FRANKLIN — Scott Dalton says he gives his Fenwick High School girls golf team a couple breaks during the week.
But the Falcons never take them.
“Preparation and dedication. It’s those two things,” the coach said. “They are so dedicated. I give them two days off. They go out to the range anyway. They go play golf. Their dedication is just awesome.”
Fenwick’s dedication has certainly paid off.
The Falcons will compete at the Division II girls state golf tournament on Sunday and Monday at Firestone Country Club in Akron.
“Very exciting. It’s my third time at state,” Falcons senior Sophie Rush said. “It’s not less special than the first time or anything. I’m very excited — especially since it’s my senior year.
“I’m happy to be going there — living it out. I’m very excited. It’s very fun. We hang out as a team a lot. It’s just a great time with the team, truly.”
Fenwick went 14-1 during the regular season and finished atop the Greater Catholic League Coed standings for a fourth year in a row.
Rush leads the team with a 39 nine-hole average, followed by junior Emma Lohman (41), senior Avery Roethlisberger (43), freshman Kenzie Blankenship (43) and junior Libby Haas (45).
Rush fired a 78 at districts to help the Falcons advance to state.
“The golf is really fun, too,” Rush said of competing at state. “Last year I got paired with some nice girls. And I know one of the girls that I’m paired with.”
Expectations have been set high for Fenwick the last few years. The Falcons have now reached state four of the last five seasons — placing third in 2023, fifth in 2021 and seventh in 2020.
“We’ve been there, we’ve done that,” Dalton said before joking. “If you think about the numbers — seven, five, three. You know what’s after that. We knew that last year when we finished third? and we didn’t graduate nobody.”
Dalton said with the addition of Blankenship and the combined leadership of veterans Rush and Roethlisberger, this could be the year.
“It’s just taken us over,” Dalton said. “That’s what makes it special. All five of them are pretty strong. They just work together really well, and I think that helps.
“There’s an easiness. Calm. Peace. High-character. Leadership,” Dalton added of his seniors. “They are the ones leading the team. Both of them lead in prayer a lot. … It’s unexplainable. They work hard. Both of them work so hard. That’s what you want from your seniors — two seniors that lead by example.”
Dalton said traveling to Firestone is a challenge his Falcons are up to, despite competing at Ohio State University’s Gray Course in Upper Arlington the last three state appearances.
“Now it’s that everybody has to travel, and I like our odds with that,” the coach said. “We don’t know anything about the course. The only thing we know is what we see on online.”
“But they’re ready,” Dalton added. ‘There’s not much more I can do. They prepped. They’re hitting the ball well. They’ve had good practices so far this week. There’s nothing I can do right now.
“They’ve got be mentally tough because the greens are going to be fast. Everything’s not going to be perfect. It’s a country club. There’s not going to be brown spots at this place. So, they’ve got to be mentally tough. There might be some high numbers out there. They might get a double or a triple. They’ve got to learn, and they’ve got to come back the next hole and forget about that past hole — just go ahead and play that hole and start all over. We’re looking for pars or birdies. There’s going to be some numbers that are high, but they can’t dwell on that. It’s one hole at a time.”
Franklin junior Aiden Standifer fired a 72 at districts and will compete in the Division I boys golf state tournament at NCR Country Club in Kettering on Monday and Tuesday.
Standifer was co-medalist at districts, earning him a repeat trip to state. Standifer fired a 158 to finish 28th at state last year.
