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Summary by Bob Ashby: A Goal Set.  A Goal Met!
At the beginning of the season coach Conway and the members of the boys golf team set goals for the season. All agreed that topping four-time Greater Miami Conference defending champions Lakota East and the last five years runner-ups Mason, would not be a realistic goal in 2018. One of the major goals they set to achieve would be a top-three finish in this years GMC tournament. That would be a higher finish than had been achieved in the previous five years.

After one days GMC tournament play at Waldon Ponds, the Firebirds stood at 323 strokes, good enough for third by two shots but in a four-school cluster consisting of Sycamore (325), Oak Hills (328) and Fairfield (330) hot on their tails. Seniors Jacob Brownley and Andy Bippus finished among the first days leaders with75 and 79 respectively.

Coach Conway substituted in Sophomore Preston Turner to play in the sixth and last team slot on day two on a hunch that that might strengthen the team. HIs intuition proved right as Turner posted a solid 80 which was the fourth best eighteen hole score recorded by any member of the West team over the two days of the tournament. Still, Fairfield made a second-day run and with just one hole by only one group remaining to be played the Firebirds were tied for third. Jacob Brownley came into the final hole even par for the day and was faced with a ten-foot birdie putt. Brownley sank the critical putt allowing the Firebirds to meet their goal of an outright third place finish.

Brownley’s second-day score of one under par 71 gave him a tournament total of 146, good for a third-place finish out of the field of 60. He also received an automatic selection to the All GMC first team and repeats his 2017 selection to the first team. Andy Bippus posted a final number of 167 strokes, good enough for a second-team All GMC selection. This was his second year to receive this honor.

Participating in this goal achieving team effort besides Brownley, Bippus, and Turner were David McKinney, and Trey Schweiterman, both seniors along with sophomores Jacob Bionte and Luke Daignault.

Congrats to Jacob Brownley (3rd place) and the Boys Golf Team! #WestPride