Worthington Kilbourne's Bella Anderson, Owen Cotterman relish state golf experience
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When senior Owen Cotterman and freshman Bella Anderson competed at the Division I boys and girls golf state tournaments Oct. 21 and 22, it was something that hadn’t been done at Worthington Kilbourne in 26 years.
Anderson shot a two-day 154 at Ohio State’s Gray Course to tie for 15th of 72 golfers, and Cotterman tied for 26th (160) of 72 golfers at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. The Wolves hadn’t qualified boys and girls individuals to state in the same season since 1996.
Anderson joined the girls team just before the postseason, competing in a few nine-hole matches in late September. She followed that up by shooting a 63 to win the sectional Oct. 4 at Oakhaven.
“I’m really happy I did it, that’s for sure,” she said. “I had some really good rounds and I had a couple where I wish I could have done better. But the ultimate takeaway is that I’m glad I participated this year.”
Anderson qualified for state by finishing second (69) in the district tournament Oct. 10 at the Links at Echo Springs.
At state, Anderson shot a 78 on a windy first day and a 76 on the second day.
She was the first state qualifier from Kilbourne since Ashley Flynn in 2015. Jessica Belskis qualified in three consecutive tournaments from 1994-96, winning back-to-back titles before finishing second in 1996.
“This will be a great experience for (Anderson) because there’s no doubt in my mind that she will be coming back (to state),” girls coach Jon Baird said. “I’m so proud of her. She has actually helped me be a better coach these three days. A lot of times, we’re doing these nine-hole matches … you don’t really get to stay with one golfer for that long. I’ve been walking and talking a lot more with her than I normally would.”
Anderson and Cotterman participated in a practice round at Ohio State on Oct. 20.
“I always take a lot of notes on my phone (during practice rounds),” Anderson said. “For some reason, it just helps me mentally with how many mistakes I made. But a couple of holes, I made the same mistakes, which cost me some strokes. A couple (of others), I fixed those mistakes. The practice round did help, but I wish could have not repeated my mistakes.”
Cotterman said he repeated some mistakes during his rounds as well. He shot 83 on the first day and 77 on the second.
“Learning the course a bit and not going in blind helped a lot,” he said. “It didn’t really help with my decision-making on the first day. I made a lot of mindless mistakes. It was mainly putting mistakes. I couldn’t match my lines and speed very well. I was three-putting way too often. I struck the ball pretty decent all week. I feel like I could have done a lot better if my putting was on point.”
Cotterman gave the boys program its first representation at state since the team finished seventh in 2000. The Wolves also finished 10th in 1995.
Doug Christopher was the last individual qualifier in 1998, and Noah Lucas qualified three times from 1995-97.
Cotterman tied for second (74) at the Darby Creek sectional Oct. 4 and shot a 67 at district Oct. 11 at Apple Valley to share medalist honors with St. Charles junior Leo Walling. Cotterman was first-team all-district and OCC-Capital Division Player of the Year with a 74.25 average, leading the Wolves to their seventh league title at 23-1 and first since 2020.
Jack Dougherty (80.75) and Simon Abbott (81.25) were second-team all-league, and Aidan Gallogly (84.75) and Van Ferguson (86) were honorable mention.
Cotterman broke the program record with a 66 to win the DeSales Invitational on Aug. 20 at Chapel Hill.
“Making it (to state) was super special,” he said. “Getting to play that kind of competition is always fun. Having that big of a venue is eye-opening. I’d say it was just a special way to end my high school career. The biggest thing to take away from it is that’s over now, I can just cherish the memory.”
@ThisWeekRich
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Kilbourne's Anderson, Cotterman relish state golf experience
