Mount Vernon News

MILFORD CENTER — The last couple of weeks have been up and down for the Mount Vernon High School golf team. At times, it has shot well. At other times, it hasn’t.

Tuesday turned out to be a good day.

Playing in the Division I Sectional at Darby Creek Golf Course, the Yellow Jackets had five golfers shoot in the mid-70s to qualify for the Division I District Tournament. Bishop Watterson won the sectional title with a 302. Mount Vernon took second with 305; New Albany finished third at 308; and Hilliard Darby claimed the final qualifying spot with a 318. Finishing in a tie for fifth were Olentangy and Gahanna Lincoln with a 323.

“We played well today,” said Mount Vernon coach Mike Fuller. “We came in here with the attitude that we’ve let ourselves down in the OCC matches. This was a chance to redeem ourselves. It is our second season and we are starting over again. Everybody is on the same level so we need to go out and prove we can play. We started playing well last week and we’re building on it. Hopefully, we are building toward a nice round next week.”

Alex Redfield of Bishop Watterson and Luke Gerken of Gahanna Lincoln tied for the low score on the day, shooting an even-par 72. Gerken’s finish qualified him as an individual for the district tournament. Taking the other three spots were Marysville’s Matt Millholland (76), Brock Neighbors of Westerville South (78) and Pickerington Central’s Matt Culp (78).

The Jackets started strong, shooting a 156 on the front nine. A strong finish, however, sealed their fate. Mount Vernon fired a 149 on the back nine.

“I felt good when we made the turn,” said Fuller. “(156) is a good score. It translates to a 312, and I was thinking that would probably get us out. I was happy when we played well on the back and lowered our score. The lower the score the better your chances are. ... We are real happy with our 305.

“I think our concentration level improved. We’ve talked all year about playing one shot at a time, one hole at a time. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves a little bit. Today we really worked on that.”

Junior Steve Hall was a prime example of the backside effort. Hall shot a 40 on the front, but carded a 1-under par on the back to shoot a team-best 75. Freshman Charlie Phillips fired a 76; and brothers Matt and T.T. Crouch each shot a 77. Casey Wyatt came in with an 83, but his score was dropped.

“I played really well today,” said Hall. “I hit the ball well and I putted well, which is the first time I did in a while. ... I gave away a couple of easy bogeys on the front, but on the back, I putted really well. It all came together.”

“I had a couple of bad holes and some really good holes,” said Phillips. “I wasn’t playing that well. ... We played here Sunday and the greens were a lot slower than today. That kind of threw me off. They played a lot faster.

“Coach told us if we had four scores in the 70s, we’d make it out so that’s what we tried to do.”

The Jackets will play on Tuesday in the Division I District Tournament at Apple Valley Golf Course in Howard. It is a course they know very well, which should help their chances of advancing.

“We are happy to advance, and we are going to go out and give our best effort no matter who we are playing with,” Fuller said. “At this point, it is your score against the course. It is a matter of going out there and playing. Everybody has to play the same course. We’ll see how we do.”

“I can’t wait because it is one of our home courses. It is in our backyard,” said Hall. “I’m ready to go. We are real comfortable there.”