GROVE CITY - Welcome to Class AAA golf, and high school golf for some, for that matter.
In a split of regions, Warren is now in District 10's Region 3, and the Dragons competed with some of the top teams in Class AAA on Monday at Grove City Country Club.
Freshman Andrew Gignac, for example, was introduced to high school golf on a 460-yard, par 4.
At the end of the day, Warren finished fourth out of five teams at the Region 3 Mega Match, but there were some highlights and coach Dan Passmore expects the Dragons to compete all season.
"Meadville, Grove City and Slippery Rock - they're always going to have four guys in the low 80's," said Passmore. "Oil City is better than they played, too. If 330 is competitive, I expect us to compete."
Warren's Nathan Sandberg finished only behind the defending District 10 champion in Slippery Rock's Brett Ricker and one other with his 18-hole 79.
"And it was tough today," said Passmore.
The freshman Gignac finished with an 89 and is capable of better, as are the third- and fourth-best finishers on the Dragons in Darin Francisco and Carter Cerra.
Six from every team can play, but four count for team scores.
Grove City and Slippery Rock tied for the top spot with 330 each, but Grove City won the tiebreaker (the fifth player).
Region 3 team results: 1. Grove City 330, 2. Slippery Rock 330, 3. Meadville 335, 4. Warren 351, 5. Oil City 415
Warren (351): Nathan Sandberg 79, Andrew Gignac 89, Darin Francisco 91, Carter Cerra 92, Jon Turfitt 101, Nic Allen 112
Top golfers: Brett Ricker (Slippery Rock) 72, Ed Hetrick (Grove City) 76, Nathan Sandberg (Warren) 79
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Ike Boys Golf
TITUSVILLE - Eisenhower's learning experience began on Monday with a fifth-place finish in the opening Region 5 Mega Match at Cross Creek.
Titusville dominated its home course, winning by 30 strokes.
"Basically the whole team is pretty much brand new," said Ike boys coach Phil Heubach, whose Knights were led by Jacob Linkerhof at an 18-hole 98.
The only Ike golfer competing today that was in a varsity match last year was Ethan Black.
"We're looking more at our personal bests, trying to improve each match, individually," said Heubach. "This year is their first year, seeing all these courses."
Region 5 team results: 1. Titusville 329, 2. Corry 359, 3. Franklin 402, 4. Rocky Grove 418, 5. Eisenhower 431
Eisenhower (431): Jacob Linkerhof 49-49-98, Trevor Flinn 57-50-107, Ethan Black 60-50-110, Hunter Keppel 66-63-119
Top golfer: Matt McCord (Titusville) 74, Eric Maginnis (Titusville) 81, Ryan Hazlett (Corry) 85