KETTERING – Perhaps not surprisingly, Dublin Jerome brothers Brady and Blaise Barnum had envisioned finishing first and second in the Division I boys golf state tournament.
A senior and Georgia commit, Brady realized his part of the dream last year when he won his first individual title.
“We’ve talked about it every now and then, but usually I’m (No.) 1 and he’s 2,” joked Blaise, a sophomore who tied for 34th a season ago, 20 shots behind his brother.
The dream came true – in reverse, at least from Blaise’s perspective – Oct. 13 at NCR Country Club’s South Course when Brady shot 73 to repeat as individual champion (two-day 139), Blaise finished second (141) and the Celtics won their second straight team title by 25 shots.
Brady followed his opening
round 66 with a 1-over-par 73, while Blaise surged with six birdies and five pars in his final 14 holes to shoot 70.
“I was so locked in today that I didn’t realize it until after,” Blaise said of his birdies.
“Having this actually happen is pretty surreal,” Brady said. “We’ve both been playing really good golf all year, so going into this we just said if we played our best golf, stuck to our routines and do whatever we need to do, then we could both play really well.”
Senior Evan Menges was fifth (145) and junior Harrison Young tied for 12th (149) for Jerome, which won its 11th title all-time. The Celtics finished with a 574, well ahead of runner-up Cincinnati St. Xavier (599) and New Albany (603).
“I need more Barnums,” Jerome coach Brad Sparling said, noting the family has a daughter currently in middle school. “I don’t know that [two brothers] have ever finished 1-2 in the state, or if it will ever happen again.
“Blaise is the most fun-loving, young, passionate guy with incredible talent. Brady is just a pro. Brady is the man. He’s dialed in with everything. I don’t need to do anything with him except ask if he wants a drink or snack.”
Thanks largely to sophomore Elijah Hall-Bromberg’s round of 69 – 10 shots better than Oct. 12 – New Albany moved from fifth place after the first day to third.
Junior Ethan Hall tied for sixth (147), followed by Hall-Bromberg (tied for 10th, 148), freshman Jackson Blanda (tied for 21st, 152) and junior Nicholas Thompson (tied for 29th, 156).
Hall-Bromberg had 12 pars, including eight in a row from Nos. 3-10, but deflected any credit for his round and took responsibility for a rough first day.
“We know we’re better than that,” Hall-Bromberg said. “It was mostly preparation, but it’s also about confidence. A lot of it was putting and ball-striking and leaving it in the right place on the green to get opportunities.
“I try and lead the team as best I can and I take full responsibility for what happened [Oct. 12]. I stayed at the course about three hours extra and it paid off, but I wasn’t so much mad at my score as letting the team down.”
Upper Arlington senior Rocco Humphreys used a 72 to finish third (143), the Golden Bears’ fourth top-10 finisher at state in as many years. Humphreys will play collegiately about 5 miles from NCR at the University of Dayton.
“I just stuck to my plan; I hit a lot of greens, a lot of two-putts and let the course come to me,” said Humphreys, who had 13 pars and two birdies. “I didn’t make any high numbers. I just stayed consistent.”
Cleveland St. Ignatius was fourth (605), followed by Hudson (612), St. Charles (614), Hunting Valley University School (627), Toledo St. John’s (632), Liberty Township Lakota East (635), Akron Hoban (641), Cincinnati Moeller (645) and Marietta (684).
Senior Hudson Burkey (tied for 14th, 150) led St. Charles, followed by junior Pierce Stealey (tied for 23rd, 153), senior Benjamin Scheiwer (tied for 29th, 156) and sophomore Blake Yoakam (tied for 34th, 159).
Thomas Worthington senior Edison Hill shot even par in the final round and tied for 12th.
Olentangy Berlin junior Owen Heillmann tied for 18th (151), closing with a 78.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Barnum brothers lead Dublin Jerome boys golf to repeat OHSAA title
