HURON, Ohio — Jeff Gottfried is rarely at a loss for words, but Clear Fork’s veteran coach didn’t know what to say after the final scores were posted Monday afternoon at Sawmill Golf & Racquet Club.
The Colts, who struggled all season after losing a wealth of talent to graduation, shot a season-best 347 and won a tie-breaker over Bellevue to claim the third and final district-qualifying spot at the weather-delayed Division II sectional tournament. Clear Fork will join sectional champ Ontario (327) and runner-up Clyde (341) at Red Hawk Run Golf Course near Findlay on Thursday for the district tournament.
“It was the first time in my career that I was speechless,” Gottfried joked. “We haven’t been very good all year and we weren’t especially good (Monday) either, but we were good enough.
“I think the golf gods were looking out for us.”
Sophomore Brock Detmer led the Colts with an 83. Juniors Jared Lind and Gage Wolfgang shot 86 and 87, respectively, while sophomore Gannon Seifert and senior Dan Lifer shot 91s. Bellevue matched Clear Fork with a 347, but Bellevue’s fifth player shot a 95.
“The tie-breaker is the fifth score,” Gottfried said. “Our fifth score was a 91 and their fifth was a 95.”
Clear Fork will be playing in the district tournament for the third straight year. Unlike the last two years, however, nobody saw this coming.
“Last year’s team might have been the best team we’ve ever had,” Gottfried said. “This team finished sixth at the (Ohio Cardinal Conference) tournament, yet here we are.”
Grinding: Ontario won the sectional title going away even though none of the Warriors shot in the 70s.
Marc Wilkins Jr. led the way with 80, followed by Dominic Castlevetere (81) and Austin McCray (82). Lane Thomas shot an 84 and Adam Miller had a 99.
“I figured if Austin, Marc and Dom were all shooting around 80, it had to be tough for the whole field,” Ontario coach Jake Houston said. “They were all kind of upset with themselves during the round but I kept telling them, ‘It’s not easy for anybody.’ ”
Because of all the recent rain, the course at Sawmill played longer than usual. The tournament was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but was postponed until Monday because of the inclement weather.
“I thought the scores were going to be a lot lower than they were,” Houston said. “We were playing lift, clean and place everywhere and it really wasn’t that windy. Usually the wind is howling at Sawmill.”
Moving On: Shelby’s Brock Kehres, a state qualifier last fall, was the medalist with a 75 and earned one of the four individual district-qualifying spots. Galion’s Jack McElligott punched his ticket to the district tournament with an 82 to grab the fourth and final individual spot.
