Nov. 15—As any golfer can tell you, the tee box is where flex your muscles and show off a bit.
But Edgewood’s Avery Vencill and Annie Johnston both knew tightening up things on and around the greens would be the difference if the Warriors were to advance to the district tournament.
For the second year in a row, Vencill and Johnston will share the Ashtabula County Girls Golfer of the Year award, as agreed upon by the county coaches.
Vencill averaged a score 40.6 for nine holes with a season-low of 32, while Johnston had an average of 40.3 and posted a 37 for her season-best.
Both players also advanced to the district tournament, but unlike a year ago, this time the rest of the team went with them.
Individual honors are nice, but after narrowly missing the cut to get to the district tournament a year ago, both players said what stands out is what their team accomplished.
“That definitely fueled us,” Vencill said. “Even before the season started, we were looking forward to making it out and that’s what we were working towards the whole season.”
Golf may not be best known as a team sport, but Johnston said the team provided all the motivation she needed.
“It wasn’t me just pushing myself,” she said. “Our No. 4 player [Rylee McCumber] stepped up and the other girls, I’d ask them if they want to go to practice, because we knew we had to put in the work to get better.”
They pushed themselves because they knew they wanted to reach the Division II district tournament at JE Good Park Golf Course in Akron.
“We couldn’t settle,” Johnston said. “We had bigger expectations — to go to Districts. We knew we had to work together and push each other.”
The most work was put in on their short games — chipping and putting.
“Short game is so important,” Vencill said. “That’s what I worked on the most in the offseason.”
Working on chipping and putting drills, though, can be tedious compared to the joy of just going out and playing a round. But Vencill and Johnston both knew it was necessary to get their team where they wanted to go.
“Sometimes you just have to stay on the putting green and chipping green and not go out and play,” Vencill said. “Sometimes you have to stay disciplined. I like playing, so it was kind of hard. You want to go out and play a round, but you just have to discipline yourself to stay back and work on what you need to get better.”
Johnston, who resides in the country, talked about spending hours in the backyard with the pitching wedge and a bucket of golf balls.
“I’d set up a towel in the grass and I’d take out 50 balls at a time and spread them over different spots and then try to land them on that towel,” she said.
The work they put in was more than evident this season, as each player took about three strokes off their average from a year ago, according to Warriors coach Christina Fischer.
“Their short games really improved this year,” Fischer said. “We really stressed ‘no 3-putts, try to keep it to 2-putts.’ We even had times where our chips were good enough to get it in the hole with one putt.”
Fischer said the players enjoyed their time on the course, but chipping and putting were a constant priority.
“Not that we don’t go out and just play rounds, but a lot of drills are based on short-game stuff,” Fischer said. “It might feel repetitive and redundant, but that’s where you will really drop the quickest amount of strokes. You can get it on in regulation, but if you 6-putt, what good is that.”
Johnston made her third district trip, while Vencill qualified for her first. It was the first trip for an Edgewood girls team in school history.
Aside from Vencill and Johnston, Zoe Naus, Edgewood’s third player, also had strong rounds.
Fischer said the talent on her team is something she knows is not the norm at most schools.
“We are very fortunate and blessed to have that kind of talent,” Fischer said. “To have three solid golfers that can consistently shoot in the low 40s for nine holes, it’s kind of a rarity at the high school level for a public school. I certainly don’t take it for granted.”
