Margaretta's Kennedy wins Clyde tourney by tiebreaker

CLYDE — Margaretta's Carson Kennedy shot an even-par-71 to win Monday's Ralph Hohenstein Classic at Green Hills Golf Course by scorecard tiebreaker.Kennedy, along with Upper Sandusky's Brett Montgomery and Galion's Matthew McMullen, was one of three players to shoot 71 at the tournament. After tournament officials compared the tied players' scores on holes with the highest handicaps, they named Kennedy the medalist, Montgomery the runner-up and McMullen the third-place finisher. Kennedy started his round with two bogeys, but he quickly rebounded. He birdied the next three holes and finished the round steadily enough to capture the individual title."I just try not to let (tough starts) get in my head," Kennedy said. "Keep playing."Kennedy acknowledged that winning Monday's tournament could be a promising building block for the upcoming season. But his season-long goal is for Margaretta to win the conference. Accomplishing that goal, Kennedy said, will require team-wide improvement. Other notable local scores included Danny Demos shooting a 4-over-par 75 to lead the way for Huron.Other top individual finishers included: Connor Hill, Lakota, 81; Sam Siegel, Perkins, 83; Alex Martinez, Bellevue, 84; Grayson Clark, Danbury 87; Brayden Spencer, Port Clinton, 90; Garrett Wiseman, Clyde, 92.In the team competition, Galion shot a 317 to win the tournament by four strokes over Seneca East (321). Genoa followed Seneca East by shooting 332, and St. Joseph Central Catholic shot 337, good for fourth place in the 27-team field and the best finish from the Sandusky Bay Conference.SJCC coach John Spader credited competent course management for his team's top-four finish."We feel we should've shot better than we did today, but nothing got out of control," Spader said. "We've been preaching course management, not letting holes get away from us. As long as we can keep holes from blowing up on us, we should be in that range all the time." Other SBC participants included Margaretta (345, 5th place), Perkins (347, 6th) Bellevue (357, 9th) Lakota (359, 10th) Port Clinton (371, 12th) Clyde (375, 13th), Huron (378, 14th) and Danbury (390, 21st). Local scores Fremont SJCC: Lance Emrich (41-42 — 83), Parker Smith (42-42 — 84), Garrett Michael (42-43 — 85), Blake Michael (42-43 — 85), Cole Stull (43-42 — 85)Margaretta: Carson Kennedy (33-38 — 71), Nathan Schaefer (46-43 — 89), Logan Bailey (48-42 —90), Mike Wadsworth (46-49 —95), Hayden Tinnel (56-45 — 101)Perkins: Sam Siegel (39-44 — 83), John Sharp (44-42 — 86), Jacob Williams (46-41 — 87), Cole Hupp (46-45 — 91), Ian Hemohill (44-49 —93) Bellevue: Alex Martinez (43-41 — 84), Adam Hosang (42-45 — 87), Layne Krupp (45-47 — 92), Hayden Foos (54-40 — 94), Hudson Strayer (47-47 — 94)Lakota: Connor Hill (41-40 — 81), Ethan Longoria (46-42 — 88), Colt Dible (46-49 — 95), Jayden Bonnell (45-50 — 95), Marshall Minich (46-50 — 96)Port Clinton: Brayden Spencer (47-43 — 90), Noah Shaw (42-49 — 91), Garrett Arnold (47-45 — 92), Jaxon Martinez (48-50 — 98) Jayce Kennedy (51-51 — 102)Clyde: Garrett Wiseman (46-46 — 92), Mason Gurney (48-45 — 93), Max Yates (46-47 — 93), Gavin Gill (46-51 — 97), Jacob Lee (50-48 — 98)Huron: Danny Demos (42-33 — 75), Connor Kleist (45-50 — 95), Brendan Kleist (53-48 — 101), Adam Murray (55-59 — 114), Luke Rager (55-52 — 107)Danbury: Grayson Clark (43-44 — 87), Brandley Murray (46-42 — 88), Tyler Murray (47-47 — 94), Zach Ranker (60-61 — 121), Alex Frank (62-68 — 130)Margaretta's Carson Kennedy putts the ball across the green during the Ralph Hohenstein Classic on Monday at Green Hills Golf Course in Clyde.