JEROMESVILLE — Every stroke mattered during the final round of the Ohio Cardinal Conference golf tournament.
Lexington carded a team score of 328 in blustery conditions Thursday at Mohican Hills Golf Course, good for a one-stroke victory over Mount Vernon. Thursday’s win lifted the Minutemen to the overall team title and snapped Ashland’s three-year run as OCC champ.
The formula to determine the team championship was modified for the 2022 season. Instead of playing nine-hole dual matches and a season-ending 18-hole tournament as in years past, the conference’s eight teams played three 18-hole events this fall. Each team was assigned a point total based on the number of teams it finished in front of at each of the three events, and the total number of accumulated points determined each team’s finish in the championship chase.
Lexington won the team title with 20 points. Mount Vernon (19) finished second and Ashland (15) was third.
The championship was the first for the Minutemen since 2018. Lex has eight OCC titles to its credit.
“We’ve been trying to get back over that hump again,” Lexington coach Greg Smith said. “Ashland has been tough for some years and Mount Vernon popped in there. We knew it was going to be tough.”
Isaac Vance led the charge for the Minutemen, firing a 79 in woeful scoring conditions. Troy Chapman and Trevin Smith carded matching 82s, while Griffin Highes shot 85.
“I’m on cloud nine a little bit,” Vance said. “The first tournament here, we kind of got our butts whipped by Mount Vernon. We came back at (Shelby Crossing) with a clear vision of what we wanted to do. We came here determined and we knew we could do it”
Mount Vernon’s Ben Bridges won the OCC Player of the Year award based on his finishes at each of the three tournaments. Ashland’s Kamden Mowry was second.
Mowry, Vance, Chapman, Smith, New Philadelphia’s Nathan Manapace and West Holmes’ Trey Baker earned spots on the OCC first team. Ashland’s Wyatt Mohrman, Wooster’s Ian Snode and Mount Vernon’s Maddox Snyder, Evan Stetler, Cooper Carpenter and Dash Lepley were second-teamers.
Honorable-mention selections included Mansfield Senior’s Andrew Cawrse, Madison’s Josh Atwell, Lexington’s Griffin Hughes, Mount Vernon’s Spencer Hughes, West Holmes’ Grady Toye and New Philadelphia’s Louis Devore.
In girls action, Ashland shot a 371 Thursday and won the team title with 20 points. Lexington was second.
Emma Packard carded a 90 to lead Ashland. Kyah Huckleberry shot a 91, while Lydia Wells had a 94 and Makaree Chapman had a 96.
Lexington’s Hannah Smith was the OCC Player of the Year. Smith carded an 87 Thursday.
“I really wasn’t expecting it,” Smith said. “I just wanted to play well.
“I’m not too excited about the wind and super-cold. I tried my best.”
Packard, Huckleberry, Chapman, Wooster’s Abbi Jones and Lizzy Hohman and West Holmes Kenzie Woods earned spots on the OCC first team. Second-teamers were Lexington’s Trynity Wolfe and Maddy Hager, Ashland’s Lydia Wells, New Philadelphia’s Madison Wright and Emma Menapace and Wooster’s Payton Haynes.
Ashland’s Elleni Miller and Laney McNamara, Lexington’s Darci Reinhart and Lauryn Nupen, Mount Vernon’s Jillian Williams and New Philadelphia’s Olivia Jackson were honorable-mention selections.
