High school golf: Consistency pays off in a win for Avon Lake at Elyria Catholic Invitational

LAGRANGE — Avon Lake has been playing some of the most consistent golf of any team in the area during the early stages of this season. Thursday, it finally paid off with a win. Junior Nolan Clancy led the way for the Shoremen with a 3-over-par 75 as Avon Lake shot 304 to easily win the Elyria Catholic Invitational at Grey Hawk Golf Club, finishing seven strokes in front of second-place Westlake (311). "The kids slowed their pace, took their time and played good quality golf today," Avon Lake coach Matthew Perry said. "They are young. We have some new kids playing and I am really proud of their effort today." The most impressive part the Shoremen's performance was that they had five players finish within four strokes of Westlake's Sion Park, who was medalist with a 2-over-par 74. Cole Cartwright and Sam Murray each shot 76, Ryan Harbour put up a 77 and Avon Lake's fifth golfer, Kyle Ritter, had a round of 78. "We know there's a big difference between scoring in the 80s and scoring in the 70s," Perry said. "Getting five guys in the 70s is what made the difference today." Avon Lake shaved off 15 strokes from the score it put up Tuesday on the same course in the Keystone Invitational. Clancy's 78 Tuesday was a personal best, which he bested by three strokes. "I just dialed it in even more," Clancy said. "I was very happy with the way I played today. Tuesday, I wasn't hitting my greens in regulation. Today, I made sure to hit drives in the fairway and I hit my approach shots really well. "Everyone on the team is really excited and really happy. It was really awesome the way we played today." Led by a 75 from junior Lex Grimes, Elyria Catholic had its best showing of the year, finishing fifth in a 19-team field. "On my first hole I had a double bogey and I was worried it was going to go really bad and shoot 100," Grimes said. "But I was able to fix up my game. I got a new driver so that really helped." Tuesday, without a driver in his bag and with wet conditions, Grimes shot 99. "I think emotionally we're on a good level as a team," Grimes said. "Our main guy Ryan (Mahaffey) had a rough day today. When he gets going, we're going to have a really good team. We just have to keep up our morale up and get more practice in." Avon's Justice Hargett and Amherst duo of Ryan Yoder and Devin Pritt were among four golfers who finished with 79s. Avon finished third in the standings with a 325, while Amherst was fourth with a 331. Though it didn't reflect in a 14th-place showing, Open Door had two golfers who put up low numbers, as junior Blake Hopkins and sophomore Will Giesbrecht each shot 80. Park needed to beat his Westlake teammate Chris Brown in a two-hole playoff to earn medalist honors. Contact Todd Shapiro at 440-329-7135 or ohiodude441@aol.com. TEAM RESULTS: Avon Lake 304, Westlake 311, Avon 325, Amherst 331, Elyria Catholic 343, North Olmsted 349, Buckeye 369, Vermilion 369, Lakewood 371, Valley Forge 372, Wellington 374, Holy Name 374, Keystone 377, Open Door 391, Akron Hoban 393, Lutheran West 400, Fairview 456, Black River 485, Lake Ridge 537 MEDALIST: Sion Park, Westlake, 74. TOP INDIVIDUALS: Chris Brown (Westlake), 74; Lex Grimes (Elyria Catholic), 75; Nolan Clancy (Avon Lake), 75; Cole Cartwright (Avon Lake), 76; Sam Murray (Avon Lake), 76; Ryan Harbor (Avon Lake), 77; Kyle Ritter (Avon Lake), 78; Justice Hargett (Avon), 79; Ryan Yoder (Amherst), 79; Devin Pritt (Amherst), 79; Jack Eisenhart (Buckeye), 79. FAIRVIEW (456): Jack Anderson 95, Graham Patton 103, James Helton 121, Kwaw Yankey 137, Corbin Berger 139 AMHERST (331): Ryan Yoder 79, Landen Bray 88, Prince Tran 85, Carson Denman 96, Devin Pritt 79, Alek Kissane 91 LAKEWOOD (371): Logan Ellis 100, Aidan Smith 91, Jack Derethik 98, Tyler Volcansek 95, Leo Soneson 87, Cooper Russell 108 WELLINGTON (374): Lucas Sutherland 90, Riley Reyna 89, Braden Hamer 99, Jack Marsh 105, Landon Davison 96, Nathan Glavic 112 HOLY NAME (374): Joey Abraham 89, Vic Sidari 93, Samantha Przybys 94, Jack Kelly 98, Josh Kells 132, Adam Humenik 100 VERMILION (369): Jace Walczak 96, Trey Ellis 94, A.J. Gerber 84, Owen Bauck 95, Patrick Anders 111 OPEN DOOR (391): Blake Hopkins 80, Will Giesbrecht 80, Ben Comer 103, Isaiah Amarise 128, Abby Hopkins 132 LAKE RIDGE (537): Hadley Cole143, Gabriel Regis 130, Hugo Zhang 123, Nancy Zhang 141 AVON (325): Hunter McCourt 82, Brenton Dill 83, Jack Cherrstrom 88, Zane Austin 81, Justice Hargett 79, Davis Ocepek 86 AKRON HOBAN (393): Kevin Elliott 92, Drew Rasmussen 84, Jacob Seabolt 101, Derek Mothersbaugh 116 NORTH OLMSTED (346): Brandon Cerney 87, Jacob Schnied 89, Landon Graff 100, Trent Donovan 88, Derrick Faulisi 105, Evan Graff 85 BLACK RIVER (485): Lenny Ramirez 110 , Charlotte Falsone 112, Austyn Foster 121, Nicholas Jackson 142 BUCKEYE (369): Jack Eisenhart 79, Scott DiMarco 94, Colin Shrader 99, Michael Koeth 101, Luca Violi 97, Holden Shearer 123 LUTHERAN WEST (400): Eric Dill 92, Ray Pavlick 95, Anthony Covay 106, Trey Kemper 107, J.J. Hughes 110 VALLEY FORGE (372): Alex Turko 100, Ryan Repko 91, Stefen Stjepenovic 82, Anthony Donley 99, Garrett Hollon 111, Bill Jobes 120 KEYSTONE (377): Jack Senghas 89 Grant Hartley 92, Quinn Otto 92, Brody O'Boyle 110, Brady Schacht 104, Austin Duta 122 ELYRIA CATHOLIC (343): Ryan Mahaffey 90, Sammy Zambataro 80, Jack Radosevich 98, Lex Grimes 75, Tyler Suhie 103, Brace Dilliinger 100 AVON LAKE (304): Ryan Harbour 77, Kyle Ritter 78, Cole Cartwright 76, Sam Murray 76, Nolan Clancy 75, Nick Hurd 84 WESTLAKE (311): Sion Park 74, Chris Brown 74, Michael Labenz 80, Michael Ambrosino 83, Matthew Brown 88, Josh Turk 93