EATON — The fall sports season kicked off this week with Tri-County North winning the Preble County Golf Tournament.
The tourney was held at the Eaton Country Club on Monday, Aug. 8.
Eaton, National Trail, Preble Shawnee, Tri-County North, and Twin Valley South sent their varsity teams to the 18-hole tournament.
North registered a team score of 363 from their top four golfers. Zach Tincher and Brett Booso led the team with an 82 and 83 respectively, while Ethan Kelley and Alec Wayman shot 95 and 103 to round out the score.
Eaton tied the overall score with a 363 as well. Trevor Pittman (85,) Shawn Hodges (82,) Kasey Wilkins (93,) and Andrew Collins (103) led the top four scores for the Eagles. The tiebreaker was determined by seeing North’s Bailey Lairson scoring a 104 as the fifth golfer on the roster, compared to Eaton’s Adam Webb who scored a 112. Brandon Parsons was the No. 6 for North with a 112, while Seth Barlow also scored a 112 for Eaton.
“Although we made some minor errors, the results were fantastic for the first tournament for the year,” said TC North coach Tyler Jewell. “This may be the first county meet victory in school history, cant be sure, however it has been a long time. The team was pumped and I am very proud of the boys.”
National Trail finished in third with a 378 team score. Isaac Planekenhorn led the Blazers with an 86. Logan Petitt (90,) Bryten Jones (95) and Dawson Ward (107) rounded out the top four scores. Taking the number five and six positions were Brian Harrison (109) and Clayton Cruze (133).
Finishing in fourth place was Twin Valley South.
Despite fielding only five players, the Panthers had the best individual golfer in Nathan Osborn, who registered an impressive 70. Joining him was Chance Parks (103,) Cole Peterson (127,) Autumn Newdigate (132,) and Noelle Bright (132). Their total score was a 432.
“It was good to get the season going and let the players get out on the course,” said TVS coach Darcy Robinson. “We’ll be anxious to get Willie Bowman back from vacation after this week; that should give us a better indication as to how our team is going to measure up against other teams.
“As far as Nathan goes, he shot an incredible round! He shot three birdies on the course, and was going into his next to last hole 3-under-par. Unfortunately, on that hole, he shot his one and only bogey on the day. Every other hole, he shot par. He is playing very well right now, coming off of a rigorous summer schedule, playing in the SOPGA. We’re really excited and anxious to see how much better he’s going to be over last year. Last year, he was the CCC Player of the Year as a freshman, but he’s grown quite a bit and gotten a lot stronger since last season, so he’s hitting the ball about 40 yards further.”
Preble Shawnee rounded out the field in fifth place. As with Twin Valley, they fielded only five on the team score card and finished with a 437. Led by junior Michael Fritts (105) and freshman Luke Woodard (106,) other Arrows who competed included Craig Doty (114,) Dakota Keeler (122,) and Jarod Barnes (139).
Osborn won the individual trophy for Twin Valley South, while Shawn Hodges of Eaton took second place.
