KARL PEARSON
A Karl Pearson column...
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but look what resulted. A golf program isn’t built in a day, either, but it appears the Geneva girls golf program is off to a flying start.
The architect of it all is Rob DiPofi, who in just the two short years of the program’s existence has led the Eagles to second place in the Northeast Ohio Girls Golf Coaches Association. With a team that has only one junior as a starting player (Alissa Wortman) and leaned heavily on the efforts of three sophomores and two freshmen for the majority of the season, the sky would seem to be the limit.
What’s more, there are a junior, two sophomores and two freshmen waiting in the wings. And there are truly exciting players making their way up through the junior high ranks.
But, being the humble guy he is, DiPofi deflects all the praise to his golfers, even when discussing his selection as the Star Beacon Ashtabula County Girls Golf Coach of the Year.
“It’s something I really didn’t give much thought,” he said. “I’m appreciative of all my girls. They’re the ones who did it all.
“I’m tremendously pleased with our program. I’m blessed with girls who really enjoy the game.”
The Eagles finished second this year to South. But DiPofi is taking nothing for granted. He knows the Eagles will have to continue to improve.
“We closed the gap a little more with South, but pretty much all the teams in the area were young this year,” he said. “That makes for really good competition.
“But Mentor (which qualified to the Division I state tournament) is joining the (NEOGGCA) next year. We’ve got to continue to step it up.”
He believes he has the personnel at hand to continue to make advancements with girls like sophomores Lindsey Adams, Carlin Kern and Nicole Lara and freshmen Cami Dodge and Megan Lara.
“Our expectation is that our program is going to continue to grow,” the Conneaut High School graduate said. “The girls just have to commit more time to the game.
“I believe they have the willingness to do that. A couple of them are getting lessons.”
He takes pride in the balance of his team.
“We don’t have go-to girls,” DiPofi said. “We rotated our No. 1 this year, just to give them the feel for what it’s like.”
DiPofi believes Geneva is actually a bit ahead of schedule of where one might expect a second-year program.
“We have a good core of younger players,” he said. “I think we are ahead of the game a little. I’m blessed to have the girls I have on this team.
“We had six girls on the junior high team, so we should be able to replenish what we lose. We have a JV team, too, which is nice.”
DiPofi even deflects the credit for the development of his personnel.
“Zach Manskey works with our JV and junior high girls,” he said. “He’s a junior high guidance counselor. He has a wealth of knowledge. I think the girls like to hear from him as much or more than they do from me.”
DiPofi believes the level of play in Ashtabula County will be greatly improved next year.
“Edgewood, Lakeside and Conneaut were all pretty young,” he said. “I think they’re going to be better. We’re still going to play all the teams out here.”
But he is also trying to build up Geneva’s schedule to improve its competition. Geneva was 19-10 this year.
“We played Mentor, South and Cuyahoga Heights (which all went to the Division I or II state tournaments as teams) twice, along with Orange,” DiPofi said. “We played Perry twice, too. The girls need to see what competition is outside the area.”
One of the things that has helped DiPofi get the Eagles to this point is all the support systems he has, on and off the course. The latter part comes from his wife, Elaine, and daughters Gillian, 12, Aubrey, 10, Mackenzie, 5, and Addison, 2. Gillian has already shown an interest in golf and Mackenzie has also been seen swinging a club.
DiPofi said he tries to teach the same values to his golfers that he does with his family.
“I like to think the girls I coach learn the importance of family,” he said. “I know they have an impact on my family, too.”
DiPofi moves right from his duties as the girls golf coach to working with Geneva’s highly successful girls basketball team. He credits coach Nancy Barbo with being supportive of his efforts with the golf team.
“I’m really grateful to Nancy for the support she gives me with the golf team,” he said.
He also credits two local golf courses with helping develop his team.
“I want to thank Van Hicks and his staff at Geneva-on-the-Lake Golf Course (the Eagles’ home course) with all the cooperation they give us,” DiPofi said. “I also want to thank Greg Maruna at Hemlock Springs for allowing the girls to come out and use the practice range on Tuesday to help them work on their games.”
Now, DiPofi would like to see his girls get to the next level in tournament play. That might be a tall order as the Eagles are at the Division II level in the monster field at Punderson State Golf Course.
“They have Laurel School, Hawken, Orange and Perry there, just to name a few,” DiPofi said. “We have to keep on building.
“Our goal next year is to get our team to district. If we could get an individual to district, that would be a step in the right direction.”
Pearson is a sports writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at kpearson@starbeacon.com.
