9/13/2012 - West Side Leader
     

DOWNTOWN AKRON — St. Vincent-St. Mary (STVM) High School boys golf head coach Tom Kilbourne said he believes a strong schedule is important in building his program.

“We are looking to improve by competing against the best opponents possible and learning the skills of course management and consistency,” he stated. “My approach is to play a very tough schedule against many Division I teams in order to prepare us for sectional and district play at the end of the season. We enter as many invitational tournaments as possible to help prepare the team for the Division II tournaments. We have competed against many of the top teams in the state of Ohio and most of the top local teams at some time during our regular season.”

Kilbourne said his team is hoping to equal or surpass its recent postseason success.

“Our goal for this season is to finish eighth or better at districts,” he stated. “The past three years, we have finished in eighth at districts, and we hope to reach that goal.”

In 2011, the team’s record was 2-5, highlighted by a win over City Series champion Firestone High School.

“Losses included a one-stroke loss to Walsh and a loss to Mooney, who were both state qualifiers,” Kilbourne said.

In 2012, the STVM boys golf team was off to a 3-1 start through Sept. 8.

“Our proposed schedule includes 17 varsity matches and tournaments,” Kilbourne said. “We have played invitational tournaments at the Trinity Invitational (Ironwood), CVCA

By Sean Patrick

DOWNTOWN AKRON — St. Vincent-St. Mary (STVM) High School boys golf head coach Tom Kilbourne said he believes a strong schedule is important in building his program.

“We are looking to improve by competing against the best opponents possible and learning the skills of course management and consistency,” he stated. “My approach is to play a very tough schedule against many Division I teams in order to prepare us for sectional and district play at the end of the season. We enter as many invitational tournaments as possible to help prepare the team for the Division II tournaments. We have competed against many of the top teams in the state of Ohio and most of the top local teams at some time during our regular season.”

Kilbourne said his team is hoping to equal or surpass its recent postseason success.

“Our goal for this season is to finish eighth or better at districts,” he stated. “The past three years, we have finished in eighth at districts, and we hope to reach that goal.”

In 2011, the team’s record was 2-5, highlighted by a win over City Series champion Firestone High School.

“Losses included a one-stroke loss to Walsh and a loss to Mooney, who were both state qualifiers,” Kilbourne said.

In 2012, the STVM boys golf team was off to a 3-1 start through Sept. 8.

“Our proposed schedule includes 17 varsity matches and tournaments,” Kilbourne said. “We have played invitational tournaments at the Trinity Invitational (Ironwood), CVCA Invitational (Silver Lake), Nordonia Classic (Ellsworth Meadows), Mooney Invitational (Mill Creek), Hoban Invitational (Firestone West), Walsh Tradition (Brookledge), and on Sept. 25 we will play [in the] Divisional II sectional at Massillon Elms. We hope to qualify for the district tournament at Windmill Lakes in October.”

Kilbourne said his squad has an intriguing blend of youth and experience.

“This year’s team has a combination of seniors and young players, with many playing at different times. We have four seniors, with Joe Stavale and Andy Farrell being our captains. The other two seniors, Jeff Dannemiller and Chase Williams, are seeing a lot of playing time. Our lone junior is Evan Hofacker,” he said. “Joe Stavale has been the standout player this season on varsity. He is averaging less than 80 and has some outstanding rounds of 74 at the Mooney Invitational and 76 at the Nordonia Classic.”

In addition, the coach stated, the team features a strong core of underclassmen.

“The varsity sophomores are Tory Kovalchick and Sean Devaney. Tony Locastro and Zach Hutson are sophomores seeing most of their playing time on JV [junior varsity team]. Our freshmen include Justin Hofacker, who has played every match and tournament and has been our best addition on varsity, and Tom Weber, who is playing JV,” he said. “Our JV team has 15 matches and tournaments, with hopes of preparing our young players for varsity competition in the future. The JV team is 5-1 this season.”

According to Kilbourne, consistency has been a team strength this season.

“This year’s team has been more consistent as a team — with fewer bad rounds from our players than in the past seasons,” he said. “This has been our biggest improvement from last season.”

Kilbourne said the STVM boys golf program is on the rise.

“When I took over as head coach three years ago, our varsity had only 10 total matches. My goal has been to make a schedule that gives our players good exposure to the public, experience and helps them to be more competitive in the future. We have several of our ex-players currently playing in college and hope to be a stepping stone for many more in the future,” he said. “Mark Dean is our JV coach and has been for the past three seasons. He has helped improve our JV schedule to a point that we did not believe possible three years ago.”

Invitational (Silver Lake), Nordonia Classic (Ellsworth Meadows), Mooney Invitational (Mill Creek), Hoban Invitational (Firestone West), Walsh Tradition (Brookledge), and on Sept. 25 we will play [in the] Divisional II sectional at Massillon Elms. We hope to qualify for the district tournament at Windmill Lakes in October.”

Kilbourne said his squad has an intriguing blend of youth and experience.

“This year’s team has a combination of seniors and young players, with many playing at different times. We have four seniors, with Joe Stavale and Andy Farrell being our captains. The other two seniors, Jeff Dannemiller and Chase Williams, are seeing a lot of playing time. Our lone junior is Evan Hofacker,” he said. “Joe Stavale has been the standout player this season on varsity. He is averaging less than 80 and has some outstanding rounds of 74 at the Mooney Invitational and 76 at the Nordonia Classic.”

In addition, the coach stated, the team features a strong core of underclassmen.

“The varsity sophomores are Tory Kovalchick and Sean Devaney. Tony Locastro and Zach Hutson are sophomores seeing most of their playing time on JV [junior varsity team]. Our freshmen include Justin Hofacker, who has played every match and tournament and has been our best addition on varsity, and Tom Weber, who is playing JV,” he said. “Our JV team has 15 matches and tournaments, with hopes of preparing our young players for varsity competition in the future. The JV team is 5-1 this season.”

According to Kilbourne, consistency has been a team strength this season.

“This year’s team has been more consistent as a team — with fewer bad rounds from our players than in the past seasons,” he said. “This has been our biggest improvement from last season.”

Kilbourne said the STVM boys golf program is on the rise.

“When I took over as head coach three years ago, our varsity had only 10 total matches. My goal has been to make a schedule that gives our players good exposure to the public, experience and helps them to be more competitive in the future. We have several of our ex-players currently playing in college and hope to be a stepping stone for many more in the future,” he said. “Mark Dean is our JV coach and has been for the past three seasons. He has helped improve our JV schedule to a point that we did not believe possible three years ago.”

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