Taking advantage of the crisp summer weather, Ontario’s golf program has taken to the greens, this year welcoming 21 golfers, including the first girls’ golf team in school history.
The season launched on Aug. 7 with a match against the Lexington Minutemen and has seen several matches since then, including the Bucyrus Invitational at the River Oaks Golf Course on Aug. 12, in which the boys’ varsity placed third of ten teams.
Although the male varsity team lacks seniority, it does possess several strong shooters, as noted by head varsity coach Cip Gomez. Among those hitters are juniors Jacob Factor, Tyler Weber, Anthony Gasiecki, and Nick Sgambellone.
The boys’ junior varsity team is also seeing progress from sophomores Ty Carcione and Layne Armstrong, and freshmen Mason Zahn and Austin Mccray. Mccray made an impression at the Lexington Invitational when he placed second overall with the score of 88.
In reference to the boys’ teams, Coach Gomez noted, “They all put in the effort. They’re here at 9 a.m. for scrimmage days, and they’ll stay ‘til about 2 p.m. If they want to go an extra nine they’ll stay ‘til 4 p.m.”
He qualified the statement by saying, “They want to learn they just have to reach that point where they’re more committed. Sometimes I have a policy that if you play nine holes you can go head and play nine more during practice. The ones that choose to do that are the top golfers, and the ones who don’t are the ones who are struggling.”
With just enough girls for a team, plus one extra, girls’ head varsity coach Cary Carcione is excited for the season and hoping to boost even more participation in subsequent seasons.
Seniors Allison Chelski and Jane Carcione, juniors Abby Petty and Aailyah Snyder, and freshman Jerrylynn Combs make up the girls varsity, all of whom are new to competitive golf; however, Coach Carcione mentioned, “I’m very proud of them. The first couple of matches, I could tell that they were nervous, but they’re coming along. They look like golfers, they behave like golfers, and they have been dedicated all summer and learning a lot.”
Summing up their aspirations for the team this season, Carcione explained, “I want them to learn the game and improve on their scores, have a lot of fun and enjoy this wonderful outdoor sport. Coach Gomez added, “I hope for them to develop their skills and to get that commitment to win.”
On Thursday, August 29 varsity golf takes on Sandusky Columbian at Seneca Hills at 4:15 p.m.
Friday, August 30 varsirty will participate in the Tyger Invitational at Twin Lakes at 8 a.m.
And next week, the first outing is the varsity and JV teams on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Shelby CC at 4:15 p.m. and on Wed., Sept. 4, the girls team will meet Clear Fork at Deer Ridge.
