This year, we will be starting a new column of local golf quick hitters called This Week in Golf (TWIG). We are looking to highlight special moments, school records, impactful people, and other unique stories as the golf season unfolds. We don’t hear about everything, so if there is something you would like to be included, please reach out to us on social media or email us with a small recap of what you would like to be posted.

Our first ever This Week in Golf will actually be covering a couple weeks. We plan to release these each weekend throughout the season.

Special Moments

Cardinal High School in Middlefield is fielding a girls golf team for the first time in school history. Their season is underway and something special is brewing for the Huskies.

There are several new coaches around Northeast Ohio this season. Kevin Fitch (in his second tenure) of Avon Lake and Grace May at Cloverleaf have both hit the ground running. The Shoregals may very well be the favorites to win the SWC and the Colts are already dominating the Metro Conference with the help of their superstar Quinn Malarkey.

Big Shots

Avery Olson from Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy recorded a hole in one on the 9th hole at Fox Den Golf Course in a match against Notre Dame Cathedral Latin.

Hudson boys golfer Barrett Atchison recorded an albatross on the 7th hole at Pine Hills during the Brunswick Tee Off Classic. Amazingly, it was Barrett’s second albatross this summer!

Not to be outdone, Walsh Jesuit senior Ben Vasas got an ace on the par 4 5th hole at Turkeyfoot Golf Links, which also goes down as an albatross on the scorecard.

School Records

We can’t even keep up with the Brunswick Blue Devils right now. They are setting school records right and left. The most recent came at the second GCC Tournament, where they blew away the field shooting a 306.

At Ridgewood Golf Course in Parma, St. Joseph Academy had all five players in their lineup shoot their career best score. The Jaguars also set a school record in the process, shooting 303. Emerson Glending also was the tournament medalist with a two under par 70.

Champion High School and freshman superstar Avery Robinette will be constantly rewriting the school record books this year. The team has already set their nine hole record and Avery has set the school record, shooting a 35 in the team’s first match.

The Rootstown Rovers are getting better every year. Their 176 at Sable Creek earlier this month is the new point of reference for best nine hole round in school history. This is another team that’s just going to keep improving.

Minerva, even though they are not technically in the Northeast District, are an honorary member of our coverage area. The Lions have already set two 18 hole school records as they look to make a run through Districts and possibly to State.

Best of the Best

As far as we know, Magnificat has won every tournament they have played in this year. The Blue Streaks are on their way to competing for their second consecutive State Championship. Recently the team shot a 287, one under par as a team, at Ridgewood Golf Course. This came less than 24 hours after winning the Lady Explorer Invitational, a tournament that has one of the best fields in the state of Ohio.

As expected, Walsh Jesuit is the real deal this year. The Warriors have performed well in each of their events and they have all the key pieces needed to go to State.

We still don’t know how they do it every year, but Highland has been remarkable at reloading their roster with quality players and developing their players into exceptional golfers. The Hornets once again are a favorite to get to the State Tournament, but there are many talented teams trying to chase them down.

Shout Outs

There are many individuals that significantly contribute to showcasing our local high school teams.

Susan Jenior has been covering golf in Portage Country pretty much forever. If you want to stay on the beat of all the teams in the area, her articles can be found on Tom Nader’s fantastic Portage County Sports website.

Kevin Leigh, athletic director at Padua High School, runs one of the finest tournaments in Northeast Ohio, the Lady Bruin Invitational at Pine Hills, every year.

Personally, we want to thank golf director John Goodson and superintendent Tom Bolon along with their amazing staff at Lake Forest Country Club for making the Lady Explorer Invitational one of the premier tournaments in the state of Ohio. This year the course was absolutely stunning and was extremely challenging yet impressively fair.

Dave Chuba and Ridgewood Golf Course have been incredible to work with. When someone comes to you with the idea of having 123 girls play golf dressed as flamingos, saying yes is not a guarantee. Dave and his staff have embraced the Flamingo Frenzy and the tournament has become a favorite of many teams in the area.

Being a girl golfer at a school that does not have a girls golf team can be very challenging. We have many girls who represent themselves and Northeast Ohio girls golf in the boys game on a regular basis. Some players that we have recently run across are Grace Palermo from Buckeye High School, Sophia Goheen from Western Reserve Academy, Olivia Andregg from Lakewood High School, Maggie Kothera from Kirtland High School, Alaina Sovacool from Barberton High School, and Sophie Whang from Beachwood High School. Keep up the good work!

If you stopped by Washington Park Golf Center in Newburgh Heights in the morning of the first Saturday of the golf season, you would have seen no less than four high school teams getting in work. A huge thank you to Washington Park and the rest of the Cleveland Metroparks golf courses for being so supportive of local girls golf.

The Chagrin Valley Conference probably does the best job of showcasing its girls golf teams. Make sure to follow along on their website.

Conference Battles

Avon and Avon Lake are once again going to be in a battle for Southwestern Conference Supremacy. Avon Lake recently won the Edison tournament with Avon finishing second. This sets up some real drama as conference play gets underway.

Nordonia and Hudson have been going back and forth since the beginning of this decade. The Knights won the first Suburban League tournament on a 5th score tiebreaker and finished strong to take the second league tournament by seven shots at Fox Den. Hudson will need to finish first in both of the remaining tournaments to claim a share of the title.

Minerva, Carrollton, Louisville, and Massillon were all within a few strokes of each other in the Preseason Tri-County tournament. Minerva edged out Carrollton by four strokes and Louisville by six. This will be a fun race to watch.

The Miller Cup

We had never heard of the Miller Cup before this year. It is an annual tradition where the CVC takes on the WRC in a multi-format round of golf at Erie Shores. This year the WRC took the title as they won 11 of the 17 available points in the tournament featuring partner match play, partner scramble, and alternate shot.

Flamingo Thief

Caitrin Coyle from St. Vincent-St. Mary wanted a lasting memory of the Parma Flamingo Frenzy so she escaped from Ridgewood with one of our signature flamingo tee markers. We typically don’t condone petty larceny at Ohio High School Golf, but we’ll let it slide this time.