BUCYRUS – Monday was the first time Parker Tinch was cleared to walk 18 holes this summer.
The Galion senior received injections to treat knee pain after summer basketball which sidelined him for a crucial part of golf preparation.
“It put me out for about four or five weeks,” Tinch said. “I couldn’t really swing a club, so I was just getting back into it about two weeks ago.
“I rode in a cart for qualifiers … so really no prep at all. I just came out (today) and if it hurt, it hurt.”
It didn’t hurt too much, or at least if it did, it wasn’t affecting his game much as he fired a 1-over par 73 (37-36) at the Golf Club of Bucyrus for medalist runner-up honors at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational.
“It’s probably my fifth time out since last year,” Tinch said. “And I haven’t played this course this year at all, so I came into it not really expecting much. But I played pretty well I guess.”
With it being his first time at the course in quite a while, Tinch decided to play it safe.
“I played very conservative,” he said. “I only pulled driver out one time. It’s not a very long course … short game and putting could have been better, but I strung a couple birdies together there at the end.”
He led the Tigers (337) to a fourth place finish — Christian Hart 81, Cullen Hart 88, Jackson Henry 95, Zachary Moneysmith 97— with two league opponents and a county rival ahead.
Shelby became the third different Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference school to win the Elks in as many years following Galion in 2024 and River Valley in 2025. The Whippets fired a 326 with two-man Grady Schroeder carding a 77, Thomas Lenahan shot an 81, Gavin Lamb and Kayne Cooke matching 84s — all four among the top 12 individuals — Jackson Curry’s 93 the drop.
“They came around,” coach Ron Roberts said. “The front was a little rough for us, we got off to a rough start, but they turned around on the back. Had a couple kids make some long putts, get some chips, had one guy hole out with a chip-in, and another kid made two long bombs for putts. They got some momentum going on the back and they played a whole lot better.”
It was a good measuring stick for the Whippets early on as well getting to see River Valley, Galion, and Marion Harding.
“It gives us a comparison of what we need to do in the MOAC, and I think we’re in a good spot right now,” Roberts said. “Being a first year coach, I wasn’t sure what the competition would be like so I only had to go off of what our kids were doing. We’re going to keep grinding hard, we have a lot of things we can work on to improve.
“But I’m happy with the way it’s gone.”
Colonel Crawford coach Nate Hill was also pretty happy after Monday’s round wrapped up, even if the Eagles didn’t win. They followed up last week’s Buckeye Central Invite win with second at the Elks by virtue of Evan Keller’s 92 besting River Valley’s Garrett Butler (119) as the fifth score tiebreak — both schools were two strokes off Shelby.
“We had a pretty good day,” Hill said. “Bryant (Berry) played great with a 75, he finished really well … we give a last three hole team crown and he went birdie, birdie, bogey for 1-under. I was really proud of that, it brought him back up a little bit and he finished third overall. We shot a 328 and this is a hard course with some tough pins out there today.”
Bryce Durham carded an 83 while Colton Hopkins and Greyson Hill both fired an 85. And the Eagles had the luxury of fielding a B team that finished seventh overall with a 356; Evan Metzger 85, Nj Foy 87, Parker Keller 90, Jentsen Landon 94, Parker Rahm 96.
“The kids have worked really hard the last two years putting in a lot of time and it’s paying dividends,” Hill said. “Our second five played really well, too.”
It’s the second consecutive runner-up finish for the Eagles, but this year’s score was 10 strokes better than last.
“We played well last week at Cranberry Hills, but this course is a bit more difficult … the kids played well,” Hill said. “They didn’t back down, and on their last three holes we had three or four different players who were even or 1-under. They had some blow ups, but they played well and came back.”
Upper Sandusky was fifth overall with a 338 led by medalist Toy Holman’s 72 while Wynford was close behind with a 343. Clay Rogers’ 80 was the low score for the Royals, Owen Prenger shot an 84, Jaron Vance an 89, Drew Stanek a 90, Levi McLaughlin 97.
“Shelby, River Valley, Upper, Wynford, Galion … all are tough teams and we’re right there with them,” Hill said. “Losing by two hurts a little bit … but I’m pretty happy with this finish, I don’t like losing, but we played solid.”
Buckeye Central was eighth with a 365 led by Kellen Pope’s 87, St. Peter’s shot a 406 for ninth as David Crundwell fired a 94, Bucyrus 11th at 442 paced by Quin Ross’ 92.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Galion’s Tinch medalist runner-up, Shelby boys win Bucyrus Elks title
