Boys golf: Buckeye, Cloverleaf battle through tough conditions at Northeast Ohio Invite

AKRON — Behind seniors Blaise Bir and Luca Violi, the Buckeye boys golf team battled tough conditions to finish fourth out of 22 teams at the Northeast Ohio Invitational on Tuesday. Bir battled to a four-way tie for 12th with a 9-over-par 80 at J.E. Good Park Golf Course that matched Cloverleaf's Reilly Maloney and Gavin Jenkins for best among Medina Countians, while Violi finished one shot behind to help the Bucks shoot 334. The Colts finished four shots behind Buckeye to take fifth. The course, where the Division I Sectional for most local teams is located, played extremely fast and firm, making it difficult to judge approach shots and putts. "It's nice (to play well), because this is where sectionals is at," Bir said. "Knowing that I could have played better, too, and still shot 80 really boosts my confidence." Warren John F. Kennedy (309) took the championship ahead of Mogadore (329). Lake Center Christian's Jacob Rainieri won medalist honors with a 73. The Bucks and Colts played in the same groupings and teed off in the first wave on the back nine. Bir, the Bucks' No. 3 player, was 5 over through five holes but got into a groove with a birdie on the 353-yard 15th hole. Bir described the hole as pretty standard with a drive in the fairway and an approach that left him a 10-foot putt. He also birdied the 472-yard, par-5 second when a punch-out 7-iron set up a tap-in birdie. The round continued a strong start to the season for the two-year starter after shooting rounds of 78 and 84. "I'm just trying to stay pretty consistent," he said. "I'm just trying to keep these good scores for the team and trying to keep us in the tournament." Maloney, a sophomore, caught fire early with birdies on the 292-yard 12th and 523-yard 14th holes and was on the verge of the round of his life before stumbling to a triple bogey on his final hole, the par-3 ninth. Even with the triple, Maloney turned in his best score of the season. He added a birdie on the 576-yard fifth and was 4 over with four holes left. "This hole, I let the pressure get to me," Maloney said while pointing to the ninth green. "Everyone was staring at me, and I don't even know what I did. It was just bad. "(My round) definitely helps my confidence. It's a very tight course, and I still played well for how tight it is." Jenkins had a consistent round with 10 pars, five on each nine. His only double bogey came on No. 15. He was locked into his short game, leaving himself multiple tap-in opportunities for birdie. "I had an 86 the other day, so I was definitely feeling better today," he said. "It was rolling pretty fast, so I was just trying to chip it close and putt for par." The Colts also got an 88 from Zane Schreck and a 90 from Austin Sustersic to close the counting scores. Violi got off to a rough start with a double bogey on the 441-yard 10th hole and a bogey on the 422-yard 11th on his way to a 7-over 43 on the back. He rebounded with a 3-over 38 on the front that included a birdie on the 395-yard third. "The mentality is you just have to keep grinding no matter what," Violi said. "It was very dry today, and I learned that clubbing down and letting the ball bounce up on the green was the way to play this course." Andy Kost (86) and Benjamin Lange (87) rounded out the Bucks' counting scores. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results at par-71 J.E. Good Park G.C. Standings: 1. Warren John F. Kennedy 309, 2. Mogadore 329, 3. Ravenna Southeast 332, 4. Buckeye 334, 5. Cloverleaf 338, 6. McDonald 341, 7. Louisville 349, 8. Gilmour 354, 9. Dover 355, 10. Norton 361, 11. Springfield 365, 12. Normandy 370, 13. Canton Central Catholic 370, 14. Lake Center Christian 370, 15. West Branch 372, 16. Field 378, 17. Alliance 381, 18. Wellington 386, 19. St. Thomas Aquinas 413, 20. Coventry 433, 21. Ravenna 461. Buckeye (334) — Blaise Bir 80, Luca Violi 81, Andy Kost 86, Benjamin Lange 87, Michael Valus 88. Cloverleaf (338) — Gavin Jenkins 80, Reilly Maloney 80, Zane Schreck 88, Austin Sustersic 90, Jason Matheny 98.