by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

Of all the opponents that Tallmadge junior golfer Matt Wellman faced at a Division I district tournament Oct. 8, Mother Nature proved to be the toughest one of all.

On what was undoubtedly not a nice day for golf, Wellman finished with a round of 86 at Pine Hills Golf Club in Hinckley. Unfortunately, he did not place in the top four.

The top four teams and the top four individuals not part of a qualifying squads advanced to the state meet, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 17 and 18 at The Ohio State University's Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus.

According to Tallmadge head coach Jon Shomo, Wellman wasn't able to get into any sort of rhythm, especially since play was suspended for a time because of rain.

"It was miserable," said Shomo. "We had a suspension of play for almost two hours and Matt was one of the players who went out early. He only played six holes in the first two hours."

By the time play resumed, it was 1:15 in the afternoon. Some of the cups on the greens were full of water.

"Some of the guys hadn't even started yet," said Shomo. "I would have to assume that once they finished, they were close to running out of daylight.

"To put it mildly, it was pretty rough," the coach added. "I don't think anybody would have got up this morning and said to themselves, 'This is a good day to play golf.'"

This is the second straight year that Wellman has qualified for the district tournament. He also qualified last year as a sophomore.

According to Shomo, Wellman prepared meticulously for the event.

"He was really prepared and focused," said Shomo. "He shot a practice round [at Pine Hills] on Sunday and he took a notebook with him. He knew which clubs he was going to hit off which tees and he was very confident.

"Some of that preparation goes out the window, though, when it's raining and you have 20-mile per hour winds in your face," the coach added. "Unfortunately, those are the breaks."

Wellman earned first-team All-Suburban League honors for his performance during the season.

In addition, seniors Ed Householder and Travis Boll were honorable mention all-league picks.

Tallmadge finished the regular season with an overall record of 4-5.

The Blue Devils also were 2-5 in the Suburban League, placing sixth in the final league standings.

Editor's note: Results first appeared Oct. 8 on our Web site at www.tallmadgeexpress.com.

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