MIDDLEFIELD—It would be understating the obvious to say Cardinal has struggled against Chagrin Valley Conference rival Kirtland.
The Huskies haven’t had much success against the Hornets but that doesn’t matter following Thursday’s 169-177 win at Grandview Golf Course.
“That was an incredibly satisfying win,” said Cardinal coach Greg McCandless. “We wanted to be respectful as possible but the guys also felt like jumping up and down.”
Tyler Carroll shot a match low 36, which was also a lifetime best.
His aggressiveness from the first hole to the last set the tone for his teammates.
“That’s the best by far that he’s done,” McCandless said. “He struggled at our last match against Harvey but I talked to him before the first tee and asked what he’s thinking about the first tee shot. I asked him if he was going to play it safe or are you going to hit something short. He said, ‘The way I finished practice yesterday I was hitting them pure. I’m going right at it.’ That must have been his strategy throughout the day. He was beaming with confidence after the round for sure. He got off to a good start with a good tee shot on 1 and just kept it going.”
Carroll finished the day with one birdie and five pars.
Danny Knippenberg shot a 42, Geno Argento finished with a 45 and Joe Callison carded a 46.
“Put it this way, the best we shot in a match this season was 184 and we had 169 today,” McCandless said. “That’s quite a significant improvement. That 36 sure helps, but it was a total team effort. Everybody contributed.”
Michael Schnur and Michael Knezevic both shot 43 for the Hornets while Brian Beres shot a 44 and Adam Mueller finished with a 47.
“We talked about it before the match. I had them on the practice green and told them anything can happen, especially at Grandview,” McCandless said. “You can make some big numbers at Grandview if you get on the wrong side of those holes. Kirtland has a really good, solid team. They finished second in the CVC preseason team. For us to have realistic shot they were going to have to be a little off and we were going to have to play lights out and that’s exactly what happened.”
The Huskies improved to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in the CVC. They travel to Independence on Monday.
