Boys golf: Avon's hot start continues with win at Keystone Invitational

LAGRANGE — The course may change but the results stay the same. Avon started the season with its second tournament win in as many days Tuesday when it pulled out a one-stroke win over Olmsted Falls in the Keystone Invitational at the Grey Hawk Golf Club. On Tuesday, it was Jack Hecei that led the way for the Eagles with a 3-over-par 75. Avon shot 317 as a team a day after shooing 309 Monday at Oberlin Golf Club to win the Amherst Invitational. "I'm happy we're getting off to a good start, but I expected it because we have four seniors playing for us this year so we should be seeing some good golf," Avon coach Jeff Stevens said. The Eagles should be familiar with the Grey Hawk course as it's the same place they compete in the Southwestern Conference championship and Division I sectional tournaments. That experience showed Tuesday as all five Avon golfers shot 86 or lower. "We played a really good round," Hecei said. "We knew we were going to be pretty good coming into the season but our lower guys in the lineup have really been coming in with good scores." Avon rounded out its scorecard with a 79 from Sam Griffiths, an 81 from Zack Snyder, who was medalist Monday in the season-opening event, and an 82 from Cam Ocepek. "We've seen team chemistry in the offseason. We all talk to each other and we're all friends at school," Griffiths said. "We trust each other and we know if we mess up, our teammates will have our back. We just have to keep practicing, keep working and not let up." Winning tournaments in August has been easy for Avon in recent years. Stevens hopes the team will use its early season success to catapult to better results in September when conference and sectional titles will be on the line. "I wanna be golfing good in September," Stevens said. "We always start good and seem to fizzle out. They have to keep practicing, stay motivated and love playing golf. It's a short season, there's not much I can do. They just have to keep after it." Third-place Avon Lake (324) and fourth-place Amherst (326) were the only other teams to have multiple golfers break 80. The Shoremen had a 77 from Chase Cartwright and 78 from Max Prohoska. The Comets were led by senior Jaxson Yoder, who took medalist honors for the second consecutive year with a 2-over-par 74 and Mason Kroesen, who shot a 79. "I felt like Jordan Spieth out there scrambling for pars," said Yoder, who only had three bogeys during his round. "My round was full of ups and downs. The front nine was really solid. I made a couple of big putts down the stretch. I thought I needed a 7-footer on the last hole to win ... it turned out I just needed a par." North Ridgeville and Midview finished fifth and sixth, respectively. The Rangers were led by Teddy Greenfield's 83. Caleb Hendershot topped the Middies scorecard with an 80. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. TEAM SCORES: Avon 317, Olmsted Falls 318, Avon Lake 324, Amherst 326, North Ridgeville 343, Midview 346, Independence 350, Strongsville 351, Keystone 363, Benedictine 382, Elyria Catholic 385, Huron 385, Wellington 404, Plymouth 437. Medalist: Jaxson Yoder, Amherst, 74.