PICKERINGTON – Highland sophomore Emerson Grassbaugh will advance to the district round, shooting a 9-over-par 81 to clinch an individual qualifying spot at a Division II boys golf sectional at Turnberry Golf Course at Pickerington on Oct. 1.
Grassbaugh finished in three-way tie for ninth out of 81 golfers with Heath's Collin Deibel and Madison Plains' Adyn Gammell. Grassbaugh and Gammell were two of six individuals to qualify; and Deibel qualified with Heath, which finished sixth to advance as a team.
Grassbaugh double-bogeyed the 525-yard, par-five first hole, but quickly pulled himself together.
“My nerves were setting in,” Grassbaugh said. “After that, I just told myself, ’You’re alright. Play your own game. You’re out here. Have fun.’ I calmed myself down.”
Grassbaugh got stronger throughout the day, shooting a 39 on the back nine.
“I had a birdie on the (413-yard, par-4) 14th; that was a confidence booster,” Grassbaugh said. “I set a 9-iron in to about three feet and just tapped in my birdie putt.”
Grassbaugh saved his best for last— the 516-yard, par-5 18th hole.
“I put my drive on the right side, behind some trees,” Grassbaugh said. “I hit a 3-wood from under this tree and I put it right in the front-center of the green. I missed my birdie putt, unfortunately, but I had an easy tap-in par.”
The top team score was Columbus Academy with 310. Johnstown-Monroe (329), Bloom-Carroll (332), Pleasant (343) and Bishop Hartley (347) also gained district berths.
Highland (364) was 7th and Utica (407) was 12th. The top individual district qualifier was Northridge’s Ross Teeter, who shot a 3-under-par 69— seven strokes ahead of the field.
Coach Joe Bousquet, who was an assistant at Utica before taking over as a head coach, has always enjoyed watching Teeter from afar.
“He’s a good kid,” Bousquet said. “I’ve been watching him play since he was 12. I can’t wait for him to shoot that again next Thursday, wipe that crowd clean and go to state.”
Licking Valley's Beau Prince (82), Tyler Booker (85) and Northridge's Zakk Cline also qualified as individuals. The district round is scheduled for Oct. 8 at Denison Golf Club in Granville.
In Division III, Dalton Hall shot an 81 to help Centerburg qualify for the district tournament.
Cornett shot an 83 and Reed Compton and Levi Houck each shot 88s for the Trojans, who finished second out of 15 teams with a 340 on Sept. 29 at Darby Creek Golf Course in Marysville.
Six teams and the top low-scoring individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to the district round on Oct. 8 at Denison Golf Course in Granville.
Worthington Christian (330), Fairbanks (340), Newark Catholic (348), Wellington (368) and Grandview Heights (370) also advanced.
Fredericktown (380) finished seventh, Northmor (413) was ninth, East Knox (421) came in 10th and Cardington-Lincoln (504) was 13th.
Northmor’s Grant Bentley qualified with an 83, as did Fredericktown’s Will Streby and Ian Muka, who both shot 86s. Mount Gilead didn’t compete as a team, but Steven Street fired an 83 to qualify as well.
Carsten Judge of Wellington won top honors with a 73 to beat out 81 other golfers.
CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, Utica golf coach Joe Bousquet was misidentified as an assistant golf coach at Northridge. That was incorrect. He was an assistant at Utica.
