Pafford returns from injury to lead Monroe golf to County Championship

Ernie Sellers wasn't quite sure what he would do without his top golfer.

Monroe junior Kyle Pafford missed two straight league meets with a neck injury and was not sure he would be ready to play for the team's biggest meet of the season this week.

"He was feeling pretty low," Sellers said. "He loves golf so much that if he's not playing, he must be really hurt.

PHOTO GALLERY: Monroe County Boys Golf Championship

Pafford regretted the missed time but was on the mend late last week. He was medically cleared the resume golf activity with just days to spare before Monday's Monroe County Championship.

"I told him that he had to let me know by Saturday," Sellers said. "He had a doctor's appointment Friday and told me late Friday that he was in. I was worried about that. He's a great golfer and you obviously want to have your No. 1 golfer at all times. I was worried, but when he told me he was in, I felt a lot better."

Despite the injury – or maybe just in spite of it – Pafford put together the best round of his season Monday, shooting a 3-over-par 75 to earn medalist honors and lead Monroe to a round of 332 and first place in the county championship at Monroe Golf & Country Club.

It is the Trojans' first county title since 2018 and just the team's second in the past 15 years.

Bedford finished second with 343, while Gibraltar Carlson also scored 343 but slipped to third on a tiebreaker. St. Mary Catholic Central was fourth with 345, followed by Airport (355), Ida (391), Dundee (431) and New Boston Huron (436). Summerfield did not field a full team.

It was the first tournament win this season for Monroe and the first medalist honors for Pafford, who admitted he started the season slow before the injury took him off course.

"I've had injuries before and thankfully this one was minor," said Pafford, who only had one practice round under his belt before Monday's meet. "It was a pretty big concern to be honest. I was a little nervous coming in."

Pafford carded a 79 in his practice round and felt ready to compete, but some soreness still lingered in his neck even up to the morning of the tournament.

"I think it actually may have helped me," Pafford joked. "I didn't get too cocky or try to hit it too hard. I was able to keep it consistent."

Pafford was strong on the front nine with an even par 36. He birdied back-to-back holes at 1 and 2 and finished his round with four straight pars. He never shot worse than bogey on any of the 18 holes.

"Definitely my short game (was working)," Pafford said. "All my chips were spot on. I was able to get on the green when I needed to and make the putts I had to."

Sellers said that Pafford's drives are also consistently impressive. When combined with an effective short game, Pafford was easily able to lead the rest of Monday's field by five strokes.

"Kyle was spectacular today," Sellers said. "He can absolutely mash it. Some of these holes with a driver he's a just a flip wedge away because he can hit it so far."

Monroe junior Christian Koszka-Lombardo was second overall with an 80. He finished his round with a pair of birdies and shot 40 on both the front and back nine.

Pafford and Koszka-Lombardo are good friends both on and off the court and play No. 1 doubles together for Monroe's boys tennis team in the fall.

Sellers was surprised that Monroe's golfers finished 1-2 in the individual standings.

"That was a surprise," Sellers said. "Christian and Kyle are best friends and they're constantly playing all the time. ... They're great kids and so level headed. They just want to work and get better."

Freshman Brendan McCulloch carded an 88 and sophomore Aiden Coury had an 89 to round out the top four for Monroe. Camden Schmidt (93) and Xander Middleton (95) also came in under 100.

"This is our No. 1 tournament no question," Sellers said. "If we can win this every year, we're pretty happy. I'm proud of them."

Bedford came into the tournament as the defending Monroe County champions after winning by nine strokes over the field last year. The Mules had hoped to repeat with a young squad.

"We were hoping to win again, but we have a lot of sophomores," Bedford coach Brad Reed said. "It was close. We had a good round. We had a couple boys do better than I anticipated and a couple that didn't do as well. It rounded itself out."

Bedford's top five were all sophomores. Jayce Yarad led the team and was fifth overall with an 82, while Frank Soss, Camden Price and Carter Klawonn all scored 87. Boston Gallup's 89 was the difference in the tiebreaker and senior Evan Pienta carded a 95.

Bedford is one of many young boys golf teams in the Monroe County Region this season. Only four of the top 20 golfers at Monday's championship were seniors.

"It's everywhere in the league and in the county," Reed said. "These kids are putting up good scores and you look and think they're going to be seniors, but they're all sophomores and freshman. I think it's great. It's great for golf."

Pafford, Koszka-Lombardo, and Yarad were among the top six golfers who earned First Team All-County honors along with SMCC senior Matthew Zwack, and Carlson junior Zackary Sisk and sophomore Jase Marcott.

Earning Second Team All-County honors were Airport senior Connor McGregor and freshman Jake Trythall, Carlson sophomore Hagan Smith, SMCC senior Jackson Heflin, and Bedford's Soss and Price.

Sisk finished with an 81 to lead Carlson. Marcott had an 84, Smith shot 86, and junior Aden Brake finished with 92.

Zwack was third overall and led SMCC with an 81. Heflin carded an 87, while a pair of freshmen rounded out the scoring for the Falcons with Domenic Marvaso's 88 and Drew Vuich's 89.

McGregor (85) and Trythall (86) led Airport, followed by senior Collin Lackey with a 90 and senior Cole McBeath with a 94.

Ida sophomore Wade Johnston and freshman Michael Wolfe both had a 95 to pace the Blue Streaks. Davin Slater added a 98 and Zackary Bailey scored 103.

Junior Jack Salenbien led Dundee with a 101, followed by senior Vincent Hosler (104), sophomore Bob Lloyd (113), and junior Zachary Tackett (113).

Three of Huron's top four were freshmen with Marcus Balazs (98), Anthony Karver (104), and Johnathan Lerette (124). Junior Jack Miller carded a 110.

Summerfield's Dylan Diesing had a 124 and Bryce Boyd added a 136.

MONROE COUNTY CHAMPIONS

1990 - Jefferson

1991 - Monroe

1992 - Carlson/Monroe

1993 - Bedford

1994 - Carlson

1995 - Monroe

1996 - Jefferson

1997 - Bedford

1998 - Monroe

1999 - Monroe

2000 - Monroe

2001 - New Boston Huron

2002 - Bedford

2003 - Monroe

2004 - St. Mary Catholic Central

2005 - Monroe

2006 - Monroe

2007 - Monroe

2008 - St. Mary Catholic Central

2009 - Bedford

2010 - Bedford

2011 - New Boston Huron

2012 - New Boston Huron

2013 - Milan

2014 - New Boston Huron

2015 - Carlson

2016 - Carlson

2017 - Jefferson

2018 - Monroe

2019 - Carlson

2020 - N/A (COVID-19)

2021 - Bedford

2022 - Monroe

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Pafford returns from injury to lead Monroe golf to County Championship