Friday, October 13, 2000
St. Ursula seeks state golf title
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Only one goal remains for the St. Ursula girls golf team — a state championship.
The Bulldogs, sectional, district and Girls Greater Cincinnati League champions, chase their title dreams today and Saturday at Ohio State University's Gray Course in Columbus.
Lakota West (368) and Mount Notre Dame (375) also qualified with Gabby Wedding (Wilmington), Ashley Duff (Glen Este), Carling Coffin (Middletown) and Jen Irwin (Oak Hills) competing as individuals.
Other state qualifiers and district qualifying scores are Dublin Coffman (328), Upper Arlington (331), Toledo St. Ursula (332), Walsh Jesuit (342), Medina (354), Toledo Notre Dame (355), North Canton Hoover (367), Warren Howland (371) and Centerville (382).
“We played in the Pickerington Kickoff Invitational the first week of the season and Dublin Coffman and Toledo St. Ursula handed it to us,” St. Ursula coach Tony Kountz, said. “We surely won't be the favorite to win it and it would be a shocker if we did. The whole state would be shocked if we won it.”
St. Ursula shot a 343 to win the Southwest District title, 15 strokes higher than the 328 shot by Coffman and 11 higher than Toledo St. Ursula.
“There are four districts and I understand that the weather was perfect in the other three,” Lakota West coach Bev Lyon said. “But I don't know if we're ready to shoot a 328 like Coffman.”
Postponed after two holes on Thursday, the district tournament was completed on Friday over a Weatherwax course with thick and wet rough, heavy and inconsistent sand traps and lightning fast greens.
“When you mix those type of conditions, it's tough to score well,” Kountz said. “We advised the girls that scores would be higher than usual and not to let a bad hole bother them.”
Although St. Ursula returned three starters (Molly Smythe, Mimi Kelly, Lindsay Stallings) from the 1999 team that finished fourth at state with a team score of 702, Kountz wasn't sure what to expect this season.
“We knew this would be a competitive season because of the teams that came out of no where last year,” Kountz said.
“In the past, the GGCL was a two-horse race between us and Ursuline but McAuley, Mount Notre Dame, Seton and Mercy were improved. Lakota East and Lakota West were also strong.”
Smythe, Kelly and Stallings have provided the leadership with newcomers Alison Dempsey and Sarah Herman also coming through in big matches.
This group lost only one dual match, to Lakota West the week between the sectional and district tournaments.
“I played on the 1997 team that won the state championship,” Smythe said. “At that time, I was naive and played the state like it was just another match.”
Smythe shot an 86 the first day and 88 the second, both scores counting in the team totals. At the state tournament, five golfers play but only the top four scores count toward the team total.
“When we found out that we had won, I remember breaking into tears,” Smythe said. “The last two years (fourth in 1999 and sixth 1998) were disappointing because we were young.”
Although the Coffman and Upper Arlington players have played the Gray Course many times, the neutralizing factor is often the weather conditions which vary from cold, windy and wet to extremely hot.
“Out of all four teams I've coached, this group has shown the most dedication and remained focused,” Kountz said. “It's been a collective effort and I've been excited at what they've accomplished.”
As a reminder of this, each of the eight golfers wears a single letter on the right sleeve that spells out "together', the adapted team motto.
Gabby Wedding, the defending 1999 state medalist, will be out to make it two in a row with the strongest competition coming from Ashley Duff, a senior at Glen Este.
The state tournament is 36 holes, 18 today and 18 on Saturday. Ursuline is the defending champions, shooting a 692 with this year's co-favorites Toledo St. Ursula coming in second with a 692 and Coffman third at 699.
DIVISION II: Franklin was the only Cincinnati area team qualifying to the Division II state tournament which will be contested over the Scarlet Course, also on Friday and Saturday.
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