Brunswick's Clay Greiner impresses at Tee-Off Classic

HINCKLEY TWP. — Brunswick's Clay Greiner considers Pine Hills his home course, and the junior wasted little time expertly navigating the layout he grew up playing and now works at, breaking par for the first time with a 2-under 70 Monday at the Brunswick Tee-Off Classic."For being my first round under par, this feels great," Greiner said. "It's great to start off the year like this and can only improve from here, I guess. It's been my home course forever. I live right around here, I work here and I get to play here a lot, so I get the insights."Walsh Jesuit junior Ben Cors edged Greiner by a stroke to earn medalist as the Warriors defended their championship. Walsh shot 305 to defeat Medina by four strokes, while the host Blue Devils (316) were third at the 18-team event."Everybody is feeling like they can shoot low, and that helps everybody build their confidence," Medina senior Blake Shienkaruk said. "I want to lead the team into a really good season, and hopefully we get rewarded with a good result."Shienkaruk shot a 1-over 73 to tie for fourth with Highland senior Cooper Hrabak and Walsh senior Jay Magyori. They were a stroke behind Willoughby South's Antonio Bodziony.A par on No. 18, a 426-yard, dogleg-left par 4 with an approach over water, helped Shienkaruk make the turn with confidence.Senior John Varley and sophomore Kyle Salamon backed Shienkaruk with 77s. The Bees also saw freshmen Zach Parker and Preston Trumpler shoot 82 and 83, respectively.Greiner credited his round to hitting greens in regulation."I made some (putts) that I don't think I should have made, but I made them," he said. "The putter was really good today."Greiner birdied back-to-back holes on the front side, starting with the 481-yard, par-5 fifth. After hitting his driver roughly 265 yards, Greiner reached the green with a 5-iron before two-putting.He followed on the 430-yard, par-4 sixth, where he stuck an 80-yard wedge on his second shot to a foot from the pin.Hrabak was 3 under through five holes before making the turn even. The Hornets (337) tied for seventh with Strongsville."I stayed more committed to my shots and was more confident in my lines to make some putts and get some good golf going," Hrabak said.Senior Jordan Theders had an 85 as Wadsworth (380) finished 16th."It started off pretty well," Theders said. "I was playing bogey golf my first six or seven holes and then got my first par."Contact John Urchek at sports@medina-gazette.com.ResultsBrunswick Tee-Off Classicat par-72 Pine Hills G.C.Standings: 1. Walsh Jesuit 305, 2. Medina 309, 3. Brunswick 316, 4. Mentor 328, 5. Green 329, 6. Rocky River 336, T-7. Highland 337, T-7. Strongsville 337, 9. Solon 340, 10. North Royalton 349, 11. Padua 352, 12. Massillon Perry 357, 13. Willoughby South 357, 14. Mayfield 360, 15. Amherst 367, 16. Wadsworth 380, 17. Nordonia 389, 18. Painesville Riverside 404.Medina (309): Blake Shienkaruk 73, Kyle Salamon 77, John Varley 77, Zach Parker 83, Preston Trumpler 83.Brunswick (316): Clay Greiner 70, Alex Heilbrun 77, Chase Safko 82, Cody Merrill 87, Max Heilbrun 89.Highland (337): Cooper Hrabak 73, Griffin Hrabak 85, Blake Zuro 89, A.J. Cooper 90, Jacob Burr 97.Wadsworth (380): Jordan Theders 85, Connor Ross 92, Darren Hartley 101, Dawson Yoder 102, Nolan Selby 102.