HOWARD – Eighteen holes were not enough to determine all of the Division I boys golf state qualifiers from the district tournament Oct. 6 at Apple Valley.
Olentangy Berlin’s Owen Heilmann, Westerville North’s Clark McGeorge, Dublin Coffman’s Lincoln Scherer and Grove City’s Eastin Carlson tied for the last of three individual berths at 1-over-par 73, sending them to a playoff that Heilmann won after three holes.
“I was really proud of myself with how I stayed in it after the round today,” said Heilmann, who will play in his first state tournament. “It’s awesome. It’s always been one of my dreams in high school golf, the goal. I’m going to see what we can do at state now.”
McGeorge and Scherer were eliminated after the first playoff hole. Heilmann
shot par on the par-5 third hole to edge out Carlson.
Thomas Worthington’s Edison Hill and Upper Arlington’s Rocco Humphreys earned the other two individual berths to state Oct. 12 and 13 at NCR Country Club in Kettering. Both shot 72.
The individuals will be joined by defending state champion Dublin Jerome (8-under 280), St. Charles (295) and New Albany (296).
Jerome, which will try to win its 11th state championship, earned its third consecutive district title behind its No. 3 golfer, junior Harrison Young, who earned medalist honors with a 67. He finished two shots ahead of teammate Blaise Barnum and St. Charles’ Hudson Burkey.
Young will compete in his first state tournament, having missed the 2025 postseason with an illness.
“This feels great,” he said. “Unfortunately, I got sick during this time last year and did not get to play, so it was nice to have some revenge back on this. We have five guys who on any given day can win a golf tournament. It really showed today.”
Brady Barnum (71) and Colton Altenburg (73) rounded out the scoring for Jerome. Brady Barnum won the individual state title last fall.
“We have one goal in mind every year and it’s to win a state [championship],” Young said. “It’s never easy coming to a district that’s so strong. You have teams like St. Charles and New Albany who are always competitive. It’s nice to always have other competition. We know come time at NCR, we have a job to do.”
Freshman Jackson Blanda led New Albany with a 72.
St. Charles will compete in its 14th state tournament, while New Albany will compete in its fifth. St. Charles won state titles in 2009 and 2010, while New Albany is seeking its first state championship.
“NCR is a great course, a championship course,” Jerome coach Brad Sparling said. “You need to drive it well. You need to think and test every aspect of your game. We played there a lot over the summer trying to get ready, so we’re looking forward to the challenge. There are some great teams from our district going there and teams from around the state, so it will be a big challenge.”
Rounding out the team scoring at district were UA (301), Thomas (305), Berlin (307), Olentangy (308), Coffman (309), Big Walnut (322), Teays Valley (322), Jonathan Alder (323) and Grove City (323).
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dublin Jerome, St. Charles, New Albany boys golfers earn state berths
