State Tournament

[thedutchman]

Can anyone beat Moeller? Their district performance was incredible. When was the last time that the throw away round was a 74? Their district scores were 69, 72, 72, 74 & 74. Impressive!

[El Indio]

Very impressive indeed. But that Scarlet course is tough and in 36 holes, anything can happen.

Good luck.

[moefan13]

St. Charles also had some very strong showings. They also have players that can shoot 75 or better on any given day. But yes, Scarlet is a very tough course. I think most players would be very pleased with a score of 80 or better. Traditionally, the winning teams shoot around 620-630. Moeller can definitely do that, but we'll have to see. Weather is always an issue too.

[El Indio]

Can someone let us know how it goes today?

[FormerWildcat]

Here's an article the Dispatch had today on the state tournament.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/10/22/st--charles-takes-aim-at-rare-repeat.html

High school golf: St. Charles takes aim at rare repeat
Friday, October 22, 2010 02:51 AM
By Mark Znidar
The Columbus Dispatch

Opponents might be interested to know that beneath the executive-like demeanor and appearance of the St. Charles golf team is a side that strongly suggests these guys watch a little Spike and MTV.

Coach Anthony Mampieri found out that no one escapes the humor that sometimes is sophomoric. The players once put every club upside down in his bag.

"It's a pain to get them out," senior Michael Ricaurte said. "We do a lot of things like that. It's fun."

Daniel Wiegandt, another senior, said many other practical jokes would be unsuitable to describe in a family newspaper.

The players might have gotten more ideas the other night by going to see the movie ------- 3D.

After four years of gags, Mampieri isn't about to rein in the players. For one thing, they are off the charts as students. For another, the Cardinals won the Division I state tournament in 2009 and go into this year's state tournament that begins today on Ohio State's Scarlet and Gray courses as district champions.

"This is a special group of players, and I am particularly fond of the seniors because I came in with them and have watched them grow," Mampieri said. "St. Charles golf was outstanding before they got here, but they have taken it to another level."

The team is composed of seniors Ricaurte, Wiegandt and Alex Carpenter and juniors Austin Cuervo and Nate Yankovich.

Mampieri said as many as nine teams, including Dublin Coffman and Dublin Jerome, can win the tournament on Scarlet. Individuals from central Ohio playing are Charlie Phillips of Mount Vernon and Jared Wissinger of Hilliard Davidson.

In the girls tournament on Gray, central Ohio is represented by district champion Watterson and Dublin Coffman and individuals Tess Fraser of Marysville and Emily Dixon of Watkins Memorial.

The St. Charles players said there is pressure to repeat. The last team to win consecutive Division I championships was Cleveland St. Ignatius in 2001 and 2002.

"We're a good team and confident in our ability, but we're not cocky," Carpenter said. "If we play the way we're capable of playing, we will have a shot at it. We wanted to come back and have another shot at it."

The seniors have been at this a long time together. Ricaurte and Wiegandt were teammates in elementary school at St. Andrews and got to know Carpenter as seventh-graders because he played for rival St. Paul.

"When I was a freshman, I wasn't thinking about playing varsity or going to states," Ricaurte said. "It seemed impossible. We've gotten better each year. We've worked hard for this."

While opponents see St. Charles differently after the championship, Wiegandt said the players remained the same.

"We haven't changed a bit," he said. "No one is cocky. We have the same mentality every round. This has been awesome the last two years. We've had a lot of fun together."

mznidar@dispatch.com

[CatAlum]

Consider this a sour grapes question...

HOw often does St. Charles get on the OSU course?

Put another way...is this a sport, perhaps more than any other, where the state championship should move around?

[thedutchman]

Consider this a sour grapes question...

HOw often does St. Charles get on the OSU course?

Put another way...is this a sport, perhaps more than any other, where the state championship should move around?

Even assuming they play it alot, and I don't know that they do, do you suppose it gave them an 11 or 12 stroke advantage?

[CatAlum]

Even assuming they play it alot, and I don't know that they do, do you suppose it gave them an 11 or 12 stroke advantage?

I don't know the sport that well to say. Perhaps not, but I think you get my point. A basketball floor is a basketball floor...same dimensions; ditto football, soccer, etc. In golf, home court advantage is a real possibility.

[FormerWildcat]

Consider this a sour grapes question...

HOw often does St. Charles get on the OSU course?

Put another way...is this a sport, perhaps more than any other, where the state championship should move around?
It's not used for sectional or district play. I'm not aware of any high school invitationals that are played on it during the season either.

The course itself is located in Upper Arlington, and I believe UA plays their home matches at Scioto Country Club. Scioto Country Club is significantly nicer than either of Ohio State's courses.

So, unlike football's use of Fawcett Stadium or Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, the golf state championship site isn't used by any of the teams leading up to the state finals.

You can see all of the courses St. Charles played on this season here: http://www.stcharlesprep.org/01_athletics/athletic_golf.php

I guess we could throw out that nonsense about requiring two courses close to each other giving Ohio State's Scarlet and Gray courses literally right next to each other a total & complete advantage over any other proposed site.

[FormerWildcat]

Congrats to Columbus St. Charles on their state title repeat!

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/10/24/special-deliveries-for-coach.html

Congrats to Dublin Jerome and Dublin Coffman on finishing third and fourth respectively as well!

[rjones]

In golf, home court advantage is a real possibility.

The Scarlet is one of the best, if not the best college golf courses in the country. It is the home course to OSU and other than the state tournament does not host high school golf tournaments. Ohio should count itself lucky to be able to play the state tournament on such a fine course which has hosted several NCAA Championships.

[CatAlum]

The Scarlet is one of the best, if not the best college golf courses in the country. It is the home course to OSU and other than the state tournament does not host high school golf tournaments. Ohio should count itself lucky to be able to play the state tournament on such a fine course which has hosted several NCAA Championships.

ARe there any barriers to playing it regularly if you are not affiliated with OSU?

btw...I'm a huge fan of St. Charles. Several relatives have attended. I think it's an excellent school.

[thedutchman]

ARe there any barriers to playing it regularly if you are not affiliated with OSU?

btw...I'm a huge fan of St. Charles. Several relatives have attended. I think it's an excellent school.

Membership to OSU is restricted to those affiliated with the university as a student, staff, faculty or alumni. The general public can not just call and make a tee time. The courses are heavily used by those groups.

[CatAlum]

Membership to OSU is restricted to those affiliated with the university as a student, staff, faculty or alumni. The general public can not just call and make a tee time. The courses are heavily used by those groups.

Can a "member" host a foursome, three of whom aren't "members"?

[rjones]

CatAlum here is the website for the OSU golf course. It will answer all your questions.

http://ohiostategolfclub.com/fw/main/Home-1.html

[CatAlum]

CatAlum here is the website for the OSU golf course. It will answer all your questions.

http://ohiostategolfclub.com/fw/main/Home-1.html

Thanks, r. More than likely, a good teen golfer in Columbus has access to many people who have access to that course and can bring guests. My guess is that high caliber high school golfers in Columbus play that course regularly.

[FairFieldGolf87]

Even if they play the course a few times a year, which I doubt, you'd have to play the course on a weekly basis to get a significant advantage. Even at that you still wouldn't experience the normally harsh conditions you see in Mid-October. Bottom line, The Scarlet is a great test of golf and a great venue for the state title.

High school golf is dominated by private schools and public schools from affluent areas who are filled with kids living in country club and golf communities and from well to do families.( The Dublin schools, Upper Arlington, St Charles, St X, Moeller). This accessibility allows them to play golf basically non-stop from March to October in their early junior years which carries over into the high school years. Its simply the nature of the sport. Golf is an expensive game and those who are able to practice and play the most generally have the most success.

[moefan13]

I don't think any of the high schools or any of the golfers would be in favor of the OHSAA moving the State Tournament around. Scarlet has such a great reputation among golfers, not just in ohio, but accross the country. The US Open sectional qualifying has been held there recently as well as the new Nationwide event. It's a very difficult course for any age person, not just high school kids.

Keep in mind, there are practice rounds the day before the event. So every team has the chance to walk the course, see where bunkers are, see the layout and take notes on the yardages.

The only way the players would be happy if it moved would be if they had a rotation of Scarlet, Scioto, Muirfield, Medallion, etc. Columbus has numerous amazing courses and if it moved between a select 4-5 awesome courses that kids would not have the chance to play otherwise. Then I could see it being something players would want.

[FormerWildcat]

BTW, congrats to Hilliard Davidson's Jared Wissinger on his 21st place individual finish at the state tournament! We'll catch those country-clubbers in UA & Dublin one of these years! ;)

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/hilliard/stories/2010/10/27/sports/Wildcats-golfer-enjoys-journey-to-state-tourney.html

[UncleStubby]

Please don't move the tournament.

[thedutchman]

The only way the tournament moves is if OSU won't host and that's not going to happen. The tournament stays right where it is and belongs. This whole discussion started with a post that suggested that playing at OSU may have given the Central Ohio golfers an advantage... which it doesn't. OHSAA is not going to abandon such a great venue.

[swimfan]

Here's an article from the Columbus Catholic Times about SC's water polo and golf state championship.

http://www.colsdioc.org/Offices/TheCatholicTimes/2statechampionshipsatstcharles.aspx

[thedutchman]

Nice article. Congratulations St. Charles. What are the chances of them repeating with a new coach?