ALEXANDRIA – Without compromising his cybersecurity, Olentangy Orange girls golf coach Todd Helline admitted that “2027” is part of almost all of his online passwords because he expected that to be the year his team peaked.
Helline was as quick to acknowledge that a Division I district runner-up finish Oct. 5 at Links at Echo Springs, nine shots behind defending state champion Dublin Jerome, was both a pleasant surprise and especially sweet given that the Pioneers’ season ended at this stage a year ago.
Led by sophomore Amelia Buettner’s runner-up finish (71) and a third-place, even-par effort from classmate Amelia Ricker (72), Orange secured a state berth for the first time since 2018.
“The fact that we’re here a year early is pretty awesome,”
Helline said. “When I first took over six years ago, I knew what we had in the pipeline and thought next year would be where everything starts. We made a good run at state last year, and this year I knew we were really good and had a chance, but this is special.
“Early on, most everyone had three-putts. It was a tough start, but once we get our groove, then we feel pretty good. If we are within five or six shots after eight holes, I feel pretty good.”
Orange junior Maddie Patton tied for 25th (83) and classmate Ellie Bach tied for 34th (87).
The top two teams and top two individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to state Oct. 12 and 13 at NCR Country Club’s North Course in Kettering.
Olentangy junior Jodie Han cruised to a repeat individual championship, shooting a 66 to best Buettner by five shots.
Junior Mallory Quickel’s 73 (tied for fourth) led Jerome, which got four rounds in the 70s and steadily pulled away throughout the back nine to win its second district title in three seasons.
“I feel really good about how I responded with the conditions and the wind; it changed directions a lot so you had to be constantly adapting,” Quickel said. “It really means a lot to win this after falling short last year [finishing second to Olentangy]. Our depth definitely helps. If you make a mistake, you have a girl to pick up back up.”
Junior Nikitha Suresh finished sixth (75), followed by classmate Adella Pawlowski (12th, 77) and freshman Hebe Li (15th, 79).
“They might go through the round giggling and smiling, but they want to rip your heart out,” Jerome coach CD Butcher said. “They are just competitors. We weren’t playing really well; we were right there with a few teams for a while … other teams were playing well, but we didn’t let them get a chance because we just finished the rounds. They just find a way to finish rounds.”
Olentangy was third (320), followed by Upper Arlington (325), Granville (326), Olentangy Berlin (338), Dublin Coffman (351), Big Walnut (353), Watterson (358), Olentangy Liberty (381) and Grove City (383).
Olentangy’s Han, Upper Arlington’s Emerson earn state berths
Han’s day was highlighted by an eagle on the par-4 No. 8, capped by a 25-foot putt that helped her stay well clear of a scrum for the second individual berth.
Han finished with four birdies and 10 pars, eight of which came in her final 10 holes.
Han missed the first round of state last year because of an amateur event in Texas but shot a 69 on the final day. She said she is competing in both rounds next week.
“It just felt like every so often, I had a couple good holes and then those added up [without] a ton of bad holes,” Han said. “I was just pretty confident over the ball and that’s why I made a lot of putts.”
Upper Arlington sophomore Eva Emerson tied for fourth (73) and earned the other individual berth, edging four golfers by two shots.
Emerson bogeyed No. 18 and had to wait about 45 minutes to see whether she would advance.
“I had a good bunker shot out and didn’t make the putt; I hadn’t been checking the scores, so I thought that putt was for me to make it,” Emerson said. “Last year I missed state by one stroke and I thought it would happen again.”
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: Dublin Jerome, Olentangy Orange girls golfers clinch state berths
