Chagrin Falls, Independence, and Cardinal each won their respective divisions at the Chagrin Valley Conference preseason golf tournaments on Monday.
The Tigers claimed the Chagrin Division at Legend Lakes Golf Course in Chardon with a score of 313. Hawken placed second with 331 strokes and Orange was third with 337.
Sven Nielsen of Chagrin Falls won medalist honors with a tournament-low score of 72.
“That was definitely awesome,” Nielsen said of topping the leader board. “It was nice to get off to a good start and the team was really playing well. John Catney shooting a 76 is really nice and shooting a 313 was really good for us. It gives us a little bit of a confidence booster going into the rest of the season.”
Nielsen struggled early to read the greens but once he settled in his game together and he finished stronGeauga
“At first, I really couldn’t get the greens down and nothing was really going well for me but I still came out two over (after the front nine),” he said. “On the back, my driver really came alive and then I stuck a couple of putts and got two under on the back. Everything really came together for me on the back.”
With a tournament win under his belt and an edge in the conference standings moving forward, Nielsen expects to play confidently throughout the season.
“It’s definitely nice,” he said. “I really haven’t been able to do super well, at least last year, in these kinds of situations but I felt comfortable out there,” he said. “I think it’s just me kind of growing as a player and being more confident out there. I think it’s definitely going to help me going forward and I’ll be more confident out there just like today.”
Catney finished second overall with his 76. Hawken’s Kevin Dang and Jack Zeid finished third and fourth with an 80 and an 82, respectively, and Chagrin Falls’ Charlie Pollock rounded out the top five as he finished tied for fourth with an 82.
Independence won the Metro Division at Pine Hills with a score of 328. Wickliffe placed second with a 350 and Lutheran West came in third with a 394.
Independence’s Mark Pillar claimed medalist honors with a tournament-low 76.
“It’s always exciting to start off the season with a tournament win,” Pillar said. “We always take it one practice at a time and we will definitely use this to build momentum for the rest of the season.”
It took Pillar a few holes to find his groove but he managed to overcome that slow start to outshoot the field.
“Overall, I was happy with my score,” he said. “I wish I could have started off better but I’m satisfied with how I finished. The key to my success was definitely my mentality and experience. I started with three bogeys but with my preparation from the summer season, I knew I could come back and finish strong.”
Beachwood’s James O’Neil finished second with an 80 and Independence’s Liam Jenks and Wickliffe’s Ryan Latkovich tied for third with an 81. Independence’s Charlie DeCapua placed fifth with an 84.
Cardinal ended up on top of the leaderboard in the Valley Division at Legend Lakes.
The Huskies finished with 361 strokes while Edgewood was second with 373 and Geneva finished third with 381.
Edgewood’s Mason Feather claimed medalist honors with a tournament-best score of 76.
“It feels pretty good,” Feather said of the win. “I played pretty well. The greens were holding, it was pretty soft out there, so it was a nice, easy day of golf.
Not everything went well for Feather as he found himself in trouble along the tree line, but he worked his way out of the jam, regrouped, and finished with a solid score.
“I had a little bit of tree trouble, but you do your best to get out of it,” he said. “I just tried to think of what the smart play was and what would give me the best advantage for the next shot.”
With a point advantage over the rest of the Valley Division field heading into the regular season, Feather is confident he’ll play well throughout the season.
“It makes me feel pretty good about myself and my team and how we’ll do this season,” he said.
Cardinal’s Troy Domen placed second with a 79, Edgewood’s Jimmy Johnston was third with an 83, Cardinal’s Matthew Hissa shot an 89 to finish fourth, and Geneva’s Connor Anderson rounded out the top five with a 93.
CVC PRESEASON TOURNAMENT RESULTS
CHAGRIN DIVISION
1. Chagrin Falls 313
2. Hawken 331
3. Orange 337
4. Perry 372
5. West Geauga 408
6. Kirtland 432
1. Sven Nielsen (Chagrin Falls) 72
2. John Catney (Chagrin Falls) 76
3. Kevin Dang (Hawken) 80
4. Jack Zeid (Hawken) 82
4. Charlie Pollock (Chagrin Falls) 82
6. Truman Williams (Orange) 83
6. Dillon Fellinger (Orange) 83
6. Drew Mergenhagen (Chagrin Falls) 83
6. Dylan Glickman (Chagrin Falls) 83
10. Max Eisenberg (Orange) 84
10. Ethan Metz (Hawken) 84
10. Landon Lear (West Geauga) 84
13. Gabe Nemer (Orange) 87
13. Vince Vombeegar (Hawken) 87
13. Gavin Stevens (Chagrin Falls) 87
16. Matt McCormac (Hawken) 88
17. Jake Cubbison (Perry) 91
18. Breck Dupaul (Hawken) 93
18. Garrett Rupert (Perry) 93
18. Alex Dame (Perry) 93
21. Jayden Park (Orange) 95
21. Russell Ford (Perry) 95
23. Josh Zentgraf (Perry) 96
24. Zander Hinds (West Geauga) 97
25. Derek Clucas (Kirtland) 102
25. Traian Hinds (West Geauga) 102
25. Carson Caldwell (Perry) 102
28. Jared Simon (Kirtland) 107
29. Knox Crissi (Kirtland) 111
30. Micah Reynolds (Kirtland) 112
31. Adam Beinliardt (Kirtland) 124
32. Owen Yahasz (West Geauga) 125
33. Matt Shepard (Kirtland) 128
34. Kellen Scharf (West Geauga) 132
35. Patrick Bronson (West Geauga) 135
METRO DIVISION
1. Independence 328
2. Wickliffe 350
3. Lutheran West 394
4. Beachwood 413
1. Mark Pillar (Independence) 76
2. James O’Neil (Beachwood) 80
3. Liam Jenks (Independence) 81
3. Ryan Latkovich (Wickliffe) 81
5. Charlie DeCapua (Independence) 84
6. AJ Levon (Wickliffe) 86
7. Sam Coddington (Independence) 87
7. Colin Casey (Wickliffe) 87
9. Trey Kemper (Lutheran West) 88
10. Kaelib Graaf (Cuyahoga Heights) 91
10. Jack Bohning (Cuyahoga Heights) 91
12. Joey Spacagna (Independence) 94
13. Ray Pavlik (Lutheran West) 96
13. Noah Telisman (Wickliffe) 96
15. Eric Dill (Lutheran West) 99
15. Kurt Boergert (Wickliffe) 99
17. Ethan Malek (Beachwood) 100
18. Nick Henson (Wickliffe) 101
19. Tyler Wheaton (Cuyahoga Heights) 111
19. Anthony Coray (Lutheran West) 111
19. Nick Lucas (Independence) 111
22. Jonah Wolfe (Beachwood) 114
23. Cameron Feuerman (Beachwood) 119
24. JJ Hughes (Lutheran West) 124
25. Josh Wolfe (Beachwood) 134
25. Ryan Albrecht (Lutheran West) 134
VALLEY DIVISION
1. Cardinal 361
2. Edgewood 373
3. Geneva 381
4. Berkshire 397
5. Harvey 450
6. Lakeside 487
1. Mason Feather (Edgewood) 76
2. Troy Domen (Cardinal) 79
3. Jimmy Johnston (Edgewood) 83
4. Matthew Hissa (Cardinal) 89
5. Connor Anderson (Geneva) 93
5. Jake Patterson (Berkshire) 93
7. Cam Schwendeman (Cardinal) 94
8. Logan Reinke (Geneva) 95
8. Richie Giffin (Geneva) 95
10. Joe Czekuj (Berkshire) 97
10. Zack Palmer (Lakeside) 97
12. Max Booth (Geneva) 98
13. Jacob Bean (Cardinal) 99
13. Aidan Pollock (Berkshire) 99
15. Cooper Krieg (Geneva) 103
15. Julian Baker (Harvey) 103
17. Sean Steed (Edgewood) 105
18. Brian Spangenburg (Berkshire) 108
18. Joey DeAlfradi (Harvey) 108
20. Dalton Vencill (Edgewood) 109
21. Jack Varckette (Lakeside) 110
22. Troy Hornak (Berkshire) 111
23. Ethan Detrick (Edgewood) 113
23. Austin Fell (Edgewood) 113
25. Aiden Maze (Cardinal) 114
26. Kyle Rolf (Berkshire) 115
27. Alex Boskovic (Harvey) 117
28. Ian White (Harvey) 122
28. Micah Cannon (Harvey) 122
30. Nate Crayton (Lakeside) 125
31. Austin Jones (Cardinal) 127
32. Noah Griffiths (Geneva) 131
32. Aidan Englehart (Harvey) 131
34. Zander Hamilton (Lakeside) 155
35. Elijah Davis (Lakeside) 165
