Westlake also had three of the top seven scores on the day as the senior trio of Chris Nader (74) Matt Kreider (75) and John Weishar (78) had solid outings.

“Those three guys played a ton of summer golf,” said third-year head coach Bob Patton. “So, they should be in pretty good from as we go through the high school season. We’ve had good consistency so far, and we’ve had other guys step up to help with the team scoring.”

Doing just that for the Demons is senior James Poulous, along with freshmen Connor Evans and Matt Leonard. In the Comet Invitational, Poulous shot an 89, with Leonard and Evans carding 93 and 83, respectively, in their first varsity outings.

Later in the week, Westlake went out to LaGrange for the Grey Hawk Invitational and won it by edging out Elyria Catholic, 322-325. Kreider, the reigning SWC MVP, and Weishar each shot a 76, while Nader and Evans each shot an 84.

North Olmsted is looking for continued improvement under third-year head coach Tim Murphy.

“We made some improvements last year, and I think we’ll continue to get better this season,” Murphy said. “We have some solid guys coming back, and some promising young kids as well.

“I think our program overall is more solid than it’s ever been,” Murphy said. “The guys have put in more summer work, plus we’ve put them in better tournaments.”

Senior Ryan Conway, an honorable mention SWC selection a year ago, returns as well as fellow senior Dan McBride, who recently shot a 76 at the Big Met Showdown to take runner up honors. Seniors Marc Bigeck is in his fourth year on the varsity, while senior Andy Heitmann returns after an elbow injury sidelined him last year.

Junior Kevin Bolan, a junior varsity player last year, and sophomore Pat Needles will compete for playing time in the Eagles’ lineup. Juniors Nick Morgan and Nick Roth, who played football the past two years, are also looking to crack the lineup.

Olmsted Falls showed it could be a team to be reckoned with this season after winning the Big Met Showdown with a team score of 321. The Bulldogs’ Neil McGrew, a senior, took medalist honors with a 75, while junior Cory Daugherty and freshman Steve Johnson were part of a four-way tie for sixth with scores of 81.

Junior Brad Johnson, Steve’s older brother, also returns for Falls this season, along with junior Eric Cheney and senior Lucas Rhome.