Girls golf charts new course in post

Dick Maloney

Members of Harrison’s girls golf program take practice swings at Robin’s Nest Golf Center.

HARRISON – Teams that have won six consecutive league championships generally don’t have difficulty defining success.

Yet as he sat on the patio at Robin’s Nest Golf Center on a Tuesday in late July, Harrison High School girls golf coach Bryan Carr was briefly stumped when asked: “How will you define success this season?”

“That’s a good question,” Carr said.

Conference tournaments, and titles, have been the measuring stick for the Wildcats under Carr’s leadership. Harrison has won the last six Southwest Ohio Conference tournaments. That streak is in no danger of ending this season, because there will be no SWOC tournament. With the league down to four schools, only two have girls golf programs – Harrison and Talawanda. Northwest in recent years has had a team, but rarely a full one.

Click here for Harrison girls golf schedule

With little movement on a new league affiliation – at least publicly – some of Harrison’s varsity sports, including boys and girls golf, are left without the carrot of trophies and all-league recognition. Carr has left an open week on his schedule in late September for a possible hybrid league tournament with Talawanda and Cincinnati Hills League schools. Last season only five of the eight CHL members had teams, and two of those – Indian Hill and Taylor – did not play full schedules.

“I would hope we could just for the sake of having some other goals for the girls besides sectionals. You know, that’s a team goal. That’s great. That’s very worthy,” Carr said of a possible alignment with the CHL – or other leagues – in some sports. The boys golf program also lists a SWOC/CHL Tournament on its schedule, but without a firm date.

Harrison’s focus this season will likely be on the Best of the West Tournament Saturday, Sept. 9, at Miami Whitewater Golf Course. The Wildcats placed second in the Best of the West in 2022. The program is as strong as it has been, Carr said.

“We’re not a hotbed of golf out here. So it’s hard to shake that mindset, but there’s a lot more interest this year. This is the most I’ve ever had out. We had two new girls today, so that puts us up to 22 girls who had made an appearance at open tees.”

Open tees are not official practices – those could not begin until July 31, and Harrison starts its season this Friday, Aug. 4, with a tri-match vs. Little Miami and Wyoming at Circling Hills Golf Course. Coaches use the “pre-practice” practices to help players with their swing and go through the nuances of the game. Carr has a new assistant this year, former Ross coach Richard Newsom.

The increased turnout will give coaches more options when it comes to setting the six-player lineup – Carr rarely switches once he settles on his “starters.” The first four positions are likely set. Seniors Alexis Greene and Annalise Schoonover and juniors Taylor Oberjohann and Maggie Seiter all gained varsity experience in 2022, playing with the now-graduated Emma Barrier (2022 SWOC champion), Ella Pfaffl and Kassidy Seger.

Carr talked about each of them:

“Annalise … just started playing golf last year, but she had a lot of moments that were strong. She’s capable of low 50s, scores around 50, and sub-50 scores.

“Alexis … has a lot of experience. She didn’t actually play a ton (as a freshman), but then sophomore, junior year she played a lot for us, was in our top five golfers. Last year she was probably in our five-six slot. So I’m looking for her to step up.

“Maggie Seiter’s worked on her game a ton. I’m looking for Maggie to average in the 40s this year. She got herself down to where she was averaging around 50 by the end of the season.

“Oberjohann has all the capabilities in the world. She’s worked really hard this year. She’s capable of 40s at any time. If we can get the girls from the low 50s to 50 and jump them down into the 40s somehow, then we’ll be very competitive.”

Harrison will play Talawanda twice – Aug. 11 at Circling Hills and Sept. 11 at Oxford Country Club. Former league rival Edgewood (Aug. 16 at Brown’s Run Country Club) is also on the schedule. The Wildcats will play five matches against Girls Greater Cincinnati League competition – Badin (Aug. 7 at Circling Hills and Sept. 12 at Potter’s Park), Seton (Aug. 10, course to be determined), Mercy McAuley (Aug. 14 at Circling Hills), and Mount Notre Dame (Aug. 31 at Clovernook Country Club).

For the first time in several years, Harrison will play a regular-season match at Walden Ponds Golf Club – where it usually plays in the Division I sectional – Aug. 21 vs. Fairfield – and will meet Milford at the Grizzly Course in Mason Sept. 5.

“I’ve kind of tried to make our schedule a little tougher, even though I’m not worried about wins and losses so much against those. But you know, in the past you didn’t worry about wins and losses against the non-league teams. You just tried to schedule strong teams to make you better because when you played better competition, you play better,” Carr said.