Flyers claim back-to-back SOC golf titles in convincing fashion

McDERMOTT — The St. Joseph Flyers went “Back-to-Back” and this time with an exclamation point.

For the second straight season, the Flyers won the Southern Ohio Conference Division I golf championship and this time in blowout fashion with a 51-shot difference between them and the field.

St. Joseph finished with a 308 score while the runner-up Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans had a team score of 359. Portsmouth Clay was next at 387.

“That’s what you start out with at the beginning of the year, setting goals and that was at the forefront but to do it in style was really exciting,” said Flyers’ coach Quinn Cole about winning back-to-back titles.

“Last year, we were kind of sweating it out the last couple of matches. This year we came in with ‘hey, let’s just do our thing today. Let’s play our best game. We’re going to take care of ourselves.’”

Freshman Cohen Dressel was the tournament medalist and was named the Player of the Year as he shot a 71.

“The trajectory he’s on, the sky’s the limit for him,” said Cole. “I’ve been around guys who played on the (PGA) tour. Cohen’s like a mini-tour player. He has the swing. He has the mentality. He has the course management."

“He has every tool you need. And then you start talking to him and you forget he’s just a 15-year-old kid.”

The Flyers landed four golfers on the All-SOC first team that included Chris Phillips, Mitchell Heighton, Troy Erlenwein and Dressel.

Cole was named the SOC Coach of the Year.

Heighton shot a 75, Phillips a 78, Fields 84 and Erlenwein 85.

Joining the Flyers’ on the All-SOC team were Notre Dame’s Garrett Barbarits with an 80, Clay’s Evan Rider 80, and Notre Dame’s Kenady McGraw 85 and Carter Ingles 93.

“They all played well today. It was a fun day. I’m so proud of those boys. It was a really exciting day,” said Cole.

“I wanted them to shoot a 305 today. They were playing against the course. They shot a 308, so they can definitely do it.”