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CATHOLIC CENTRAL

Coach: Cuyler Doane, first season

Last year: 4-7

Returnees: Seniors — Pat Hovda, David Erickson; Sophomores — Sam Sheehan, Cory Everitt, James McNamara, Martin Fish

Newcomers: Freshman — Russell Burns

FYI: Central grad Doane replaces Pat Sample, who was coach for 10 seasons. Doane graduated this spring from Capital University, where he played three years.

Coach's comments: "We're pretty excited. Hovda and Erickson are pretty good golfers. Overall, there's definitely a possibility to get some low scores and win some matches."

CEDARVILLE

Coach: Todd Shuttleworth, first season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Jay Lightenheimer, Brandon Corry; Juniors — Alex Bellman, Taylor Brock, Mike Stephen; Sophomores — Alex Delange, Ben Elliott

Newcomers: Junior — Jeanette Gallogly; Sophomore — Nathan Miller

FYI: Shuttleworth, also the boys basketball coach, replaces Kent Wagner, who coached the Indians for four seasons. Bellman is the Indians' returning No. 1 golfer.

Coach's comments: "Bellman is our top kid. But we're struggling to find some consistency outside of Alex. We need it to have a good season."

EMMANUEL CHRISTIAN

Coach: John Wilkinson, second season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Preston Parrish, Bobby Humphrey

FYI: Wilkinson is the director of golf instruction at Windy Knoll Golf Club.

Coach's comments: "I'm hopeful we're going to put a team together, but not sure. We're going to be very young and inexperienced."

GRAHAM

Coach: Scott Cornett, first season

Last year: 7-8

Returnees: Senior — Ryan George; Juniors — Monte Dyke, Austin Woodruff, Zac Durst; Sophomores — Nick Bishop, Caleb Wipert, Tayler Parker, Charles Tolley

Newcomers: Sophomores — Travis Klosterman, Trey Newman; Freshmen — Shane Jenkins, David Livingston, Dale Terry

FYI: The Falcons lost No. 1 player Reese Greenlee to graduation and their head coach of 12 seasons, Tom Reed, who is now coaching the girls golf squad. Cornett was the assistant for three years.

Coach's comments: "With only one senior, we still have a decent amount of varsity experience, so our goal is to be competitive. I'm very excited and have a good group to work with. There's a few who have the possibility (of making district)."

GREENON

Coach: Steve Norris, seventh season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Dylan Carroll, Adam Klark, Chris Sandlin; Juniors — Quinn Charney, Cory Parker, Jacob Ross; Sophomore — Trey Jones

Newcomers: Freshmen — Dylan Anderson, Clay Robinson, Ross Brandon, Nick McMillin, Tyler Seitz

FYI: Jimmy Blankenship coached last year for Norris (who had coached the previous six years), while Norris battled an illness. The Knights have 20 kids out this year.

Coach's comments: "The future looks really bright with such a talented freshman class. They are really close friends. We're averaging around 170 in tryouts. If we can get down a little, we can be at the top of the league, at least winning the Mad River. I'm cautiously optimistic."

GREENEVIEW

Coach: Steve Benton, seventh season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Brittany Wisecup, Kyle Brown; Junior — Mike Gould; Sophomore — Kyle Kroner

Newcomers: Senior — Kassidy Baugh; Sophomores — Brian Fetters, Kyle Collins; Freshmen — Cody Fife, Travis Bradford, Mark Long, Dylan Hackley, Justin Northup

FYI: The Rams had a winning season in 2006, and have lost three of their top six varsity players. Baugh played three years on the girls team at Miami Trace. Brown and Kroner return as the Rams' No. 1 and 2.

Coach's comments: "Not all of them are where I want them to be, but they all enjoy the game and have a great attitude. Northup and Long have been pleasant surprises so far. I hope we can (compete for the league title this season)."

KENTON RIDGE

Co-coaches: Chris White and Tadd Sickles, second seasons

Last year: 8-4, 8-2 in CBC

Returnees: Senior — Sam Arnold; Juniors — Randon McNeil, Chris Reed, David Numbers; Sophomores — Zach Zink, Chris Via, Brandon Hube

Newcomers: Juniors — Jeff Nickels, Kyle Hickman; Sophomores — Thomas Hillard, Andy Silvers, Jake Lawson

FYI: Reed was last year's No. 1 golfer, but McNeil is challenging him. The Cougars were regular-season Mad River Division champs last season.

Coach's comments: "We moved to the Kenton Trail with Shawnee, but we feel our top six match up well with any one else's in town. We're hoping to give Shawnee a run, mostly because we are deep from one to six. They are within a stroke or two of each other. We're young, but our depth is our strength."

MECHANICSBURG

Coach: Curt Cunningham, second season

Last year: 0-15

Returnees: Senior — Robin Espich; Junior — Kiaya Nelson; Sophomore — Garrett McMahill

Newcomers: Senior — James McMahill, Austin Feyh; Junior — Allan Swords; Freshmen — Adam Ward, Jacob Delay, Michael Burns, Andrew Pack

FYI: Swords is a transfer from Emmanuel Christian and will be vying for the No. 1 spot on the team.

Coach's comments: "I'm just looking for our team to improve over last year. Consistency is the key I'm looking for. We want to improve every time we go out on the golf course, both fundamentally and mentally. I'm looking for some contributions from our freshmen as well."

NORTH

Coach: Tom Mann, first season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Chase Downey, Hunt Wagner, Joey Borders, Josh Miller; Junior — Steven Myers; Sophomore — Landon Prendergrast

Newcomers: Freshman — Peter Bachtel, Dominic Guttierrez

FYI: Mann, who coached girls cross country 13 years and girls track 21 years at North, replaces John Sirasky, who coached the team for eight seasons. Downey will start out as the Panthers' No. 1 golfer.

Coach's comments: "We just want to compete. We have four seniors, but they are not so experienced on the golf course. But I am having a ball with these kids. They are a good group."

NORTHEASTERN

Coach: Lee Morris, seventh season

Last year: 7-12, fifth in OHC

Returnees: Junior — Nick Rucker; Sophomores — Cameron Thomas, Brandon Williams, Ben Justice, Michael Bury

Newcomers: Freshmen — Josh Watson, Mark Schwitzgable, Ryan Malone

FYI: Thomas will probably be the Jets' No. 1 man.

Coach's comments: "We are very, very green. This is a very, very competitive year for us inside our team. They are doing a great job of competing with each other. Once you can get kids to compete against their friends, it's a lot easier to compete against strangers."

NORTHWESTERN

Coach: Tim Grieser, first season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Juniors — Dylan Stephenson, Billy Jones; Sophomores — Matt Gorby, Ryan Pearson

Newcomers: Sophomores — Michael Ray; Freshmen — Devin Nicewaner, Michael Graham, Jordan Cage.

FYI: The Warriors lost two-time state qualifier Joe McGeean to graduation and veteran head coach Greer Portz, who coached the Warriors for 16 years. New coach Grieser is the head pro at Snyder Park and a Northwestern graduate.

Coach's comments: "It's a building situation. We're going to be young. It's going to be fun watching them improve as the season goes on. There's a lot of potential. I'm taking over a position where there is a strong tradition, and I look forward to carrying it on."

SHAWNEE

Coach: Steve Tincher, fifth season

Last year: 12-0, first in CBC

Returnees: Seniors — Doug Bodey, Jacob Schakat, Mitch Justice, Justin VanMeter; Juniors — Joey Schakat, Sean Malone; Sophomore — Michael Hogan

Newcomers: None

FYI: The Braves advanced to the state tournament last season after missing by just three strokes the year before.

Coach's comments: "Our No. 1 goal is to win the conference. No. 2 this year, we'd like to win the Christoff Memorial — something these guys haven't done yet; they've been second in that last two years. The third goal is they'd like to make a trip back to Columbus. The opportunity is there. It all comes down to that one day at district and how you play."

SOUTHEASTERN

Coach: P.J. Bertemes, second season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Matt Sidner; Juniors — A.J. Huggins, Daniel Black; Sophomores — Travis Cain, J.P. McFarland, Hunter Mickens

Newcomers: Freshmen — Travis Rodgers, Jacob Fent, Jordan Hitt, Shawn Jackson, Zach Grove

FYI: Southeastern got its first team win in three seasons last year.

Coach's comments: "We're a pretty young team. One of our freshmen will be playing with the varsity. We returned everybody except for one player from last year, and you just hope everybody is one year better. We don't have that one knock 'em-dead player, but have a good unit that can play pretty well at times."

TECUMSEH

Coach: Eric Gearhart, second season

Last year: 11-6, fourth in CBC

Returnees: Seniors — Luke Hohl, Dustin McCoy, Kenton Sherick; Sophomores — Kyle Furlong, Zach Rapp, Cody Wright

Newcomers: Senior — Travis Dawson; Sophomore — Kevin Loney; Freshmen — Ryan Blevins, Zach Hayes, Grant Warden, Scott Rogers

FYI: Lost three varsity players from last season. Hohl made it to districts last season, posting a 41.7 average last year.

Coach's comments: "We're looking to build off last year and carry things forward. Our big thing is things falling into place. We've got nice kids, but hard work is going to determine that. Our job is to play within our own game."

TRIAD

Coach: John Millice, second season

Last year: 21-4, OHC champs

Returnees: Seniors — Jordan Millice, Brennan Smith; Junior — Hank Carpenter

Newcomers: Seniors — Adam Moore, Levi Wynn; Junior — Lucas Phelps; Sophomores — Jeremy Catron, Marissa Millice, Amanda Rockhold; Freshmen — Quinton Yocom, Austin Rittenhouse, Kelly Boyd

FYI: The Cardinals went to state as a team for the first time last season, finishing 10th of 12 teams. John Millice is Jordan's uncle. Jordan, a two-time state qualifier, averaged 38.9 strokes per nine holes last season and placed in the top 10 of some of the summer's top youth tournaments. Moore is expected to be the Cardinals' No. 2 guy.

Coach's comments: "I think we'll have a chance to have a great year if everyone improves as the season goes. By the end of the season, hopefully, they'll surprise me and surprise themselves."

URBANA

Coach: Jay Keely, first season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Seniors — Nathan Zerkle, Andy Nichol, Bryce Ream, Ben Alderfer

Newcomers: Junior — Daniel Little

FYI: Keely replaced Jerry Curtis, who coached the Hillclimbers for two seasons. Keely was a greenskeeper while in college. Zerkle, who was the No. 1-2 last season, averages around 43 strokes per nine.

Coach's comments: "We're going to be a team that is going to be peaking later in the season, which I'm happy about. But it is a double-edged sword, because you learn as you go. Our goal is, hopefully, to finish in the top half of the conference."

WEST LIBERTY-SALEM

Coach: Darrin Leichty, second season

Last year: 17-3, 12-3 and second in OHC

Returnees: Senior — Eli Tapp; Junior — Bo Wallace; Sophomores — Zach Hartley, T.R. Nisonger, Dylan Davis

Newcomers: Junior — Jacob Siekierka; Sophomores — Ryan Ropp, Chris White, Garrett Dallas, Jacob Ingram; Freshmen — Ben Rutan, Derrick Overholt, Storm Shipp, John Hance

FYI: Tapp will be the Tigers' No. 1 player, averaging about 43 strokes per nine holes.

Coach's comments: "We lost three seniors, so we're looking for some leadership with all of our youth. All our young guys are making so much progress. They are going to be something in the future. Eli will be our guy who could go further than sectionals."

YELLOW SPRINGS

Coach: Mike Reichert, first season

Last year: Unavailable

Returnees: Juniors — Zane Reichert, Joe Fugate, Max Fleischman, Eric Rudolf, Kevin Mayer; Sophomore — Lucas Donnell

Newcomers: Sophomore — John Michael Malone; Freshmen — Zeb Reichert, Carl Weiner

FYI: The is the first time Reichert, a two-year starter for the University of Dayton basketball team, has coached.

Coach's comments: "We have good potential, but honestly, it's still too early to tell who's going to be sticking their head above the rest. Right now, just looking for the guys to settle in and get a few matches on their belts and move on from there."

— Compiled by Kermit Rowe