By RYAN WALKER
Norwell’s boys’ golf team narrowly escaped a home conference victory over DeKalb at Timber Ridge Golf Course Wednesday.
The Knights improved to 2-4 in the Northeast 8 Conference with the win, and head coach Daniel Schmidt was just happy with the team effort.
“It’s nice to get a second win going towards the conference standings since we had trouble closing the deal on some other conference matches this season,” he said. “We have several guys that shoot scores very close to each other, so we don’t typically have one player stand out, and I would say that tonight was no different.”
The team was indeed close on the scorecard, as there was just a two-stroke difference between golfers 1-4 in the starting lineup.
Derek Smith has played the role of the No. 1 golfer on the course for the Knights all season and also tied for the best for the team in the win over DeKalb with a 42. Ethan Ottinger also shot a 42, and both were two strokes behind Grant Stuckey from the Barons as the match’s medalist.
Cooper Sloan was third on the team with a score of 43. Chase Hulvey shot a 44, and Ashton Federspiel had a 49 to round out the scoring.
The group has been consistent all season in their season averages but has been slowly lowering in a positive way throughout the year. According to coach Schmidt, the averages per nine holes have done just that.
“In looking through our team and individual scores, what has stood out the most to me has been the consistency displayed by our players paired with a downward trend in scores,” he said. “Many of my guys have averages that have stayed constant throughout the season’s duration, but several have dropped a couple of strokes per nine. Our nine-hole and 18-hole team scores have also trended downwards, which are both welcome metrics.”
Last season, Norwell earned second place at the sectional only behind Bellmont, but this year is much different due to three of the top guys in the lineup graduating.
This season, the goal is clearly to finish at the top of their game in the conference. At the sectional, though, Bluffton and Norwell’s home course at Timber Ridge will be the host site. Due to this factor, Schmidt thinks his team will benefit greatly from the familiarity of the course.
“I like that my team will know the course well, seeing as it’s at our home course,” he said. “This group of guys certainly has the ability to score well as a group and hopefully advance, but if not, we have several players with the game to be able to advance individually.”
Norwell will compete next at the Angola Invitational at Glendarin Hills Golf Club starting at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13.
Norwell also won the junior varsity match by a score of 193-198.
Leading the Knights was Bodie Zimmer, who shot a 47, followed by Luke Herrell with a 48, Phil Gaier and Owen Walls with 49, and Grant Mishler 51.
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