By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

The OHSAA allowed for an earlier start to the golf season this season, allowing coaches and golfers to tap into the talent they have been honing throughout the summer.

Portage County is a wealth of talent in golf, with three state qualifiers returning from the 2023 season and numerous teams finding themselves deep with skill to play successful seasons.

Returning this season are state qualifiers Liam Curtis of Kent Roosevelt, Gracyn Vidovic of Aurora and Taylor Blazek of Southeast.

They are the leaders of programs that have solid plans for success as the high-school golf continues through the state tournaments in October.

Many programs, including Kent Roosevelt, Southeast and Streetsboro, have successful, thriving youth programs that are helping to contribute to their continued winning seasons. From those programs, golfers James Morgan of Southeast and Ashlyn Leavery of Kent Roosevelt, who have both played in numerous tournaments throughout the summer, will be impact players as the season progresses.

It should be an exciting season as Portage County teams compete in six different conferences and look toward postseason tournament action.

AURORA GREENMEN

COACH: Collin McEndree, 2nd year. 

HOME COURSE: Club Walden, Aurora.

CONFERENCE: Suburban League.

LAST YEAR: 2nd in the Suburban League. Gracyn Vidovic First Team All-Suburban League, Manisha Girn Second Team All-Suburban. Aurora was first in the sectional tournament, fifth in the district tournament and Vidovic advanced as a state qualifier as an individual.

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Gracyn Vidovic, sr.; Manisha Girn, sr.; Meena Kraus, sr.: Courtney Zeid, jr.

DEPTH: Bennett Deluca, Kelly Macsruak.

EXPECTATIONS: “We are looking to compete for the Suburban League title again, as well as get the team to the state tournament,” said McEndree.

19th HOLE: Tim Baczkowski is our assistant coach,” said McEndree. “Brooklyn Millard, 2023 graduate and Suburban League Player of the Year, will be playing golf at the University of Toledo.”

FIELD FALCONS

COACH: Amanda Kusara, 2nd year.

HOME COURSE: Sunny Hill Golf Course, Brimfield.

CONFERENCE: Metro Athletic Conference.

(More team preview information will be published at a later date)

GARFIELD G-MEN

COACH: Kevin Sponaugle, 2nd year.

HOME COURSE: Sugar Bush Golf Club, Garrettsville.

CONFERENCE: Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference.

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Addison Snyder, soph.

DEPTH: Six golfers will help Garfield this season.

EXPECTATIONS: “Five of the six golfers are freshmen, who, as a whole, are very new to the game, so expectations this year are to foster a love for the sport and create a tight-knit group, who grow and get better together,” said Sponaugle. “Sneaking in a few wins will be icing on the cake.”

19th HOLE: “This year, for most of the team, the goal is about learning the game of golf and developing their respective swings and shots. They are an ambitious group who are always working at improving,” said Sponaugle. “Returning sophomore Addison Snyder looks to continue honing her skill set after an impressive beginning to her career last year.”

KENT ROOSEVELT ROUGH RIDERS

COACH; Bryan Harvey, 12th year, 141-10 career record.

HOME COURSE: The Fairways at Twin Lakes, Kent.

CONFERENCE: Suburban League.

LAST YEAR: 3rd place Suburban League, 3rd place sectional tournament, 6th place district tournament. Undefeated match season, state qualifier, First Team Suburban League Madolyn Kost. Second Team Suburban League Ashlyn Leavery, Adrianna Mineo, Izzi Wood.

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Ashlyn Leavery, sr.; Cassidy Singer, sr.; Ella Houk, sr.; Adrianna Mineo, jr.

DEPTH: Coco Golden, soph.; Kate Ennemoser, jr.; Kaila Kovalyn, jr.

“All three have worked hard during the off-season, improved significantly and could get significant time on varsity,” said Harvey. “Our program is now very deep. Junior transfer Elizabeth Adkins, junior Kaila Kovalyn, sophomore Aubrey Byler all are gaining experience and continuing to develop skills that will have them be solid contributors in the immediate future. We also have three very good freshmen, Brooke Beatty, Jillian Smith and Makenna Ward, who all can shoot in the mid-to-high 40s and on most other programs would see some varsity time.”

EXPECTATIONS: “Our team will go as far as the returning lettermen can take us,” said Harvey. “All are battle tested and excited to continue our tradition of excellence.

“Ashlyn Looks to have her senior year be the best of her four-year career. Cassidy and Adrianna have improved over their solid 2023 season and look to have career years as captains (along with Ashlyn) and lead by example, both on and off the course. Ella can drive the ball with the best of them and if her short game comes around, could be a factor in the conference and beyond.

“Our hope is to compete for the league title and improve as the season goes on. Our expectations are to win all of our season matches and advance to the district tournament.”

19th HOLE: “We have two new assistant coaches this year due to the retirement of our outstanding assistant coach Larry Picicco. Coreena Havel returns after having her first child and Marissa Saran joins our program this year. Both Marissa and Coreena have played in the OHSAA state tournament and Marissa continued her golf career in college.

ROOTSTOWN ROVERS

COACH: Matt Just, 3rd year, 19-10 career record.

HOME COURSE: Sunny Hill Golf Course, Brimfield.

CONFERENCE: Portage Trail Conference.

LAST YEAR: 12-4 overall, 2-2 PTC.

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Alex Biggin, jr.; Anna Drago, jr.; Ava Miller, jr.; Ella Derr, jr.; Chloe Gardner, jr.

DEPTH: “We have eight ladies on the roster and five of our six varsity players will be returning with varsity experience,” Just said. “Junior Camry Lappe and freshman Morgan Giebel have been great additions to the squad this summer. They will definitely help us meet our goals for the season.”

EXPECTATIONS: “After a successful 2023 season, we will look to continue upon our success,” said Just. “Our team goal is to advance to the district tournament. We have three young ladies who have been with the program from the beginning that I will look to as leaders (Biggin, Drago and Miller).

19th HOLE: Ava Miller is not only a varsity golfer, but also an accomplished auto drag racer with multiple tournament championships to her name. She is a member of the Miller Racing Team.

SOUTHEAST PIRATES

COACH: Cindy Fesemyer, 10th year.

HOME COURSE: Olde Dutch Mill, Lake Milton.

CONFERENCE: Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference.

LAST YEAR: 2023 PTC league champions, 14-2 overall; second place sectional, 4th place district.

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Taylor Blazek, sr.; Jessi Mix, jr.; Adrianna Sloan, jr.; Layna Tittle, jr.; Aubree Varga, jr.

“We have five of our six starters returning from last season, led by senior captain Taylor Blazek,” said Fesemyer. “Blazek finished 14th at the state tournament in 2023. All five are experienced and very motivated golfers.”

DEPTH: Kristen Dillon, Jenni Mix, Samantha Morgan, Ava Sayre.

“Jenni Mix and Samantha Morgan bring loads of experience by spending much of the summer practicing and playing tournaments,” said Fesemyer.

EXPECTATIONS. “Our team’s expectations are to stay focused, play our best, take care and support each other, and represent ourselves, family and school district proudly,” said Fesemyer. “The rest will take care of itself.”

19th HOLE: Joe Pinti is the assistant coach.

STREETSBORO ROCKETS

COACH: Tim Foster, 6th year.

HOME COURSE: Boulder Creek, Streetsboro.

CONFERENCE: Metro Athletic Conference.

(More team preview information will be published at a later date)