High School Golf: Alter boys earn 6th straight trip to state

SPRINGBORO – Grant Tabar wears the label of Alter’s “Only Senior” without a worry. He’s quick to get his younger teammates focused on the practice range and he’s not afraid to be the mature one.

“There’s been times where they’ve kind of went off and tried to like, you know, show that young immaturity sometimes,” Tabar said. “You just kind of have to keep them together.”

The Knights are certainly a model of togetherness on the golf course, bunching four scores in the 70s like few teams can. They shot a 16-over par 300 Tuesday at Heatherwoode Golf Club to win their third straight Division II district championship and advance to a sixth straight state tournament.

Sophomore T.J. Kreusch shot a 1-over par 72 and Tabar shot 74. Sophomore Finn Grawe shot 76 and junior Davis Gochenour 78. Sophomore Grady Tabar shot 80. A lot of other teams would like to have had Grady Tabar’s score. The Knights, who have won four of the past six district tournaments, were 19 shots better than Cincinnati Wyoming, who will join the Knights at the state tournament October 14-15 at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

One senior is rare for coach Alex Schuster’s team, and he’s been pleased with Tabar’s leadership.

“Grant’s been great,” Schuster said. “He’s truly a gentleman. He’s mature beyond his years. He’s a calming force on the team a lot of the time.”

Maturity and calm will be important for the Knights this week and next as they pursue an elusive state title. The Knights finished third in 2017 and 2018. The past three years they’ve finished second. Last year hurt the most. They shot 294 and and took a 10-shot lead into the second round. But they shot 320 in the final round and lost by three strokes to Columbus Academy.

“After last year’s devastating loss, we knew our mistakes,” Tabar said. “We just thought we had it too early. We just know that we got to keep our head down and grind throughout the whole event.”

Grant Tabar will know what signs to watch for, and he hopes he knows what to say if needed.

“I felt like the feeling on the driving range beforehand definitely was off from the day prior,” Tabar said of the morning of the second round.

The Knights shot 296 in last week’s sectional at nearby Pipestone Golf Course. The won easily Tuesday even if some scores weren’t quite what some of the players wanted.

“Out here that’s a really solid score,” Tabar said of 300. “The conditions were really firm. Definitely not an easy scoring day for sure. It’s going to be one of the lowest district scores in the state. So I feel confident in the guys and how we’re moving into next week.”

Fenwick’s Colin Schadek shot 71 and won a three-man playoff to earn medalist honors. Advancing to state with Schadek is Cincinnati Indian Hill’s Wyatt Higgins (71).

Division I boys sectional: C.J. Scohy earned medalist honors with a 76 and led Bellbrook to victory at the Reid Park North Course in Springfield.

Scohy was backed by Andrew Magill’s 77 to help Bellbrook shoot 322 and hold off Vandalia Butler’s 328 total. Also advancing to next week’s district tournament at Heatherwoode are Tippecanoe (332) and Troy (339).

Individuals advancing are Beavercreek’s Luke Grilliot (80), Stebbins’ Braden Powers (80), Xenia’s Wyatt Cowdrey (82) and Sidney’s Ryan Bennett (83) in a playoff.

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