MIDDLETOWN — Fort Loramie junior Brad Gottemoeller shot a 76 Thursday at Weatherwax in Middletown, but was unable to emerge from a playoff with two other golfers for one state qualifying berth.
Gottemoeller, along with Jack Lane of Seven Hills and Justin Hoke of Arcanum all finished with 76s, and none were on a qualifying team. All three shot 39 on the front nine and 37 on the back.
It went to a playoff to see who the second state qualifier would be, behind a golfer who shot 73, and Lane emerged from the trio to gain that spot.
Lehman’s Tyler Lachey was in excellent position after the first nine, when he shot a 37. But he needed 44 strokes to get through the back nine and finished with an 81, which did not qualify him for state.
“Tyler was in the top four after the first nine holes, and he was making some of the older golfers a little nervous,” said Lehman coach Eric Harlamert. “But on the back nine he made a few mistakes and finished at 81. But it was a good effort from him.”
Another county individual unable to make it out was Josh Miller of Botkins. He finished with a 91.
None of the three County teams that qualified for the district were able to advance on to state. Mechanicsburg was first with 335 and Southeastern second with 337, and they will play next weekend in Columbus. Russia finished sixth with a 346, Fort Loramie was eighth with 350 and Fairlawn 12th with 377.
Russia was led by Zach Sherman and Jonah Counts, both with 83. Connor Monnin added an 85 and Dillon Cordonnier 95.
After Gottemoeller for Fort Loramie, Tanner Rosengarten shot an 89, Connor Rose 90, and Craig Eilerman 95.
Fairlawn got a 91 from Nathan Lessing, 93 from Kyle Noble, 95 from Jacob Caldwell and 98s from both Kody Curtner and Mason Jones.
Girls golf
In Division 2 district play on Wedndesday, the Russia girls finished 10th with a 411. Maddie Borchers led the Lady Raiders with a personal-best 93, and Alicia George added a 98.
