Fairfield Earns Another Trip To District

CROSBY TWP. — 

Fairfield High School’s boys golf team is headed back to the Division I district tournament for another shot at some program history.

The Indians have been to state six times and won the Class AAA championship in 1979, but their last trip to Columbus came in 2001.

Junior Mason Hamilton led Fairfield to a third-place finish in the Cincinnati West sectional at Miami Whitewater Golf Course on Wednesday, giving the Tribe a spot in the district event Oct. 11 at Beavercreek Golf Club.

POSTSEASON GOLF COVERAGE

» D-I sectional boys photos from Miami Whitewater

» Mason edges Lakota East for D-I sectional girls title

“We’re trying to get that reputation back with Fairfield golf,” Indians coach Nick Gray said. “When you think of some of the great coaches, teams and players that have come through Fairfield High School, we’re trying to get back there.”

Elder (307), St. Xavier (314), Fairfield (320) and Oak Hills (324) were Wednesday’s district-qualifying teams. The Indians tied for fourth in the Greater Miami Conference tournament and will square off with GMC rivals Lakota East, Mason and Oak Hills at district.

Can Fairfield advance to the state tourney?

“I’ve seen some of the shots and the scores that these guys have put together,” Gray said. “It’s golf, so it depends on the day. If they catch a heater, if they get hot, we’ll see.”

“If we all get our ‘A’ game going, all we need is four good scores,” Hamilton said. “I feel like I can trust these guys that can put some scores together. We’ve just got to keep our head in the game and stay motivated and focused.”

Hamilton’s 40-38—78 led the way for the Indians on the par-71 course. A balanced effort followed him with junior Jared Hinkle (39-41—80), junior Chandler Kellum (40-41—81), sophomore Logan Murphy (41-40—81) and senior Adam Leugers (44-40—84).

“It’s pretty much right where we’ve been, give or take a few shots,” Gray said of Fairfield’s 320 total. “It was kind of an up-and-down round. With some of the holes where we struggled, I’m very proud of the kids. They kept it together mentally, hit some good shots and put together a pretty good team score.”

Fairfield started on the back nine and finished on the front. Hamilton had a 38 on the back and parred the first three holes on the front before carding a quadruple-bogey 8 on the fourth hole.

“It was a game-changer because my mental toughness kicked in,” Hamilton said. “I parred out to save the team, so I didn’t fall apart. I had to keep my composure. The course was playing better than I thought it would. The greens were faster than I expected.”

It’ll be the second straight trip to district for the Indians. That can also be said for Monroe junior Alex Gomia, who shot a 41-37—78 to lead all individuals not on a qualifying team.

Gomia had to win a sectional playoff last year to advance to district.

“I played a little better than last year,” Gomia said. “I still left some strokes out there, but I felt better and had more confidence than last year.”

He said his driver was the best part of his game Wednesday. His putting wasn’t exactly where he wanted it to be.

“The conditions were kind of tough,” Gomia said. “The greens were long and slow. Putts weren’t doing what you thought they were going to do.”

He had a 79 at last season’s district event at Glenview Golf Course. The highest state-qualifying score among the individuals was 73.

“I feel like I can make it to state this year,” Gomia said. “This will be a tougher course than last year at district. I feel like the scores are going to go up.”

Talawanda was seventh, Ross 10th, Monroe 11th and Hamilton 12th in Wednesday’s team standings.

Hamilton sophomore Braden Hubbard (42-40—82) and Talawanda sophomore Austin Goerss (41-41—82) were involved in a five-man playoff for the last two individual district spots, but neither advanced. Princeton’s Josh Dartnell and Harrison’s Sam Bischel will join Gomia and La Salle’s Drew Daly (38-42—80) at Beavercreek.

Junior Logan Hollander paced Ross with a 44-40—84.

The sectional medalist was Elder senior Evan DiSanto with a 36-36—72.

Team Standings

Top Four Teams Advance To District

1. Elder 307; 2. St. Xavier 314; 3. Fairfield 320; 4. Oak Hills 324; 5. La Salle 338; 6. Harrison 343; 7. Talawanda 349; 8. Princeton 351; 9. Walnut Hills 355; 10. Ross 355; 11. Monroe 372; 12. Hamilton 377; 13. Colerain 390

Top 10 Individuals

1. Evan DiSanto (Elder) 36-36—72; 2. Jack Wertz (Elder) 38-37—75; 3. Oscar Zimmerman (St. Xavier) 38-39—77; 4. Jared DeVille (St. Xavier) 40-38—78, Alex Gomia (Monroe) 41-37—78, Mason Hamilton (Fairfield) 40-38—78, A.J. Kontsis (Oak Hills) 39-39—78; 8. Zach Brinks (St. Xavier) 40-39—79, Victor Caliguri (Elder) 43-36—79; 10. Drew Daly (La Salle) 38-42—80, Jared Hinkle (Fairfield) 39-41—80, Henry Perry (St. Xavier) 39-41—80

Individual District Qualifiers

Alex Gomia (Monroe) 41-37—78; Drew Daly (La Salle) 38-42—80; Sam Bischel (Harrison) 43-39—82; Josh Dartnell (Princeton) 42-40—82

Local Individual Results

Fairfield: Mason Hamilton 40-38—78; Jared Hinkle 39-41—80; Chandler Kellum 40-41—81; Logan Murphy 41-40—81; Adam Leugers 44-40—84

Hamilton: Braden Hubbard 42-40—82; Gabe Stephens 46-48—94; Tyler Mays 50-49—99; Nick Jeffries 51-51—102; Jamison Lipp 53-50—103

Monroe: Alex Gomia 41-37—78; Jordan Clark 52-41—93; Jackson Baker 47-48—95; Weston Triplett 51-55—106; Jude Weidner 52-57—109

Ross: Logan Hollander 44-40—84; Cole Gronas 43-42—85; Nick Chernock 45-46—91; Ben Hannon 49-46—95; Tyler Stenger 48-48—96

Talawanda: Austin Goerss 41-41—82; Charlie Faler 43-42—85; Trey Hubbard 47-44-91; Nick Vandenberg 47-44—91; Patrick Geshan 50-46—96