Augenstein triple bogeyed the hole, but he came back to shoot a 1-under par 70 and lead his team to the district title and second straight trip to the state tournament, which begins Friday with the first of two rounds on the Ohio State Scarlet Course.
The Panthers, all five of them seniors, are back for the second straight year as is the Springboro girls team. Last year the boys finished 10th out of 12 teams, but this year they enter having shot 293 at districts, which, along with Whitehouse Anthony Wayne, was the lowest score at the state’s four district tournaments. The Panthers believe they will contend this year because their mental game has improved.
It started with hour-long sessions on Sunday evenings called Players Box. The entire team was counseled in the mental approach by some former college athletes, who play golf, in the art of doing what Augenstein said: letting it go. The Panthers’ collective effort to focus on the next shot and forget the previous one, good or bad, has created a team of consistent golfers.
“I felt like I did a really good job just putting that in the past,” Augenstein said of the triple bogey. “It’s over. you can’t change it now. and then just going on and playing the next one and trying my best.”
After Augenstein, Eian Cambria shot 71, Bradley Hinkel shot 75, Jack Rott shot 77 and Brogan Cambria shot 80.
“After a bad hole I could see myself either getting a birdie or par,” Eian Cambria said. “I just know how to recover now.”
Hinkel said bad shots used to make him mad, and he carried that feeling into his next shot.
“Now I’m just brushing it off,” he said.
The Panthers are confident in their mindset and their abilities to play just like they did last week when they won on their home course at Heatherwoode Golf Club.
“I think we’re going play the same,” said Hinkel, who was the Panthers’ best finisher last year in 39th place with rounds of 82 and 81. “I think we’re going to put up some good numbers, so I think we got a chance to win it.”
Coach Justin Martin is confident as well.
“We have five guys on our team that if they go play like they know they can and like they have, we’ll be right in the conversation coming down the stretch on Saturday,” he said. “I know they’re looking forward to it. It’s a group of seniors and I’m looking forward to it as well.”
While the Springboro boys are playing on the Scarlet Course, the girls team will be playing on the Gray Course. Hudson is the only other school with both teams entered.
The Springboro girls finished ninth last year and were led by Taylor Dunkle in 33rd place with rounds of 82 and 80. Last year the Panthers made it to state by one stroke. This year they finished comfortably in second place.
“They’ve grown closer together and we didn’t lose anyone from last year,’ said head coach Hannah McCrabb who played at state for the Panthers in 2014 and 2015. “So that was big for the camaraderie to be able to have that same team that knows state, and we added in a freshmen. It’ll be great for everyone to go back again.”
Senior Danielle Stinson shot a 75 for the Panthers’ best score at last week’s district tournament.
“We just have to go out there and do what we do best,” she said. “We’ve put in the work already, and we’ve already made so much improvement from last year. So we just have to do what we can do.”
Dunkle, who won the district last year as a sophomore, is ready to take on the Gray Course again.
“We’re going to have a fun time,” she said. “We’re going to focus on playing well, focusing during our practice round and we’re going to try and win it.”
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