Butler, PA – The Butler County Community College golf team’s chances – and spirits – are soaring ahead of this weekend’s Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championships, as are tee shots from Tyler Good’s newfound low-ball flight setting.
Since joining BC3 after its third match of the 2017 season, the graduate of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City has added 50 yards to his drives, averaged a squad-best 77 and has led the Pioneers (12-1) as a medalist in four consecutive outings.
While Good credits a setting he tweaked on a new driver, teammate Luke Ostermeyer credits Good for leading BC3’s drive toward a fifth consecutive WPCC championship and eighth overall this weekend at The Links at Spring Church, Apollo.
“(Good) is definitely sparking enthusiasm on this team,” Ostermeyer said. “He’s got it tuned up right now.”
The 36-hole tournament on the par-72 layout Saturday and Sunday pits BC3 against Westmoreland County Community College, the Community College of Allegheny County-Boyce, the Community College of Allegheny County-North and Garrett College, of McHenry, Md.
Luke Ostermeyer, a member of the Butler County Community College golf team, is a 2017 graduate of Laurel High School.
“He certainly will be one of the favorites at the conference tournament,” BC3 coach Bill Miller said of Good, “although there are six or seven players who could be too. There are some guys who have been scoring fairly well behind him.”
“I’m getting better trajectory”
Joining Good on the BC3 squad will be Noah Morgan, an Allegheny-Clarion Valley High graduate who averages a 78; Anthony Lewis, Butler High, 81; Michael Rozzi, Neshannock High, 83; Matt Benson, Shenango High, 86; and Ostermeyer, Laurel High, 89.
“When we have Tyler, Noah and Mike all shooting in the 70s pretty often, that definitely helps with the enthusiasm on the team,” Ostermeyer said. “And that makes you want to play better too.
Having good guys like that just brings the enthusiasm of the team up. It makes everyone want to play better.”
Good began playing better with his new driver in late July, and continued to adjust its settings as he hit 35 tee shots “just about every day” at a golf course in Harmony, he said.
“I’m getting a better trajectory,” he said.
He also played up to four times a week throughout the summer at an Ellwood City area golf course with Sam Barry, his former coach at Lincoln High.
Michael Rozzi, a member of the Butler County Community College golf team, is a 2016 graduate of Neshannock High School.
“He has gotten more consistent off the tee,” Barry said. “He is finally able to hit his driver better.
That has always been something that held him back when he was in 12th grade here at Lincoln. Now he is able to hit his driver better, which adds distance.”
Distance that can now reach up to 330 yards.
At that point, “I knew that good things were to come,” Good said.
The extra yardage from the tee box “on a par-5 allows you to hit an iron instead of an unreliable 3-wood to get you close to the green,” Ostermeyer said.
Which plays into his strategy, Good said of quickly reaching his forte.
“My goal, every time I play is, to put a wedge in my hand so I can put a putter in my hand,” Good said. “That is my motto for every shot. Put a wedge in my hand and make my putts.”
Confidence for each match “keeps building”
Good was BC3’s medalist on Sept. 29 by shooting a 2-over-par 74 against Westmoreland and Penn State-Fayette at Valley Green Golf and Country Club, Greensburg; on Sept. 24 with a 4-over 76 against CCAC-Boyce at Pittsburgh North Golf Club, Bakerstown; a 9-over 81 on Sept. 19 against CCAC-Boyce and Westmoreland at Lake Arthur Golf Club near Butler; and a 4-over 76 on Sept. 15 against Westmoreland at The Links at Spring Church.
That Good has led BC3 since joining the squad “will do him wonders” entering the WPCC championship this weekend, Barry said.
Tyler Good, Ellwood City native
“To have that kind of confidence going in,” Barry said, “I look for him to do very well there.”
As does Rozzi.
“He pulled off a 76 in his first match (for BC3),” Rozzi said. “And later he came back with a 74. It just keeps building confidence for each match.”
And Miller.
Good “thinks he can do better, which is nice,” Miller said. “It’s not like he is satisfied. He thinks he can score lower.”
BC3’s Julia Fischer, a Freeport High graduate who is averaging a 98, will compete against two other females in the first WPCC women’s championship this weekend at The Links at Spring
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