Boys golf: Medina in the middle of the pack after first day at state

A balanced Medina boys golf team found itself right in the middle of the pack after the first day of the Division I state tournament on the NCR Country Club South Course in Kettering on Monday. The Bees (318) are currently in seventh place, one stroke ahead of Anderson and Thomas Worthington and six strokes behind eighth-place University School. While content with how it played, Medina is hoping to do even better today while sitting just 11 strokes out of a tie for fourth place between Dublin Jerome and Hudson. "We played pretty solid for the course," junior Cam Stafford said. "It's one of the hardest — if not the hardest — course I've ever played. To have some of the scores we did today was definitely a good thing. "I think we have more in the tank. We can go lower. We don't stop here. We can definitely do better." Stafford and senior Eli Zimmerman tied for the team lead with 8-over-par 78s. Senior Coen Miller and sophomore Wren Spires shot 81s to round out the team's scoring. Zimmerman and Stafford are tied for 28th out of 72 golfers, with Miller and Spires in 39th. Olentangy Liberty leads the field with a 12-over 292. Archbishop Hoban is three strokes back of the lead, with Medina resident Ray Dress carding a 77 to tie for the Knights' fourth score. The change of venue to NCR from the Ohio State Golf Club, where the Bees last last played in the state tournament in 2022, didn't seem to faze Medina, which leaned on the previous state experience of Stafford, Zimmerman and Miller. "It feels really good to be back with a team that we know we can do good stuff," Zimmerman said. "The course is probably one of the most difficult I've played. It's definitely a good challenge." Zimmerman picked up his only birdie on the 192-yard, par-3 15th hole, when his tee shot with a 7-iron hit the flag stick and bounced two feet away for an easy putt. The reigning Gazette MVP made nine pars on the day. "My round was solid for the most part," Zimmerman said. "After I went bogey-bogey to start, I settled the ship and made a few pars. The (second) nine wasn't exactly what I wanted, but in total it was a solid round." With Medina starting on the back nine, Stafford's only birdie of the round came early on the 372-yard 11th. He was only 3 over on his first nine, with five of his team-leading 10 pars coming before the turn. "During our practice round, we really emphasized putting it in the right spots," Stafford said. "Almost every hole out here has a spot that's kind of dead, so to speak, not a good spot. I just really tried to manage where I wanted to hit it and made sure the club I chose would give me the best chance of hitting it to that spot." Miller birdied his first hole of the day, the 547-yard, par-5 10th, and the last hole before the turn, the 419-yard 18th. He finished his second nine by parring four of the last five holes. He also parred three holes on the back nine to give him seven pars for the round. Spires' only birdie came on the 401-yard seventh hole. With that birdie and six pars, the sophomore was only 2 over after the turn. He added three pars on his first nine to give him nine for the round. The Bees tee off on the 10th hole this morning, starting with freshman Declan West at 9:50 a.m. Zimmerman tees off last for Medina at 10:30 a.m. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results Boys Division I State Tournament at par-70 NCR C.C. South Course Standings: 1. Olentangy Liberty 292, 2. Archbishop Hoban 295, 3. Cincinnati St. Xavier 302, 4. Dublin Jerome 307, 5. Hudson 307, 6. University School 312, 7. Medina 318, 8. Anderson 319, 9. Thomas Worthington 319, 10. Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller 325, 11.Toledo St. Francis de Sales 343, 12. Sheridan 346. Medina (318): Eli Zimmerman 78, Cam Stafford 78, Coen Miller 81, Wren Spires 81, Declan West 91.