Ohio high school golf: Same-team duos to watch as sectionals approach
The calendar has flipped to September and by the end of the month, Ohio High School Athletic Association golf sectional tournaments will have already started. From there, teams and individuals will keep moving on until the state tournaments in October.
Before those tournaments get going, take a look (listed in no particular order) at some notable duos teaming up to stand atop their conferences before making moves in the postseason.
Gavin Augenstein and Jack Rott, Springboro
In the Greater Western Ohio Conference, the top three averages come from Springboro Panthers with Augenstein and Rott at the top. Fellow senior Bradley Hinkel is right behind in third. Augenstein put together a 36.00 average through 126 holes and Rott, a 37.50 through 90.
The Panthers finished in ninth place in the Division I state tournament last season and with its senior returners, could be a favorite to make a return trip.
Aden Walls and Jack Ward, Harrison
The Southwest Ohio Conference is small in its golf numbers but mighty with its low averages atop the leaderboard. Harrison seniors Walls and Ward, who both shot an 80 in last season’s district tournament, again lead the way for the Wildcats.
Walls’ 37.65 average paces the conference and Ward is behind in third with a 38.57, both over 108 holes.
Aidan Bruder and Conner Schulte, Talawanda
The other half of the SWOC’s competition comes out of Talawanda.
Bruder is No. 2 in the SWOC with a 38.10 average over 126 holes. Close behind with the No. 4 average in the SWOC is Schulte who averages a 38.90 round a year after reaching the Division I district tournament.
Mo Burns and Campbell Drum, Mount Notre Dame
The Cougars are one of two teams in the Girls Greater Catholic League with a pair of players among the top five scorers in the conference.
Senior Mo Burns has an average round of 39.30 through 90 holes, good for third-best in the league while two spots down is the sophomore Drum with a 39.70.
Riley Johnson and Olivia Donovan, Lebanon
For Lebanon, it is the present giving way to the future with Johnson and Donovan.
Johnson, the 2021 and 2022 Eastern Cincinnati Conference Golfer of the Year, leads the conference with a 37.20 average in her senior season. Donovan, a freshman, has a 40.60 average in 108 holes played, putting her No. 4 in the ECC.
Charlie Straubel and Marshall Morency, Anderson
The ECC is deep in golf talent with seven individuals averaging under 40, including a pair of Anderson Raptors.
Straubel and Morency, both sophomores, have played 144 recorded holes, which is the most in the conference. Straubel’s 37.75 mark is No. 4 in the ECC, just over a stroke more than Little Miami’s Jake Wittenauer, who leads the conference (in 90 holes played). Morency checks in at No. 6 in the conference, with his 38.33 average.
Finley Bartlett and Jack Webb, Wyoming
Last season, Wyoming finished No. 5 in the state for Division II without a senior on its roster and a pair of sophomores leading the way. Now, Bartlett and Webb are juniors and are still playing strong in another deep conference.
Bartlett, who finished fourth overall in the state in 2022, paces the Cincinnati Hills League this year with a 33.83 average while Webb has a 37.78 average which puts him at No. 6 for the conference.
Caroline Thompson and Eva Becerril, Sycamore
Sycamore’s seventh-place finish at the Division I state tournament in 2022 was led by then-freshman Becerril and the junior Thompson. That duo also finished No. 1 and No. 2 atop the Greater Miami Conference standings.
Now a senior in 2023, Thompson has a 33.60 average in 45 recorded holes to take the top spot in the GMC while the sophomore Becerril has played 81 holes to average 36.30 in a round to be No. 3 in the conference.
Faith Brumfield and Ella Puthoff, Ursuline Academy
Just as Mount Notre Dame has two golfers in the top five of the conference, so does Ursuline Academy.
Brumfield and Puthoff both finished in the top 16 of last year’s Division I district tournament as juniors. This season, Brumfield’s dropped her round average to 37.90 through 99 holes, which is the second-lowest average in the league. Puthoff is No. 4 in the league with her 39.50 average, a 1.5-stroke improvement from her average in 2022.
Toku Fujiwara and Michael Fickle, Lakota West
As a freshman in 2022, Fujiwara finished No. 9 in the GMC and was the only freshman in the top 45 spots of the conference. Early into his sophomore campaign, he lowered his average by nearly three strokes to 36.50 and paces the GMC.
Firebird senior Fickle has put in a 38.50 average, good for fourth-lowest in the league with 135 strokes played. Fickle was No. 7 in the GMC last season behind five Mason golfers and Lakota East’s Bobby Horseman.
Taylor Dunkle and Kinsley Brown, Springboro
Both the Springboro boys and girls teams reached the OHSAA state tournament with the girls nailing down a 10th-place finish. There, Dunkle (the district champion) led the way with a 33rd-place finish while Brown and Danielle Stinson tied for 53rd.
This season, Dunkle’s 38.25 average and Brown’s 39.88 score are both top five in the GWOC with the added bonus of Stinson just behind with the sixth-best average.
Robert Gerwin and Charlie Fish, St. Xavier
The St. Xavier Bombers finished third in last year’s Division I state tournament with Gerwin and Fish leading the way by each shooting a two-day 155, good for a tie in 11th place.
St. Xavier has more than a dynamic duo, though, as Luke Kahle also returns from that tournament team. Pick any four or five golfers the Bombers bring and you have one successful team.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio high school golf: Top Cincinnati duos heading into postseason
