AVON, Ohio (Aug. 8, 2023) -- The Pirates continued their busy week when they competed in Tuesday's St. Ignatius Invitational at Red Tail Golf Club. Rocky River logged an eighth-place finish, posting a team score of 330 on the 6,542-yard, par-72 Robert Von Hagge layout in Avon.

Senior Luke Dietrich overpowered the par-5s en route to registering a team-best 40-37--77. The 2022 second-team all-Northeast District talent played the four 5s in 3-under par. Dietrich nearly jarred a 125-yard approach shot on the 476-yard, par-5 15th hole; he sank a birdie putt after his approach had hit the flagstick.

Dietrich hit 10 greens and filed a 32-putt round. No other scoring Pirate made it around Red Tail with less-than-36 putts.

"Putting woes got to us again," said coach David Hendrickson. "It’s something we are going to continue to focus on here in the early part of the season. We’ve gotta get back to basics, get our confidence back, and start rolling the ball a bit better."

River's other scoring players were Nick Tianello (40-39--79), Dan Capka (42-45--87), and Jack Hurt (42-45--87).

Thirteen teams competed in the event. Cincinnati St. Xavier won with a four-man score of 301.

The Pirates' five events-in-five-days week is slated to continue Wednesday when the Double-R heads to Medina to compete in the Walker-Jones Classic at Shale Creek Golf Club.


by Skip Snow

# # # Pirates # # #