Youth movement propels Trojans to 3rd at NLL tournament

BOWLING GREEN — Ava Metz is wise beyond her golfing years. The Findlay junior knew that not every shot she took Monday at Riverby Hills Golf Club would turn out perfect, but if she could persevere through the bad ones, her best would be good enough. She was right. At the Northern Lakes League Tournament, Metz shot 89 to earn first-team honors, and the Trojans upheld their third-place standing from the regular season with a team total of 398. "I kind of just tell myself that if I hit a bad shot, it's OK," Metz said, advice that most weekend hackers could benefit from. "I try not to set too high of expectations, and then I usually end up playing better when I do that." Perrysburg ran away with the Buckeye Division crown, shooting 338 as Sydney Deal fired a 1-under par 71 to take individual honors by four shots over Anthony Wayne's Sophia Stanton. Anthony Wayne was second at 374. Findlay coach Laura Metz was cautiously optimistic Monday morning, with the knowledge that anything could happen bringing three freshmen to a conference meet. The Trojans were also limited to five players because of an injury to Rosalynn Mayle earlier in the season. "I'm really proud," Laura Metz said. "The girls, they were nervous coming in. They've been nervous all season. They never got a chance to play JV golf before. So coming out here and playing with all these varsity girls that are mostly older than them, they did a great job. They hung in there. There were no tears. Everyone had a good day." Sophomore Natalie Gutman finished strong on the back nine to shoot 93, while freshmen Josey Weihrauch (99), Lainey Ricker (117) and Abby Kasselmann (120) all stayed near their regular-season averages. Gutman joined Metz as a first-team selection, while Weihrauch was named to the second team. It helped to have the veteran Ava Metz out front as a steady, albeit quiet, leader. Her best shot of the day was a hybrid from around 200 yards into the 423-yard, par 5 sixth hole that landed close to the green and led to an easy par. And on 16, she showed off her steady nerves by making bogey after pulling her tee shot left near a tree-lined creek. While spectators searched for her ball, Metz ripped a provisional drive up near the green 200 yards away. It was a shot she didn't end up needing, but a nice insurance policy nonetheless. Findlay will be looking to replicate Monday's performance on Oct. 4 at Sectionals. It helps that the tournament will be held just down the road at Sycamore Springs in Arlington. "If we could just get one score a little bit lower we'd be there for sure, but I'm pretty confident we're going to get through (to Districts)," Laura Metz said. "We're going to practice (at Sycamore Springs) a lot the next couple of weeks." RESULTS Buckeye Division Medalist — Sydney Deal, Perrysburg, 71 Perrysburg 338 (Ariyah Ellis 86, Paige Feldkamp 89, Olivia Eisaman 92, Mia Moffitt 98) Anthony Wayne 374 (Sophia Stanton 75, Maddie Mitchell 93, Lila Huppert 103, Piper Phillips 103), Findlay 398 (Ava Metz 89, Natalie Gutman 93, Josey Weihrauch 99, Lainey Ricker 117), Toledo Whitmer 450 (Kenzie Richardson 98, Alyssa Sexton 114, Laney Snodgrass 115, Allison Jackson 125), Sylvania Northview 505 (Myah Greene 99, Sienna Welch 126, Jordyn Romero 136, MacKenzie Fritz 144)