Owen Minnick and Winston Brown matched each other shot for shot, but it was a birdie on the third hole for Minnick that handed the sophomore medalist honors as the Bellmont Braves got the better of the Heritage Patriots 143-152 at McMillen on a beautiful day for high school golf.
Minnick’s birdie was the highlight of the round for Bellmont’s No. 1 and No. 2, as the top two players for coach Ty Razo’s team otherwise carded 17 pars. Their margin of victory over their Heritage counterparts was enough to outweigh the slight advantage the No. 3-4-5 golfers for the home team had.
Brown’s round was as boring as it was spectacular, with the senior finishing with a par and two putts on every hole. Much like his season as a whole, Brown was the example of consistency.
“He was burning edges with 15-20 footers all match,” said Bellmont assistant Mike Macke. “He just couldn’t get one to go.”
Minnick’s birdie came just after Brown had lipped one out from ten feet.
Heritage No. 1 Eli Niemeyer made a double on the seventh hole and finished with a disappointing +6 round. The Patriots got their best round of the night from the No. 5 spot with Luke Saylor carding a 36 on the par 33 front nine. Saylor finished with six pars and needed a solid round to get past Bellmont’s No. 5 – Jimmy Haines.
“Jimmy had five pars and only really hit a couple of wayward shots,” said Macke. “Unfortunately both shots really got him into trouble and into the trees and it cost him.”
Gage Bressler worked around a couple of bad holes to post a 39 himself and fellow senior Bryce Rickord was just behind them with a 40.
Jake Dalman made a birdie on hole No. 1 but wiped it out with a quadruple on the eighth, putting in a 41 at No. 2 for Heritage.
No. 4 Trevor Prince also made a two on the par three first hole on his way to a 38.
The Patriots got an outstanding round from JV golfer Austin Buuck, who shot a 34 with one birdie and two bogeys.
Bellmont Varsity 143
Winston Brown 33
Owen Minnick 32
Bryce Rickord 40
Gage Bressler 39
Jimmy Haines 39
Heritage Varsity 152
Eli Niemeyer 39
Jake Dalman 41
Sam Oberley 39
Trevor Prince 38
Luke Saylor 36
Bellmont JV 169
Ben Binegar 39
Brady Malone 39
Rylan Mihm 45
Colin Mihm 47
Carson Manley 46
Adam Simon 54
Landon Strickler 47
Heritage JV 158
Niles Knapke 43
Austin Buuck 34
Tanner Whitman 39
Adam Whitman 47
Alex Martin 60
Alex Zelt 45
Noah Taylor 42
Ethan Meyer 52
Dallas Palm 44
