The Garfield G-Men boys’ golf team has yet to record a victory in league duels in the early season. The G-Men’s winless streak reached three when they were defeated by Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference for and Portage County rival Southeast 163-191 last Thursday morning at the Olde Dutch Mill Golf Course in Lake Milton.
“We are a young team, we are learning every step of the way and we haven’t gotten any wins yet but we are improving and we are just trying to compete to the best of our ability and that is our goal, to put our best foot forward and hopefully the results start to come shortly,” said Coach Zachary Longanecker.
Garfield (0-3) was paced by freshman Broden Neal, who carded a score of 42, followed by junior Kade Fedor, who shot a 48, sophomore Cole Summers-Wade, who recorded a score of 49, and sophomore Ollie McMayon, who tallied a score of 52. Out of Garfield’s six golfers, the lowest four scores were added together to make up the G-Men’s overall score. Sophomore Harrison Kissell carded a 61 while junior RJ Baker recorded a score of 69.
According to the first-year coach, Garfield played with an early deficit as the Pirates’ top two players, senior Cole Bruno and sophomore Owen Dombrowski, each recorded a score of 38 to lead Southeast.
“Their top two definitely put up some good rounds and definitely set that tone early on that they would be a tough team to beat,” noted Longanecker. “I am sure they have played more comfortably on their home course; you can tell from their score they were a good team.”
While no G-Men golfers recorded a score lower than 40, Longanecker said it marked another league duel in which Neal was Garfield’s lowest scorer.
Longanecker said that Neal has consistently been the G-Men’s lowest scorer at the beginning of his first varsity season.
“He has been working at his game very consistently,” he added. “He goes out and plays extra rounds, and he works at his game all the time to constantly get better. I know that he has been working specifically on his driver, and I think Thursday he said he figured that driver out a little bit and that helped him get the score that he got.”
As the G-Men are led by a new coach in Longanecker, who succeeds Coach Jake Britton after two years at the helm, they are also fueled by a new nucleus, as the squad has been reassembled with a starting unit of golfers that did not receive much varsity action last year with Kissell being the most experienced varsity golfer.
He noted that any other returnees split time between the varsity and junior varsity squad, as the 2025 team relied heavily on senior talent.
Longanecker noted that he has inherited a team consisting primarily of juniors and no seniors, which puts him in a similar boat with his players as he is also a newcomer to the program.
“We are learning from each other, and the boys are pushing each other to be better, and we are just trying to grow into a competitive team,” he said. “It might take a little bit of time, but we are looking to get better and just move forward as a whole unit.”
Although the G-Men are still seeking consistent play, Longanecker said that one positive has been the emergence of Neal, and although he is a freshman, he has announced his presence in a big way by becoming Garfield’s lowest scorer in all three matches.
“It is a boost to the program to have a freshman come in and be shooting scores like that. It provides momentum for the other players to strive to reach that level as well,” Longanecker said.
He noted that the G-Men would likely experience a season layered with growing pains but expressed confidence that the team would grow throughout the year and could have some momentum to carry over into the 2027 season, when Garfield officially joins the Greater Portage Athletic Conference.
“I can see the boys working at practice and improving on different parts of their game, so I think we are growing, maturing and getting better in this early part of the season here,” Longanecker said.
Following a pair of home duels against MVAC Grey Tier foes Liberty on Monday and Newton Falls on Wednesday and a road duel against league rival Crestview on Thursday, Garfield will stay on the road and face conference rival Brookfield in Trumbull County in a duel on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m.
