Mikes ease by inexperienced Rockets, 220-248
CARMICHAELS — The hard morning rains cast a cloud of doubt whether the Section 8-AA golf matches scheduled for Carmichaels Golf Club mid-Wednesday afternoon would be played, but sunny skies greeted the golfers as Carmichaels remained undefeated with a 220-248 victory over visiting Jefferson-Morgan.
The Brownsville-Beth-Center match was postponed and will be made up at a later date.
The Mikes’ Jordan Bogucki, playing at No. 3, led the way for the home team finishing with the medalist round of 1-over 37.
Carmichaels (2-0, 2-0) had a substantial lead over the youthful Rockets after the first foursome finished. Liam Shea, playing at No. 1 for the Mikes, came in with a 4-over 41, while his playing partner Jacob Wamsley carded a 7-over 44.
Although only a sophomore, Shea has a leadership role on a team that plays only one senior.
“I usually expect to shoot in the 30s,” said Shea. “I usually feel I have to shoot the lowest, but I know that’s not always going to happen.”
As for how the rain affected the course, Shea said, “It was slow. The greens were really slow. I had two 3-putts inside of 20 feet that were unnecessary.”
Shea advanced out of the section tournament last year as a freshman and looks to add another step this season.
“I hoping to make it one step further every year, to improve every year,” said Shea.
The Rockets’ top duo of Cameron Kromar (45) and Gage Clark (54) came in with a 99.
Gavin Koratich, playing at No. 3 for Jefferson-Morgan (0-2, 0-2), had the low score for the visitors with a 40. Christian Randolph scored a 51.
The Mikes’ Chris McAfee (45) and the Rockets’ Nick Gustovich (52) closed out the scoring rounds.
Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs has a very even-handed approach as he looks to the remaining schedule with a very limited roster.
“Golf’s a funny game. I’m looking for consistency and not giving up,” said Briggs. “We’re a Class A school. It’s tough to get golfers.”
Veteran Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis would agree how difficult it is to fill out a roster since he brought only five golfers. Gillian Alexander was expected to be the cornerstone of the young team, but will play her senior year in a golf academy in Florida. Curtis said he has another young lady on the squad, but she was at an equestrian event in Louisville this week.
“I have a lot of inexperienced golfers,” said Curtis of the least experienced squad he’s had in his 25 years of coaching. “I’m starting from square one, the simple rules, working on how to grip the club. Things we’re going over now we haven’t had to in the past.
“We’re trying to improve day-to-day, match-to-match, practice-to-practice. The end result is to be competitive.”
Curtis understands it won’t be an easy process.
“Golf is frustrating for good golfers, too,” said Curtis. “As long as they’re improving and having fun and getting better, then that means something’s going okay.”