HIGH SCHOOL

Green Wave builds 5-shot lead heading to final LCL event

Dave Weidig
Reporter
  • Only 7 golfers broke 80 on the challenging greens at the Denison Golf Club at Granville
  • Tyler Dunfee carded 77 and Alex Meurer 78 to lead second-place Granville

GRANVILLE — Ryan Simi and Nick Willis have been 1A and 1B for Newark Catholic this fall, and on Wednesday, it was Willis’ turn to shine.

Using a new putter on the challenging greens of the Denison Golf Club at Granville, Willis matched par-71, earning medalist honors by five strokes and propelling the Green Wave to an 11-shot win in the third Licking County League tournament of the fall.

NC shot 309 to runner-up host Granville’s 320, giving the Green Wave a five-shot advantage heading to the fourth and final event at Longaberger Golf Club. Watkins Memorial was third with 325, followed by Johnstown’s 341 and Heath’s 342. Then came Northridge at 352, Licking Valley at 365, Lakewood at 373, Utica at 374 and Licking Heights at 441.

Willis had three birdies in his round, which featured a stellar 34 on the front nine.

“I’ve played this course three times, but only the back nine the other day,” Willis said. “My putting was big. I made a 25-footer on No. 15 that kind of kept me up there. The greens are always tough here, and the pins made it even tougher today.”

Simi was runner-up medalist at 76, while Dylan Byers shot 80 and Will Price 85 for NC.

Willis started out the season No. 1 for the Green Wave, but Simi has since assumed that role.

“Nick has confidence in the new putter, and at some point, I look for both of them to break par,” coach Thom McManus said. “It’s good competition against each other.”

He said the goal was to shoot 310 Wednesday, and his team bettered it by a shot.

“We figured we would be in the hunt with that, but being six behind (Granville) coming in, this was very unexpected,” McManus said. “I didn’t know if we could beat Granville here. We shot 316 here Sunday, and all the credit goes to these kids. They have worked their butts off. We had a 10-day layoff, and it was by design. They’re ready to go for the home stretch.”

Tyler Dunfee’s 77 included four birdies and a 36 on the back nine to lead Granville, while Alex Meurer carded 78 and Coury Rogers 79. But it wasn’t good enough on this day against NC.

“The pins were crazy today,” Dunfee said. “I just have to get better from nine feet and in. I think we’re still OK (heading into the final round). Alex is a member out there (at Longaberger), so I’ve played it a couple of times this summer. We just need four good scores in the 70s.”

Meurer got off to a hot start with 36 on the front before fading to 42 on the back. He had one birdie and nearly an ace on a par-3 hole.

“It hit about eight inches from the cup, but then it spun back about 12 feet and I had to make that for par,” he said. “It was still pretty cool though.”

Golfers found conditions much tougher than at Cumberland Trail, where Johnstown’s John Carlisle fired a 69 for medalist honors. He had a 78 on Wednesday.

“The distance here compares with Cumberland. But it has big greens with not much of a break,” Granville coach Marvin Bright said. “The greens are much smaller here, there’s a difference between uphill and downhill speeds, and it breaks a ton.”

Watkins Memorial, which had 300 at Cumberland Trail to tie NC for second behind Granville’s 299, was led by Michael Griffin’s 77, but no other Warriors broke 80. Next best in the field Wednesday was Johnstown’s Dalton Hastings with 80, while Gavyn Parman carded 81 for Watkins.

“We had a great front nine, but gave those strokes back on the back nine,” said Warriors coach Greg Stone. “We haven’t had all four go low yet, but we still have that potential.”

Jacob Kennedy’s 82 led Heath, while Quinn Chapman shot 83 to lead Lakewood and Jarod Teeter did the same for Northridge. Max Lepley paced Utica with 86.

dweidig@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @noz75

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For more photos by Michael Lehmkuhle, go to NewarkAdvocate.com.