New Boston Huron wins county golf title on coach's 34th birthday

OTTAWA LAKE – New Boston Huron’s boys golf team was missing its coach Monday.

Huron was double booked Monday with a Huron League match against Milan scheduled on the same day as the Monroe County Championships.

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Head coach Eric Clark handled the league match and sent assistant coach Clayton Kerr with the rest of the team to the county meet.

As it turns out, it was the perfect birthday gift.

Kerr celebrated his 34th birthday by leading the Chiefs to the team title.

“I guess it did,” Kerr said when asked if his birthday gave Huron extra motivation. “They kept saying, ‘Win it for coach.’”

It took a team effort to capture the trophy.

Huron and Bedford tied with rounds of 329 at The Legacy. The victor was determined by a tiebreaker. Huron’s Johnathan Lerette shot 91 to edge Bedford’s first man by a single stroke.

“It was a close one,” Bedford coach Brad Reed said. “I always tell the guys that all their scores count, even if they are the fifth or sixth man.”

It was a stressful day for Kerr as he followed the tournament scores.

“We were second or first most of the day and sometimes dropped down to third or fourth,” he said. “It was a happy surprise. … I just hoped to be in the top five.”

Kerr said balance was the key for his team.

Nick Kosiba shot 76 for the second-lowest individual score of the day. Anthony Robbins made second-team All-County with an 83. Tony Trupiano (84) and Cameron Grant (86) rounded out the top four.

“The biggest thing was consistency,” Kerr said. “They didn’t let one bad hole determine their round.”

That was the same thing that lifted individual medalist Carter Klawonn of Bedford.

He was leading the tournament when a double-bogey on his 15th hole of the day knocked him out of first place.

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“I just cleared my mind and didn’t think about it,” he said. “I tried to put it behind me.”

Klawonn finished with three straight pars to take the title that barely eluded him in 2023.

“I was second last year,” he said.

The biggest shot of the day for Klawonn came when he chipped in for a birdie on the No. 2 hole. The senior also had birdies on No. 7 and No. 9.

Teammate Jayce Yarad joined Klawonn on the All-County first team with an 80 and Taleon Guess made the second team with 83. Camden Price rounded out the top four for the Mules with 81.

Gibraltar Carlson took third place with 331 followed by Flat Rock with 337, Monroe 342, St. Mary Catholic Central and Dundee 347, Airport 354, Ida 373, Whiteford 387, Summerfield 397, Jefferson 438 and Erie Mason 460.

Landon Kongeal of Carlson (77), Brenden McCullough of Monroe (78) and Carter Bahn of Dundee (79) also made the first team.

Rounding out the second team were Brayden Siders of Airport (81), Laran Rogier (81) and Ben Scully (82) of Flat Rock, Drew Vuich of SMCC (83), Levi Evans of Dundee (83) and Trent Ison of Carlson (83).

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: New Boston Huron wins county golf title on coach's 34th birthday