Badin’s Girls Rout The Field To Win First GCL Coed Title, While Boys Finish Third

By Rick Cassano

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP – Two days, 36 holes, one overwhelming victory.

Badin High School’s girls golf team is the Greater Catholic League Coed Division tournament champion for the first time after completing its 2026 romp Sunday at Walden Ponds Golf Club.

The Rams put up a 641 total on consecutive Sundays to win the title by a whopping 102 strokes over runner-up McNicholas.

“We thought we would dominate … and I think the girls did,” Badin coach Mike Wolf said. “We wanted to hopefully break 320, and we shot 321 and 320. That puts us in the top four or five schools coming out of the Southwest that are going to (Division I) districts. That’s what I want. I want our girls to realize they are competitive with everybody.”

Senior Taylor Zoz also made some school history by earning medalist honors with a 75-77—152 on the par-72 course. Her teammates – senior Leah Martinkovic (79-79—158), sophomore Lexi Martinkovic (80-84—164) and junior Emmy Jacobs (87-80—167) – took the next three spots in the individual race.

McNicholas senior Avery Yards shot 167 to tie Jacobs for fourth place.

“We just keep doing it, and it’s not even our goal to make history,” Zoz said. “We’re just trying to do the best that we can. The fact that we can make history while we’re doing it is crazy. We’re so thankful that we have all these opportunities.

“It’s me and Leah’s senior year, so we don’t want to wish anything away. But we’re just so excited for the next thing, and the next thing is to keep playing with these girls. Coach Mike is our biggest supporter, and if we ever have any issues on a hole, he’s right there to help us. We have such a good dynamic on our team.”

The Rams haven’t lost this season in duals or tournaments. They’ll be gunning for their first state berth Oct. 6 when they compete in the D-I district tourney at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro.

Leah Martinkovic said Day 2 at the GCLs was more of a fun day than pressure golf. There was never any question about Badin winning the title, so it was a free and easy time.

“We’re all super excited about winning the league,” Martinkovic said. “I think seeing our team improve from last year is a big thing for us. It’s part of our checklist on our way to districts. Sectionals, we did that. GCLs, we’re done with that. For a lot of us, it’s just a confidence that we’re getting things done. And we’re all having fun while we’re doing it. Everyone has each other’s backs.”

Wolf said he wanted his players to take a little time to smell the roses before moving on. Badin has two events this week, facing fellow D-I district qualifier Wyoming on Tuesday at Wyoming Golf Club and then playing a Senior Night scramble with the Ram boys team on Thursday at Indian Ridge Golf Club.

“Everybody is peaking at the right time,” Wolf said. “All seven of our players have improved, and our first four are really peaking.

“I’m extremely proud of them. They have accomplished what they wanted to accomplish to this point and one thing beyond, that being winning sectionals. That is the cherry on top. But we think we should go to the finals, and we have prepared for this. If someone beats us, so be it. But I don’t think we’re going to beat ourselves.

“I think these girls still have that little chip on their shoulder. Here’s what’s good about them – they’re not looking past Wyoming. We haven’t looked past anybody. Nobody talks about being undefeated and how we’ve got to keep it going. The focus is we don’t play the girl, we play the course. If you beat the course, you beat the girl.”

Zoz said Badin’s final round at the league tournament was very solid, even on a day when some players weren’t striking the ball as well as they wanted to.

“We were just so scrappy today,” Zoz said. “It’s been ingrained into our brains since freshman year – you just keep playing. If you hit a bad shot, just keep going and work with what you have. Our team is just so resilient this year. We don’t let anything get to us. There’s no emotion in the way that we play. It’s just go, go, go. We play for each other, which is really cool, and we want to make sure we’re not slacking off. We never want to underestimate any of the teams we’re playing.”

Five-time defending champion Fenwick finished third in the league at 805, followed by Dayton Carroll (862) and Kettering Alter (921). Dayton Chaminade Julienne did not have enough players to compete as a team.

Wolf said the upcoming Wyoming match will be significant heading into the district tournament. And he said Badin’s annual boys vs. girls clash should be “raucous.” The girls won last year.

“The boys don’t know what’s coming for them,” Leah Martinkovic said. “They better watch out.”

BOYS: BADIN TAKES THIRD PLACE

Alter’s boys won their 10th straight GCL Coed championship Sunday with a score of 596, easily besting runner-up McNicholas (647), Badin (655), Fenwick (670), Carroll (682) and CJ (700). Alter sophomore Teagan Moore was the medalist with a score of 145.

Badin coach Tim Dixon said the champion Knights have been so dominant for so long that his team was aiming for second place, but the Rams haven’t been as strong in the second half of the season as they were in the beginning.

“I think we finished fifth last year, so we moved up a couple spots,” Dixon said. “But it’s sort of disappointing with the numbers we ended up with. They’re not all that bad, but they’re still higher than what we played all year. They’ve got to learn to play with a little pressure on them. You have to lock in a little bit.”

Badin, which hasn’t won a league title since 2012, shot 321 on the first day of the tournament and finished with a 334.

Junior T.J. Sunderman paced the Rams by finishing tied for fifth at 77-79–156. Senior Gavin Roberto (ninth, 78-84–162), junior Eric Clear (17th, 80-89—169), sophomore Jacob Helmers (19th, 86-85–171) and freshman Maddox Haire (23rd, 88-86–174) also played both days.

Clear had Sunday’s biggest moment with a hole-in-one on the second hole. It was actually the second ace for Badin this year – freshman Cameron DiVito did it on the fifth hole at Potter Park Golf Course in a junior varsity match.

“We were expecting second place, but we came in third, which is OK,” Roberto said. “We’ve just got to be better. We were shooting a 307 in our first 18 holes at Twin Run, so we were looking legit. Then we kind of fell apart at the end of the season.”

Sunderman said Sunday’s final round was an example of what’s been happening with the team of late. He felt the Rams were hitting the ball well, yet not really scoring.

“Some of the scores didn’t really show how guys were playing,” Sunderman said.

He was happy to lead the way for Badin and said there wasn’t one part of his game that stood out. The key was avoiding blow-up holes.

“It was just playing boring golf,” Sunderman said. “I didn’t really have any birdies at all. I had some pars, and that’s what helped me score pretty well. I feel like I showed something to the coach and my teammates about what I can be for the future.”

Sunderman said it was disappointing that the Rams missed getting to districts as a team, but he’s excited that Haire got through as an individual. He’ll play in the district tournament Oct. 5 at Heatherwoode.

Dylan Mayer, Luke Brehm and Roberto are Badin’s three seniors.

Roberto said his driver was really good and his irons and putter “were OK” in the league tournament. He admitted he was hoping to shoot better than 84 on the final day.

“I wish I could’ve done better for my last actual round that’s going to count, but at the end of the day, I’m happy with the results,” Roberto said. “I just know I can do better than that.”

Roberto’s been a four-year varsity player and said it’s been a fun ride. He’s undecided about his college plans at this point.

“It’s been such a great four years,” Roberto said. “Tim is a really good coach, and I really love the guys. Senior Night is going to be really sad. I’m going to miss playing with these guys a lot. They’re going to be good next year. I’m pretty sure they’re going to make it to districts as a team.”

Dixon said the Rams will set a high bar with a veteran squad next season.

“I’m going to walk away from this year with a positive feeling,” Dixon said. “This is probably one of the best squads I’ve had from top to bottom, and we’ve got a lot coming back. We’ve also got some great JV players that are going to be pushing my few juniors that I’ll have next year. I think the expectations will be higher next year than they were this year.”

Sunderman will be one of those returnees and said he’s looking forward to raising his own game.

“For me personally, I thought this was a pretty good season. I cut down like 10 strokes from last year,” Sunderman said. “We should be really good next year. I think we could possibly make state if we really want to and everybody buys into what we’re doing. I know Dixon believes in us.”

All that remains this season for the Rams as a team is Senior Night with the girls. Sunderman said the boys will be ready to avenge last year’s defeat.

“The girls don’t want to catch the smoke,” Sunderman said. “I don’t know how they beat us last year, but we’re going to beat them this year.”

#HarkYe