Bethel-Tate senior Mitchell McElfresh reads a putt during the sectional tournament on Oct. 1 at Sharon Woods Golf Course. McElfresh shot a 79 to advance.

Bethel-Tate senior Mitchell McElfresh reads a putt during the sectional tournament on Oct. 1 at Sharon Woods Golf Course. McElfresh shot a 79 to advance.
By Chris Chaney
Sports Editor

The great amateur golfer Bobby Jones once said, “competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course, the space between your ears.”

Jones’ allusion to the mental side of a sport that is less fast-twitch reaction and more cerebral contemplation was the approach Bethel-Tate senior Mitchell McElfresh, along with his head coach Brett Harris, took into last week’s Division II sectional tournament played at Sharon Woods Golf Course.

Playing in his final postseason as a high schooler, McElfresh and Harris decided to have a solid game plan laid out heading into the Thursday, Oct. 1 round that would advance four teams and four other individuals to the district tournament.

“We talked over the 10 days between the end of our league tournament and sectionals trying to come up with an idea of how to play Sharon Woods,” Harris said. “We knew that history said an 80 would make it out, so we knew if we shot under 80 we should be good.

“The game plan going into (sectionals) was not to make big numbers and not to hit many drivers. Mitchell hits it long enough that he doesn’t need to hit driver, so we knew going into it that there might be three times all day that he would hit driver.”

With a solid mindset and a number in mind, McElfresh was able to execute his game plan almost perfectly.

Cold and wet weather forced some slight alterations to the original plot, Harris said, but the underlying messages still held true. McElfresh went out in 3-over par 38 and came back in with a 6-over par 41 to shoot a score that fit nicely into the game plan: a 9-over par 79.

The round was good enough to put McElfresh in ninth place overall and second among non-qualifying team members, punching his third ticket into the district tournament over his four-year career.

A conservative plan of action was all that was needed coming into the first leg of what McElfresh and Harris hope will be a three-week jaunt to the state capital. Harris said prior to the round that McElfresh wouldn’t need to light the world on fire to make it through.

A plodding sub-80 score was plenty on that day, but on Oct. 8 at Weatherwax Golf Course in Middletown for the districts, a new game plan will have to be hatched.

“At no point (Thursday) did we take on any high risk-reward shots because we didn’t need to,” Harris said. “Going into (districts), we’ll have to make more decisions about taking on some risk-reward shots knowing that he needs to get into that 75-76 range (to advance to the state tournament).”

McElfresh will have a better chance to advance this season than in year’s past not only as a result of being a year older and more mature, but also because the Ohio High School Athletic Association has expanded the qualification in the Southwest District from two teams and two individuals to three of each.

In essence, this expansion benefits someone in McElfresh’s position because as a single playing among a majority of team players, five scores will effectively be removed from the fold by virtue of another team advancing.

“This is (McElfresh’s) third year in a row (playing in districts) and each year he has played better,” Harris said. “His first year, as a sophomore, he made some really silly mistakes, but it was his first time at the district tournament.

“As a senior, I could honestly see him shooting 76 or 77 with ease.”

McElfresh will play with Jon Blair of East Clinton and Kyle Glaser of Northwestern, teeing off at 10:50 a.m. playing Highlands then Woodside.

Other local golf: Besides Bethel-Tate, also competing at the DII Sharon Woods sectional on Oct. 1 were Batavia, Clermont Northeastern and New Richmond.

The National Division champion Tigers had the top-three local finishers in McElfresh, Blake Combs (T27) and Jacob Dahlheimer (T37).

Batavia’s Brandon Frey and Nick Gibbs both tied for 44th. Teammate Cole Maxon came in T48, while CNE’s Jaret Ansteatt (T47) and Eric Sowards (T51) finished respectfully.

New Richmond was led by Luke Kavanagh (52) and Lane Flamm and Mathew Cox (T62).

In DII girls golf held on Sept. 28 at Hamilton Elks, Bethel’s Gracyn McQueary missed out on advancing to districts by seven strokes. She finished T11.

New Richmond’s Laura Wilson was three strokes behind McQueary, finishing in a tie for 14th. Batavia’s Catherine Halcomb finished T20.

Complete results for all sectional sites can be found on swdab.org.