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Collective effort lifts Devils to win

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By Susan Jenior
August 20, 2008

By Susan Jenior
Record-Courier correspondent
Casey Ailiff has just been waiting for his Red Devils to play to their potential.
The Crestwood varsity golf coach tallied the scores of his players at the annual Rover Invitational and liked what he saw.
"This is something we can build on," said Ailiff, as his team hoisted the championship trophy, claiming their victory over the 16 other teams in the tournament.
Not only did the Red Devils look good for this year, they are a team that could make an impact in years to come.
Mike Nichols, who finished tied for fifth, carded a 77 for his 18-hole round at the Kent State University Golf Course is only a junior
Meanwhile, teammate P.J. Scarl, a freshman on the varsity team, fired a 78 on Tuesday.
However, experience usually rises to the top - and Crestwood has a little of that too.
That was the case for the Red Devils' Derrick Benner, who took home the individual trophy for fourth place after shooting a 5-over 75.
Crestwood rounded out their scoring of the top four with Tommy Boylan's 80.
Crestwood finished with an overall team score of 310, just eight strokes ahead of the defending champions and host Rootstown Rovers.
This was the second time the Red Devils had won the Rover Invitational having also earned the championship in 2004.
The race for second place was decided by a mere stroke, as the Mogadore Wildcats captured third place, tallying a 319 team score.
Following closely behind were the Rovers, whose balanced attack behind the 79s of Nevada Lemon and Anthony Marozzi led to their third-place finish. Rootstown also received solid performances from Kyle Barkhurst (80) and Michael Rotilie (80).
It was Nathan Tarter of Mogadore who made a valiant effort to boost his Wildcats into the championship slot.
The reigning medalist of the Rootstown tournament repeated as the individual champion, missing his tournament-record performance of 2007 by one stroke.
His 67 was satisfying because it came highlighted with a hole-in-one on hole 7.
Using a pitching wedge on the 155 yard Par 3, Nathan managed to hit his first ace in competition play.
"It took a weird bounce" said Tarter of his hole-in-one. "I was just hoping my shot hit soft and left a 15-footer for birdie."
By the time Tarter left the eighth hole, he was 5-under on the front nine and was looking to beat his record of 2007.
"I hit a dull spot on the back nine," said Tarter. "I was thinking about maybe being able to take this round low, but golf kind of smacked me in the face and brought me back to Earth."
Actually several players and coaches were pleased with their results as the golf gods smiled on their kids performances.
While Waterloo finished in fourth place with two players in the top 5: Alex Doan (73) and Klinton McBroom (77); both Woodridge and Southeast finished just two strokes back with a 325.
Mike Beal of the Pirates tied for runner-up medalist honors, with the help of a 1-under back nine on his way to the 73.
"I couldn't putt on the front nine," said Beal of his 3-over first nine, "but this is the best I've played Kent State."
Beal was driving the ball well all day and put back-to-back birdies together on holes 10 and 11 thanks to his hybrid club and wedge that put him in the middle of the green on both holes with his second shot.
Southeast finished ahead of PTC Metro Division rivals Ravenna, Field and Coventry, while Woodridge ousted fellow County division teams Windham and Garfield.
The successful Rover tournament is now in its seventh year at Kent State University golf course, hosted by Rootstown and the varsity golf coach Keith Waesch.




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