CHARDON—Lake Catholic’s golf team made their shots count in winning the 2016 Badger Invitational at Pleasant Hills Golf Course in Chardon on Tuesday.
Four Cougars placed among the top six as the squad finished with a total of 306 strokes, nine less than second place Hawken. Kirtland finished third with 341 strokes, Berkshire was fourth with 348 and Wickliffe rounded out the top five with 350.
“Collectively we are very excited for the round we put together this early in the season,” said Lake Catholic coach Pete Moran. “We are extremely thankful to (Berkshire) coach (Dave) List and the Badgers for hosting a fabulous tournament.”
Tony Duffy and Nolan Adams both shot 76, good for second place overall, for the Cougars while Mike Olsen and Frank Lanning both finished tied for sixth with a 77.
Berkshire’s Forrest Kuchling shot a tournament-low 72 to lead the Badgers.
“He is a player that is so confident in his abilities,” List said. “He doesn't make a ton of mistakes out there and that's so rare to see at such a young age. His game really has it all. He will get more length as he grows and if he can continue to improve on his putting look out. Today he just put it all together. Couldn't more proud as a coach.”
Jack Bonnes shot a 76 and Scott Hill finished with a 77 to lead Hawken to the runner-up finish.
Michael Schnur led Kirtland with a hard fought 78. He finished with a 43 on the front nine but rallied for a par-35 on the back.
Michael Knezevic fired an 86, Adam Mueller carded an 88 and Jack Dever finished with an 89 for the Hornets.
“We played really tough today,” said Kirtland coach Greg Cosimi. “I said to my team after their round, I said, ‘You really did a great job at not letting one bad shot or one mistake really define your round. They played tough and really scored.’ We're getting fairly consistent play from the middle of our lineup, from Knezevic, Mueller and Dever, who are really the core of this team. We need that. I don't think any of them have had a breakout round, but what I think they're doing is playing tough and showing consistency.”
Cuyahoga Heights finished sixth (395), Independence was seventh (404), Conneaut was eighth (406) and Cardinal was ninth (443).
Tyler Sagi led Independence with an 89 while Jonathan Heredos carded a 95 to lead Cardinal’s squad.
