St. Peter’s Kim medalist, Wynford girls district runner-up

ARLINGTON – Chaeyeon Kim went on a rollercoaster her first four holes at Sycamore Springs in Monday’s Division II district golf tournament.

“I double bogeyed my first hole, so I needed some birdies,” Kim said. “I made birdie on two, three, and four to get to one-under.”

The talented Mansfield St. Peter’s junior would then go on to birdie nine for a two-under at the turn.

“Then I shot three-over on the back nine which was kind of bad,” Kim said with a laugh.

Two of her bogeys on the back were lip outs, and she even had a hole where she went in the water off the tee but managed to salvage a par.

“My goal is to give her the confidence she needs to recover,” St. Peter’s coach Jason Crundwell said. “And that’s the best part, if she gets in a tough situation, she finds her ways out of it.

“To have a hole like (No. 1), then walk it off and get back right into the game (is special). She struggled on the back nine in her practice round, too, but she really knew where she had to go today and hit it well.”

The back nine gave her trouble last year, too, but she was able to shave one stroke off that and two off the front from her previous appearance when she was district runner-up and became the program’s first ever state qualifier where she went on to place 13th at Firestone Country Club.

“The greens were really hard and it was so fast, it was just tough,” Kim said of the back nine. “(But I’m happy), I got a 76 last year so this is better.

“I’m kinda nervous, I want to do better than last year,” she added about the return to state.

Historic day for Wynford

Joining Kim on October 6th and 7th at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro is a program that will be making its state tournament debut — Wynford.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Royals coach Sean Weisenauer said. “We’ve been here a couple times, and it has been close. Just to finally put it all together and finish runner-up is pretty awesome.”

A year ago Wynford had just wrapped up its best district tournament showing with a 402 to place seventh and saw then-sophomore Caroline Sheldon miss out on the final individual state qualifying bid by a single stroke.

When the final ball rolled in on Monday, the Royals shot a 373 to finish four strokes behind Archbold. And leading the way was none other than Sheldon who made sure not to leave it to chance again firing a 79, the fourth-lowest individual score on the day.

“I just came out with a positive mindset, better attitude, better effort, and not giving up so easily,” Sheldon said. “I started off with double bogey from a horrible tee shot and then came back from it, played a great front and finished off strong on the back. I was proud of that.

“If I would have made it as an individual, it would have been great. But having my best friends around me is just the best thing.”

After shooting a 48 on the back nine last year, Sheldon penned a 39 featuring five consecutive pars to close out and nearly chipped in for birdie on No. 17 which is the toughest hole on the course. Her 39 on the back was only bested by medalist runner-up Ryan Dickman of St. Joseph Central Catholic and Addyson Adams of Van Buren by one stroke.

“We just let her do her thing, it’s fun to watch,” Weisenauer said.

“You can never see a course too much,” Sheldon added. “We came this weekend, too, to be able to see it again one more time before today. It helps that we know what clubs to hit on certain holes and how many putts we’re gonna try to make.”

Senior Rylee Robinson was 14th overall with a 91, juniors Maggie Ridge and Willa Johnson carded a 97 and 106, sophomore Megan Young a 111.

“Willa struggled,” Sheldon sid. “But she still came through at the end with the par on the last hole to be able to finish it off and seal it for us.”

Other results

Colonel Crawford placed 15th as a team with a 432 led by senior Sydney Furr’s 102. Sophomore Norrie Plank shot a 103, junior Peyton Rowlinson a 104, freshman Layni Rush 123 — including an eagle on No. 14 — and senior Rylie Hoepf 124.

New London senior Olivia Yetter made her district tournament debut and wrapped up her career with a 111.

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