'Stay in the moment, stay in the process'

KALIDA -- Mark Ruggles said a good shot in golf is the same, no matter the venue, or the stakes involved. "I've said it a million times: stay in the moment, stay in the process," the Riverdale golf coach said. "One shot at a time. A 50-yard shot at Sycamore (Springs) is the same as a 50-yard shot at Pebble Beach." That will be a lesson all area golfers will be taking to heart this week as the postseason tournaments begin for northwest Ohio teams. The Division I girls golf sectionals will be today. The Division I sectional -- which will include golfers from Findlay High School-- will play at Sycamore Springs. The Division II girls sectional for a number of area teams (Arcadia, Carey, Elmwood, Hardin Northern, Hopewell-Loudon, North Baltimore, Riverdale, Van Buren, Liberty-Benton) will be Tuesday at Fostoria Country Club. A few others (Bluffton, McComb, Ottawa-Glandorf, Columbus Grove, Pandora-Gilboa) will play at Moose Landing Tuesday. Findlay's boys golf team will play in the Division I sectionals at Sycamore Springs Wednesday. The Division II boys sectional, which will include Liberty-Benton, Bluffton and Ottawa-Glandorf, take place Thursday at Moose Landing. The Division III boys will play Thursday, with Columbus Grove, Leipsic, Pandora-Gilboa and Patrick Henry competing at Pike Run and Ada, Arcadia, Elmwood, Arlington, Carey, Hardin Northern, Hopewell-Loudon, McComb, New Riegel, North Baltimore, Riverdale and Van Buren all at Sycamore Springs. No team will be going into the sectional with more momentum than the Black Knights. Van Buren is coming off another BVC title, won Friday at Moose Landing. Last season, Van Buren was runner up in the Division III state golf tournament, four strokes behind state champion Warren JFK. This year, the Black Knights have continued to be the class of area boys golf teams. Led by BVC Player of the Year Jake Schroeder, teammate Cole Bishop (who was part of a four-way tie with Schroeder at the BVC tournament Friday) and standout Ben Heitkamp, Van Buren looks poised for another big postseason. "We're excited to get started," said Van Buren boys coach Eric Heitkamp. "We're going in a good direction right now, We've got a couple more tune-ups coming our way, and then we're ready to go." One of the players also feeling good is Riverdale's Nathan Alge, who was one of the medalists in Friday's BVC showing. Alge, who like Schroeder, Bishop and Leipsic's Reagan Wenzinger, fired a 74 at Moose Landing Friday, said he's feeling confident coming into this week. "It gives good momentum going into it, just playing well today," Alge said Friday. There will no doubt be pressure for the Division III teams. But for Leipsic coach Kevin Brandt, that's nothing new for his players. "We played BVC (Friday), then we play the PCL (tournament) on Monday, and sectionals on Thursday," Brandt said. "In a way, if you would look at it in a positive way, you're playing pressure rounds before you get to the sectional tournament. So, I feel like, if you treat it the correct way, if you treat today as a pressure round, you treat Monday as a pressure round, as well you should, by the time you get to Thursday, you've done it twice in the last week. It should be old hat." But it will be difficult, specifically for Division III boys. Theres so much talent, but so little spots available in the district round. Only the top three teams in Division III, plus the top three individuals not on a qualifying team, will earn a district berth at Stone Ridge in Bowling Green. "The golf around here is so good, and our sectional is so good," said Brandt, whose team will play at Pike Run. "I would put our sectional up there against most sectionals in the state, to be honest with you, because, there's five really good teams in our sectional, so two of them are gonna go home. Two are not going to advance. The individuals in our sectional are crazy. There's going to be a handful of individuals that don't advance that could advance in many other sectionals." In Division II, three teams and four individuals will advance to the district tourney in Maumee. Liberty-Benton might have a little bit of an advantage, coming right back to play its sectional where it played its final league meet. "We're gonna be playing here for sectionals, so it's really helpful to get to see this course, see how it plays," said L-B's Andrew Tomlinson, who fired a 77 at Moose Landing Friday, and will now play there again Thursday. "It's completely different from the course that we play every day, so, getting to see how the greens role, how they spin…it's huge." Division I boys will have five teams and five individuals advance to the district tournament, which will be held at Shawnee. In the girls sectionals, five teams and five individuals will advance to the district meet at Stone Ridge, while at Division III, three teams and three individuals will move on to the district at Sycamore Springs. It'll be a big week for all area high school golfers. But Tomlinson put it in perspective after the BVC meet Friday, when asked about the pressure. "You just kind of have to stay focused and keep your head down," he said. "One round doesn't define you, is what I would say, because you can play bad one round, and then shoot four under the next round."