Findlay's Dotson wins NLL Player of the Year at Eagle's Landing

OREGON — Findlay junior Payson Dotson didn't need anyone to tell him where he stood as he addressed a chip shot behind the 18th green at Eagle's Landing Golf Club during the Northern Lakes League boys golf championship on Wednesday. Thanks to a live scoring app the conference was using, Dotson had the answer in the palm of his hand. One chip and one putt for birdie and he would be NLL Buckeye Division Player of the Year. He pulled it off. "I told my coach (Tait Metz), 'I'm gonna need this one,'" Dotson said. "Most of the time, I do my best to stay as far away from that (app) as physically possible. I don't want that messing with my head. But today I was interested in how my teammates were doing and I was checking up on them. I happened to look at the scoreboard and realized that I had a shot." Dotson, playing in the final group, fired a 2-over par 74 to finish fifth on Wednesday. He held off playing companion Logan Sutto from Anthony Wayne by half a point in the season-long scoring system that accounts for head-to-head matches between the Buckeye Division's five schools. Like Dotson, Sutto knew the stakes. Standing over his chip shot for eagle behind the final green, Sutto asked to have the flag pulled. His ball lipped around the hole. Had it dropped, he would have tied Dotson in the season standings and won the tournament outright. The Trojans' top player hit a snag when his drive on No. 7, a par five, found the water. A double bogey led to a 3-over 39 on the front nine. He also made back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12, but quickly turned things around with birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 18. Dotson needed those birdies to stave off the cavalry from Anthony Wayne. The Generals won the team title easily, posting an 11-under par score of 277 that would win most college invitationals. Findlay shot 311 to finish third behind Sylvania Northview (307). "We had a lot of confidence coming in based on the practice round (Tuesday)," Findlay coach Tait Metz said. "All of the kids know how well Anthony Wayne plays so I think we knew we were coming in to play for second pretty much. Overall I'm really happy. The kids who struggled on the front nine turned it around on the back." The Trojans took a trio of 79s from Ryan Clarke, Owen Metz and Jamie Tate, who were playing as the fourth, fifth and sixth players in the lineup. Noah Miles shot 80 and Sam Swisher shot 81. "Jamie Tate just learned how to play golf like 15 months ago," Tait Metz said. "For someone who's just learned how to play golf to shoot 79 in a high school match like this under pressure is pretty good." Added Dotson, "It's amazing to me how far he's come. I definitely wasn't coming that far a year-and-a-half into my golf game." For the kids from Anthony Wayne, golf has been a lifelong obsession. Sutto and Michael Distefano both shot 5-under par 67, followed by a 71 from Ian Briars and 72 from Myles Murphy. Ted Robertson's 75 was good for sixth overall, but didn't crack the Generals' team scorecard. Dotson was the lone Trojans golfer to make the NLL Buckeye first team, alongside the five from Anthony Wayne. Miles represented Findlay on the second team. Dotson's quest for player of the year started in the season's first match, when he placed second individually against Anthony Wayne at Brandywine Country Club. "I can't even describe it," Dotson said. "It's amazing. Knowing how good of golfers those kids are, playing against them every day, it's just unreal." Buckeye Division Medalists — Logan Sutto, Michael Distefano 67 Anthony Wayne 277 (Ian Briars 71, Myles Murphy 72), Sylvania Northview 307 (Charlie Lutz 75, Bode Briggs 76, Max Crooks 77, Evan Maki 79, Adam Krajicek 79), Findlay 311 (Payson Dotson 74, Ryan Clarke 79, Owen Metz 79, Jamie Tate 79), Perrysburg 321 (Josh Weisenburger 79, Rhys Mandery 79, Elijah Morris 81, Asher Lattimore 82), Toledo Whitmer 366 (Alan Kujawa 78, Connor Westray 93, Seth Rister 94, Cameron Schiavone 101)