Wharton district medalist cool under pressure

HUNTER'S GREEN -- Tension was mounting for Wharton junior David Tiffenberg as he walked off the final hole of the back nine in the boys golf district tournament Monday. He was three strokes over par and his score was important for the team. But he showed no concern.

"David told me not to worry, because he would get the three strokes back on the back nine," Wharton coach John Benson said. "I knew he was capable, but I had no idea he would gain all three strokes on the first two holes of the back nine. He drove to the green on the ninth, finishing with an eagle and shot a birdie on the 10th to go back to even par."

When the scores were tallied, Tiffenberg won medalist honors for districts with a low score of 73. In fact, all five Wildcat golfers broke 80. Patrick Gibson turned in a 75, Leslie Baron carded a 78, Barrett White and Mike Giammaresi both shot 79.

Tiffenberg, 17, of Hunter's Green is a returning starter from the team that finished eighth in last year's Class 2A state tournament. He hopes the Wildcats win the regional tournament Monday and return to the state tournament next week.

He can't remember if he was 3 or 4 when he played his first round of golf with a cut-down ladies set of clubs. Now a high school junior, mostly he remembers enjoying the sport.

"Because we have five guys on the team capable of scoring low, I was not mentally pressured to have to improve on the back nine Monday," Tiffenberg said. "That is a confidence we all have on the Wharton team. That is how golf becomes a team sport in high school. All of us are close friends and know we can rely on each other to not only do our best, but shoot good scores, even after a bad hole. No one feels like one person must carry the team."

Wharton recorded seven losses during the season but is on a five-match winning streak, including Monday's district championship.

"We set our regular-season schedule this year, knowing we would lose some big matches, but we learned and gained more from some of those losses than we did from the wins," Coach Benson said.

Benson believes the team's potential for success lies in the character and skill of the individual players.

Tiffenberg, Giammaresi and Gibson, 17, are all successful youth circuit players and accustomed to high-pressure matches, Benson said. "David will not back down from a pin by shooting a safe shot and losing a point. All three will attack the courses to go for the lower scores.

In addition to the top three, Benson says Barrett White and Leslie Baron, the number four and five players, also give the team depth.

"Not all Class 2A teams have four and five players as strong as ours," Benson said. "Barrett and Leslie remove a lot of pressure off our top three and are ready to add much needed scores in every match. The top two teams are the only ones to advance to the state tournament from out of the regionals. Hopefully, we will repeat as regional champs Monday."

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