Sports Editor
Golf is a fickle game.
One day your swing is in sync, you can’t miss a green and putts are dropping from everywhere. The next, you can’t hit the ball solid, you’re searching through the high grass looking for yet another wayward drive and you couldn’t putt a ball into the ocean from the deck of a boat.
Knowing this, the Southern Buckeye Conference has accounted for both the good and the bad in its season-long race for league supremacy. The SBC champions, as well as the First and Second Team All-Stars, are decided by four 9-hole matches over the course of the season and it culminates with an 18-hole tournament, which was held on Saturday, Sept. 19 at Deer Track Golf Course in Goshen.
After 54 holes of play, the Bethel-Tate Tigers (National Division) and Amelia Barons (American Division) were crowned 2015 SBC Champions, a notable feat for both programs, albeit for different reasons.
For Bethel, the conference title was their second in a row and bore the fruits of the labor that has been put in by coaches and players over the past few years.
“When I took the program over four years ago, we were in shambles as a golf team,” Bethel-Tate head coach Brett Harris said. “We had two kids returning and one of them I had to beg to play because he wanted to do cross country. I grabbed two freshmen that year and they are seniors this year (Mitchell McElfresh and Jacob Dahlheimer).
“(The title) really goes to show what hard work does. They never gave up and even as we were getting beat as freshmen and sophomores, they kept playing and getting better. Then we picked Blake Combs, Caleb Robinson and Gracyn McQueary. We used all five of their scores at least once in the SBC matches.”
McElfresh and Harris were honored with the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards, respectively.
McElfresh’s 54-hole total of 226 was the best across both divisions of the conference.
Dahlheimer (261) and Combs (281) both joined McElfresh as First Team All-Stars for Bethel.
Clermont Northeastern finished second in the division, followed by Georgetown, Blanchester, Williamsburg and Felicity.
Other National Division First Team All-Stars included Alec Richardson (245 – Blanchester), Lance Siniger (246 – Georgetown), Jared Ansteatt (262 – CNE) and Jordan Block (281 – Williamsburg).
The Second Team was made up of Quentin Mink (291 – CNE), Chris Moorhouse (297 – CNE), Eric Sowards (298 – CNE), Connor Cook (300 – Blanchester) and Wesley Mitchell (303 – Blanchester).
In the American Division, the Barons made some history of their own, winning the school’s first golf league title since 1978.
“To the best of our knowledge, through the research of our athletic director and looking at banners hanging in the gym, it’s the first one (in 37 years),” first-year head coach Terry Helton said. “It means a lot for us in the program because in year’s past, we haven’t been that strong in the (athletic department) as far as golf goes.
“The biggest accomplishment we made came in the offseason. The kids were committed to getting better and because of that, they were able to reach their goals.”
Evan Daniels was the undisputed team leader improving his scores in each SBC match (44-42-42-37) and finishing up with an 18-hole score of 79 to grab the Player of the Year (244) trophy in the division.
“I have to give props to Evan because when I took over the varsity job this summer, he told me that he wanted to be the Player of the Year,” Helton said. “My hat’s off to him because he had some scores that weren’t phenomenal to start, but he stayed focused and accomplished his goal.”
Zach Simons, a fellow Amelia senior, joined Daniels on the First Team All-Star list thanks to a season long total of 270. Junior Lake Anderson was in position to qualify for the First Team, but a family emergency forced him to miss the final match, therefore disqualifying him from inclusion. Tyler Brown, a sophomore, was the lone Baron on the Second Team.
Goshen finished as runners-up in the American, followed by Western Brown, Batavia, Norwood and New Richmond.
Other First Team American All-Stars include Austin Allen (259 – Goshen), Miranda Wallace (265 – Western Brown), Brandon Frey (272 – Batavia) and Doug Dorton (272 – Goshen). Second Teammers were Garret Gray (276 – Goshen), Devin Moriarty (277 – Western Brown), Logan Zimmerman (277 – Norwood), Lane Flamm (288 – New Richmond) and Hunter Watson (291 – Batavia).
Next on the docket for area golfers is the sectional tournament.
The Division II girls sectional will be on Monday, Sept. 28. Clermont Northeastern will compete at WGC Golf Course in Xenia, while Batavia, Bethel-Tate and New Richmond will play at Hamilton Elks Golf Club. The Division I girls sectional, in which Amelia will compete, will be Monday, Oct. 5, also at Hamilton Elks Golf Club.
The boys Division I sectional featuring Amelia will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Glenview. The Division II sectional at Sharon Woods will host Batavia, Bethel-Tate, Clermont Northeastern and New Richmond on Thursday, Oct. 1. Felicity-Franklin will compete in the Division III sectional on Sept. 29 at Walden Pond Golf Course.