NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (Oct. 3, 2023) -- Rocky River came up one stroke short of qualifying as a team in moving on in the Buckeye State postseason at Tuesday's sectional qualifier. But two Pirates did qualify as individuals and will be moving on to a district tournament next week. [
Results]
Four teams would qualify from Tuesday's Northeast DI/Springvale Section Tournament held at the 4,811-yard, par-70 Springvale Golf Course. A couple of programs whose rosters are culled from multiple towns would count for half of those qualifiers. Medina was right behind Magnificat at St. Joseph in third place with a score of 335. Coming down the stretch, there would be a battle for fourth -- somewhere in the 340s -- between Rocky River and Strongsville.
The Mustangs edged the Pirates by one, 344 to 345, for the fourth-and-final ticket punch for Brookledge Golf Course in Cuyahoga Falls, the site of Oct. 11 Northeast DI/Brookledge District Tournament. But River's top two scorers -- Chloe Holton and Mia Ginnetti -- did advance by way of being top-4 finishers no attached to a qualifying team.
Holton carded a 39-42--81, finishing 13th in a field of 86 players. Ginnetti was one stroke behind (38-44--82) in 14th. Rocky River's team score was rounded out by Julia Schmid (39-44--83) and Addie Crane (47-52--99). The Buccaneers' 345 tally was 5th in a field of 17 teams.
"Its tough to come so close against this group of really strong teams," said coach Jeff Hammond. "We put ourselves in a good position to get through this stage, and that happened because of all the work these girls have put in since the spring and summer and all season once we got going. I'm proud of Chloe and Mia and look forward to seeing what they can do next Wednesday, and I'm proud of this whole group. To go undefeated in our league and win a [Lake Erie Girls Golf Association] title was a great group effort."
Magnificat's Cara Heisterkamp carded a 3-under 70 to finish as the tournament medalist at Springvale.
At next week's district tournament, the top-4 individuals not attached to a qualifying team will advance to the Oct. 20-21 OHSAA DI Tournament at the Ohio State University Gray Course in Columbus.
by Skip Snow