COLUMBUS -- The day started cold, but it grew much nicer. The Scotus Central Catholic golf team heated up as the day went along as well at the Centennial Conference tournament at Quail Run Golf Course Saturday.
Unfortunately, the first part of the day went badly for the Shamrocks, and they were unable to make up enough ground as they finished sixth out of the conference’s eight golf teams.
“It was just cold early, and then it warmed up,” SCC head coach Sean Wickham said. “That’s how the scores were, too. The kids were cold early, but then they played better.”
Tony Zakrzewski and Mitch Bierbower each shot competitive rounds at 85 each, but the duo were just out of the medals. Zakrzewski finished 12th and Bierbower 15th.
Seven golfers finished with a score of 85 on the day with the tiebreak being decided by how each golfer shot on the 18th hole. If they tied on the 18th, then it went back to their score on the 17th hole and so on.
Zakrzewski had a chance to grab a score of 84 and a medal with a putt on 18, but the ball wouldn’t drop, taking him out of the running.
Wickham said he thought Zakrzewski and Bierbower were able to shoot well under the pressure of conference play because of their experience. The other golfers on Wickham’s team have less first-hand knowledge with the tournament.
“For Tony and Mitch, it was probably the third conference championship that they’ve been involved in,” Wickham said. “The others’ inexperience showed at times during the day, but I like how those two played.”
Jono Schwenka of Hastings St. Cecilia led the way for all golfers with a 74. He had a chance to get a 73 on the last hole, but his birdie putt didn’t break as he expected, and it trickled down below the hole.
Only three scores were under 80 on the day, as Joey Spellerberg of Fremont Bergan (77) and St. Cecilia’s Jesse Souchek (79) also accomplished the feat.
Adam Niedbalski shot a 93 out of the No. 5 position to take the third-best score for Scotus. He was helped by an eagle during a front nine 44. He couldn’t quite match that with a back-nine score of 49.
Brady Vancura had a rough opening round as he finished with a 53 for the morning. He was able to pick up his game considerably, however, and he shot a 41 on the back nine for a total of 94. The 41 tied Mitch Bierbower’s score on the back for the best nine-hole score of the day for the Shamrocks.
“I really like how Brady bounced back after that tough front nine,” Wickham said. “He had a really bad front nine, but I can’t complain overall.”
No. 4 golfer Derrick Dierman also grabbed a 94 on the day to wrap up things for Scotus.
The team score of 357 wasn’t what Wickham was hoping for, but he thought the cold weather during the morning had something to do with the higher number. He said his squad picked up its play the later and warmer it got.
“Our goal coming in was a 345 or better,” Wickham said. “So 357 isn’t as good as we could have done. But we’re in a pretty competitive conference. Our scores were a little disappointing, but at the same time we finished strong. We definitely got better as the day went on.”
The Shamrocks will have one more regular season matchup before districts as they face crosstown rival Lakeview in a dual at Quail Run Monday.
CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE MEET
Saturday at Quail Run Golf Course
• Team Standings -- 1. Hastings St. Cecilia 320, 2. Fremont Bergan 334, 3. Lincoln Lutheran 343, 4. Grand Island Central Catholic 345, 5. Mt. Michael 348, 6. Scotus 357, 7. Wahoo Neumann 264, 8. Lincoln Christian 392.
• Individual Top 10 -- 1. Jono Schwenka, HSC, 74, 2. Joey Spellerberg, FB, 77, 3. Jesse Souchek, HSC, 79, 4. Nick Daley, GICC, 81, 5. Mike Tewes, LL, 82, 6. Drake Schmidt, HSC, 83, 7. Tommy Christensen, MM, 84, 8. Taylor Hershberger, HSC, 84, 9. Colby Ranslem, FB, 85, 10. Caleb Orth, LL, 85.
• Scotus Results: Tony Zakrzewski 85, Brady Vancura 94, Mitch Bierbower 85, Derrick Dierman 94, Adam Niedbalski 93.
Print This Story
Email This Story
