MEDINA, Ohio (Aug. 4, 2023) -- River Boys Golf has some horses back from a 2022 team that won the program's seventh Great Lakes Conference title. So it was perhaps appropriate that Rocky River opened its 2023 fall campaign at Friday's Mustang Classic hosted by Strongsville High School.
To continue a mixed metaphor -- because mustangs are not racehorses -- the Pirates may have stumbled a bit out of the gate. Battling a key injury, some putting woes, and perhaps a couple too many penalty strokes, the Double-R carded a four-man score of 345 and a 16th-place finish in a field of 25 teams.
"It was good to maybe get some early-season nerves out of the way today, but the greens were unkind to us," said head coach David Hendrickson, who opened his eighth year at the helm of the program with the large-field event at Bunker Hill Golf Course. "Our team is deep with talent and experience, and we're excited to see what we can do this fall. That will likely involve us rolling the ball better than we did today."
River's four scoring players averaged 36 putts per man in the warm, summer conditions at the par-72, 6,711-yard track in Medina. A wayward drive and approach here and there were seldom par- or bogey-saved by struggling Buccaneer flat-sticks, and the squad's four-man score equaled its highest of last season. That 345 a year ago -- posted Aug. 29 -- was at Congress Lake Country Club in the Lake Tournament hosted by Uniontown Lake High School.
River's 2023 squad returns three starter's from last year's team which went 8-2 across 10 matches, won a GLC crown, and three tournaments en route to an 11th-place finish at the district tournament level. Two of those three returning starters -- seniors Dan Capka and Nick Tianello -- were in on the Pirates' scoring Friday. Capka carded a 47-40--87 to finish as River's third man. Tianello battled a few penalty strokes but was also bolstered by four birdies on the way to a 44-40--84. He was the team's second-leading scorer. A third returning starter -- senior Luke Dietrich, who was a first-team all-GLC and second-team all-Northeast District performer -- was forced to withdraw from Friday's tournament with an injury.
The Corsairs' top score was carded by senior Jack Hurt, who played in eight events last fall and came on to average a solid 85.8 after Sept. 6. On Friday, Hurt carded a 44-39--83.
Rocky River's fourth score was registered by freshman Caden Lawrence, who made his prep debut with a 46-45--91.
Walsh was the winning entry in Friday's crowded lid-lifter derby. The Warriors notched a four-man score of 316. The race for place was won by the Massillon Tigers, who scored a 321. The event medalist was Strongsville's Dean Upholzer, who posted a 1-over 73.
For a banged-up Buccaneer bunch, a Pirate horde run aground by the greens of Bunker Hill, the schedule is their salvation. Rocky River's season is slated to continue Monday at the Polar Bear Invitational hosted by Massillon Jackson High School. The tournament -- the first action in a busy week for the Pirates -- will be held at Chippewa Golf Club in Doylestown (9 a.m. shotgun start). The Double-R is slated to play every day next week, from Monday-Friday.
That's an ideal way to get back on the horse.
CANNON FIRE ...
BITTERSWEET 16: Rocky River's 16th-place finish Friday marked the program's lowest finish in any tournament the last three seasons (2021-23). The 2022 Pirates clocked three tourney wins and eight top-5 finishes.
YOUNG BUCS: The Pirates also opened their junior varsity season Friday. In a separate JV competition at Bunker Hill, River logged a team score of 346 (final team standings unavailable at time of publication). Sophomore Angelo Fiutem eagled his final hole of the day -- the par-4, 283-yard second -- to finish with a team-best 84.
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