Russia’s Leo Counts strikes his ball during Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks Golf Club in Sidney. Counts led the Raiders with a 75, good for a second-place finish individually. Russia finished first as a team with a 314, 17 strokes ahead of second-place Botkins.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Botkins’ Will Monnin stripes a drive during Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks golf course in Sidney.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Fort Loramie’s Jack Cother punches his ball onto the fairway at Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks golf course in Sidney.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Jose Pulfer laces a drive into the fairway during Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks golf course in Sidney.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Fairlawn’s Garrett Maddy tees off during Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks golf course in Sidney.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Jackson Center’s Reed Platfoot hits an approach during Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks golf course in Sidney.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Houston’s Tanner Voisard shapes a shot during Monday’s Shelby County Athletic League Preview at Shelby Oaks golf course in Sidney.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — The Shelby County Athletic League hosted its annual preview tournament at Shelby Oaks Golf Course to kick off the season.
Russia placed first in the event with a score of 314, followed by Botkins at 331 and Fort Loramie in third with 346.
Scorers for Russia were Leo Counts (75), Vince Borchers (77), Michael Voisard (78) and Braylen Cordonnier (84). Counts finished second individually.
Botkins’ Ross Dietz finished first individually with a 70. Treg Meyer shot an 84, Carson Hueker shot 85 and Will Monnin shot 92.
“We have three freshmen on the squad this year,” Botkins coach Brett Meyer said. “We’re definitely going to lower that score a bit, but for a first day out with the heat and wind like today, those are some pretty good scores.
“Some things we need to work on are our putting and chipping but we did a really good job when we had a bad hole, of going out and shooting a good score on the next. I’d like to get our score down into the 320’s or 310’s by the end of the season.”
Fort Loramie’s top four were Beau Shafer (76), Jack Cother (86), Dawson Tennery (90) and Wade Holthaus (94).
Jackson Center made it to fourth place with a score of 361 and was led by Blake Noble (81), Reed Platfoot (89), Anderson Fark (95) and Tristan Wooley (96).
Houston placed fifth in the tournament with a score of 366. Its four scorers were Luke Crim (86), Tanner Voisard (93), Seth Mericle (94) and Bryce Lukey (98).
“I couldn’t be more proud of our bottom four guys,” Houston coach Nate Fridley said. “It was Bryce’s first varsity match. It was nice to see them come out here and hit some good shots.
“I don’t know what our scores will be at the end of the season. I think Voisard will shoot a little bit lower, Reagan (Steiner) wasn’t feeling very good today so he’ll be lower too. I think they’ll all get the scores lower by the end of the year.”
Sixth place on the day was Anna with 375, whose top scorers were Jose Pulfer (86), Joshua Richards (87), Evan Cain (97) and Reece Pettit (105).
Fairlawn finished at the back of the pack with a 424 and were led by Maddox Abke (91), Kavin Wiley (105), Garrett Maddy (106) and Michael Hammond (122).
The Shelby County Athletic League holds its championship tournament on Thursday, Sep. 12 at Shelby Oaks.
