Wednesday, September 27, 2000
St. Ursula wins golf sectionals
Middletown's Coffing medalist
By Dave Goldstein
The Cincinnati Enquirer
St. Ursula was clearly the Goliath of the field entering Tuesday's girls high school golf sectionals, and slingshots were in short supply.
St.Ursula (24-0) won the sectional at Fairfield Country Club by eight strokes to advance to the district finals at Weatherwax. The team shot a combined 343 and will be joined at districts Thursday by fellow Girls Greater Cincinnati League members Ursuline, Mount Notre Dame and McAuley.
The Bulldogs wore their team motto on their sleeves; the eight players each wore a letter of the word “togeth er” on the shoulders of their uniforms.
“It's just important that when you come out here and if you do hit it in the water or have a bad hole, you'll understand that you can't let it ruin your day, because you're not playing for yourself but for your team,” St.Ursula coach Tony Kountz said.
Middletown freshman Carling Coffing won the individual title with an 8-over-par 78 on a wet course that caused the start of play to be delayed 30 minutes. St.Ursula senior Molly Smyth shot a second-place 79 despite playing through back pain, bronchitis and pneumonia. Coffing's finish qualified her to districts as one of four individuals whose teams did not make the cut.
The highlight of the day came on the 158-yard seventh hole, where Harrison's Sarah Ryan hit a hole-in-one. That ace helped her earn the fourth individual spot at districts, beating out Mercy's Erin Mullen by one stroke. Also qualifying as individuals were Glen Este's Ashley Duff and Oak Hills' Jen Irwin, both of whom shot 82.
St.Ursula is likely to make the state tournament, but Kountz said he's trying to keep his team grounded.
“If we go out painting signs and painting cars with comments about going to state, they're going to look awfully silly sitting in our driveways when the other teams are up there,” he said. “We're just going to have to play smart and continue doing what we've been doing.”
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