Division II state golf qualifier Otsego senior golfer Elizabeth”Lizzy” Budge putts at the Northern Buckeye Conference meet. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune file)
ARLINGTON, Ohio — Otsego senior golfer Elizabeth”Lizzy” Budge finished tied for fourth at the Division II district golf tournament, shooting 40-44—84 at Sycamore Springs Golf Course to qualify for the state meet.
Tiffin Calvert senior Alyssa Rishty (34-39—73) won the district title, Mansfield St. Peter’s sophomore Chaeyeon “Joy” Kim (36-40—76) was runner-up, and Fremont St. Joseph sophomore Ryan Dickman (41-38—79) was third.
Budge finished in a tie for fourth with Milan Edison sophomore Annabelle Seville (39-45—84) and Patrick Henry senior Kasey Nelson (41-43—84).
The D-II state meet is October 11-14 at Akron Firestone Country Club.
Budge, the Northern Buckeye Conference medalist, NBC Player of the Year, and school record for the lowest round after leading the Knights to an NBC title, had her work cut out at Sycamore Springs.
“Her round today was very reminiscent of how most of her rounds went this season,” Otsego coach Scott Bylow said.
“Whenever she dug herself into a hole, she battled her way out and would play her best golf. There were a couple rounds this year where she would a couple bad holes and instead of throwing the towel in, she would come back and play her best golf. She was quite the fighter today.”
Bylow, who has credited the previous coach, Nate Luce, for building up the Otsego girls program, said Budge had a few rough holes before finishing strong enough to advance.
“Outside of two holes, Lizzy really played a solid round,” Bylow said. “It is very evident that the backside of Sycamore Springs is very tough.
“She started on the front nine and shot a 40 and continued a very good round until she found trouble on 14. What looked like a nice approach to 14 green took an unfortunate bounce and rolled off the backside and into a hazard. What could have turned into disaster was salvaged by making a six to seven foot downhill putt for a triple bogey.
“She then parred 15 and 16 getting up and down from off the green with very good chips. On the par five 17th, she was in great position after a well-positioned drive and approach. Again, she met near disaster after hitting two errant shots with the second skipping over the green and nearly out of bounds.
“Her fifth and sixth shots from behind the green left her with another very tricky downhill putt that she made for double bogey.
“Going into 18, I knew she was going to have to make par to get out (qualify for state). Like she did just about all day, she hit her tee shot in the fairway down the left side which left her with a 75-yard approach that had to go over branches that lined the left side of the fairway. She hit a great shot to the center of the green and went on to two-putt for par.
“After her two worst holes, she turned it around and played very good golf. She made the shots that she needed to hit to put her in position to advance.
“I am not sure how many greens she one-putted, but it sure seemed like a lot. Knowing the position that she was in coming down the stretch, I reminded her that she had to have a short memory and that she didn’t have to aim at every flagstick.”
Otsego failed to advance as a team, placing sixth out of 15 teams qualifying. Only the top four teams, Wauseon (367), St. Joseph (371), Tiffin Calvert (380), and Van Buren (381), advance to state.
Archbold (390) was fifth, followed by Otsego (397), Wynford (402), Margaretta (407), Colonel Crawford (407), Patrick Henry (412), Minster (414), Kalida (416), Wayne Trace (419), St. Henry (431) and Huron (436).
Otsego scores were junior Carley Etchie (46-49—95), junior Ella Kosinski (47-51—98), sophomore Ava Coe (60-60—120), and sophomore Janie Lehsten (59-62—121). Etchie and Kosinski were All-NBC first team golfers this year.
At the Division II sectional meet at Ironwood Golf Course in Wauseon, Etchie (39-41—80) and Budge (40-41) finished third and fourth behind Wauseon junior Ruth Shell (39-39—78) and Archbold senior Aniyah Copeland (42-37—79).
Otsego finished second in the team standings with a score of 354, 10 strokes behind champion Archbold (344). Wauseon (355) was third, followed by Delta (392), Oak Harbor (411), Genoa (427), Swanton (443), Woodmore (456), Evergreen (468), Lake (476), Eastwood (479), and Rossford (527).
For Otsego, Kosinski shot 43-47—90, Coe shot 48-55—103, and Lehsten shot 56-67—123.
Lake scores were senior Sarah Patrick (51-45—96), sophomore Madison Ankney (53-60—113), sophomore Tessa Heckman (62-62—124), freshman Parker Dart (77—66—143) and sophomore Kaylie Wallace (75-77—152).
Eastwood scores were senior Mia Brown (54-47—101), senior Chezney Taube (68-56—124), junior Kamryn Sundermeier (63-70—133) and freshman Izzy Byer (60-61—121).
Rossford scores were senior Jaden Durfey (48-54—102), senior Brooklynn Hill (69-57—126), sophomore Kaylie Miller (75-63—138), and sophomore Ameriya Saenz (77-84—161).
