Badin Falls Short Of Advancing Out Of D-I Sectional, But Freshman Haire Headed For Playoff

By Rick Cassano

MIAMISBURG – Maddox Haire has achieved one goal by earning a spot in a Division I sectional boys golf playoff.

Now the Badin High School freshman wants to experience the joy of winning it.

Monday’s 18 holes at PipeStone Golf Club decided everything but who will be the fourth and final district qualifier, and Haire will return to PipeStone at 9 a.m. on Tuesday to square off with Lebanon senior Griffin Rose for that spot.

“I think I’m ready to be in a playoff,” Haire said. “I’ve never been in one and always wanted to do one. I know for a fact that when I get on that tee, I’m going to be shaking, but I think I’ll be locked in. I think I’ll be ready.”

Haire posted a score of 40-39—79 on the par-72 course, finishing in a three-way tie with Rose and Springboro senior Dylan Doherty for ninth place. But Doherty’s Panthers are headed to district as a team, so it’s just Haire and Rose left to duke it out to be the last individual to advance.

They’ll play a sudden-death Hole No. 9 and keep playing that hole until somebody wins. The victor will join individual district qualifiers Tanner Newsome of Franklin (77), Carson Auxier of Clayton Northmont (78) and Quinn Farrell of Dayton Chaminade Julienne (78) at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro on Oct. 5.

“It’ll be fun for Maddox tomorrow,” Badin coach Tim Dixon said. “He’s very unrattled for a freshman. He will tell you he’s up for the challenge. It’s not a kid that’s backing away from anything.”

The sectional start was delayed four hours by ultra-wet course conditions. It was a chilly, dreary day that included a steady mist later in the round.

Dixon’s Rams fell agonizingly short of qualifying for district by finishing sixth with 338 strokes. Springboro (308), Centerville (328), Dayton Carroll (333) and Kettering Fairmont (335) were the four teams that qualified. Lebanon (335) was fifth, losing a fifth-man tiebreaker to Fairmont.

Badin has been in Division I the last two years and also placed sixth in the district last season at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace, 5 strokes behind the fourth district qualifier.

“I should be proud, but I’m a little disappointed today,” Dixon said. “I wasn’t disappointed last year being our first year in D-I. This year, I was expecting a lot better score. We just didn’t play well, and then for us to finish 3 shots out really stinks. I guarantee you all the guys can go back and find at least one shot each. They’re going to tell you they could probably find 10.”

The soggy conditions were less than ideal, though Dixon said he didn’t want to start making excuses for the Rams’ worst 18-hole performance of the season.

“Everybody had to play in the same stuff,” Dixon said. “For what the officials had to work with, they did a great job with the course. Maddox fought through it and played well. He showed it could be done.

“Part of me is questioning myself a little bit on some of the things today, but the guys have to hit the shots. Most of these guys are veteran enough that I leave them alone, but we do talk about every shot mattering because you never know.

“Even if you’re playing bad, you’ve got to make sure you stay in the moment. I guarantee you there were guys that hit a bad shot and just walked up and hit the next one and didn’t take their time and focus. It’s another teaching moment for them.”

Following Haire for Badin were junior T.J. Sunderman (39-43—82), sophomore Jacob Helmers (43-45—88), junior Eric Clear (44-45—89) and senior Gavin Roberto (46-46—92).

“The conditions were rough, but we knew that coming in,” Haire said. “I knew that I could stick it to some greens today because they were going to be slow, so I was trying to aim for the middle of the green and two-putt from there. That was my approach the whole day.”

He said the pace of play was slow on a day when balls were hitting the wet ground and rolling very little.

“My driver was working pretty well,” Haire said. “I was hitting most of the fairways, and my approach shots were pretty solid. My putting was off and on, but it was mostly pretty good.

“We’ll be back next year as a team. I think the pressure was a lot for us this year because we had expectations to make it past this. That’s what our goal was the whole season.”

Haire felt like he had to work so hard playing through the conditions that he deserves a chance to compete at the district level. He’s mostly been the No. 3 golfer in the Rams’ lineup this year.

“I thought I’d be middle of the pack most of the time, which is kind of what I am,” Haire said. “But making an impact at sectionals, it’s a big deal. I’m very, very proud of myself. It would be awesome to get to district as a freshman.”

Dixon said Badin hasn’t been playing as well lately as it did early in the season. The Rams coach said Haire is good enough to be No. 1 in the lineup, but he didn’t want to put added pressure on the ninth-grader.

“I just didn’t want the stage to be too big for him coming in,” Dixon said. “His numbers were really good at the beginning of the year. He’s been like everybody else this last week or two, just sort of trending down. The last two rounds haven’t been great for him, then he turns around today and fires a 79 in that weather.”

Badin will play Mason on Wednesday at Walden Ponds Golf Club. The Rams will be back at Walden Ponds next Sunday for Day 2 of the Greater Catholic League Coed Division tournament.

The first round of the league event was held Sunday. Kettering Alter (301), McNicholas (319) and Badin (321) topped the team standings, with Sunderman (77) and Roberto (78) leading the Rams.

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