It’s 6:30 a.m. midweek at Covington Catholic High School, nearly 90 minutes before the opening bell. Some of the first people in the building are Colonel golfers. They are up and at ’em and standing in front of the school’s new golf simulator. One by one, they take their swings.
Whoosh, thwack, thud. Whoosh, thwack, thud.
“We love it,” senior golfer Joe Mangine said. “It’s really helped us.”
Every time they hit the golf ball, it flies off the clubface and smashes into a thick, specialized projection screen just a few feet away. The screen absorbs the kinetic energy of the ball, so it drops safely to the floor.
Whoosh, thwack, thud.
High-speed cameras and radar sensors track the exact speed, spin, launch angle, and direction of the ball beginning at the precise moment of impact with the clubface to calculate exactly where it would have landed on a real course.
“It’s super cool,” said junior Matt Noe, individual medalist with a score of 1-over-par 73 at last week’s Region 7 Tournament at Boone Links in Florence. CovCath won the team title. “The simulator has been a great asset, and we use it a lot. You can come in and hit some shots. It keeps you loose and in good golf shape. You can use it when it rains. You can decompress and get ready for a round on the course.”
The Colonels play their most important round of the season Monday in KHSAA sectional action on The Willows at Kenton County Golf Course in Independence. They are part of a strong local contingent advancing to this week’s boys and girls sectionals which lead to the state tournaments.
The par-72 Willows course plays to 6,697 yards from the championship tees. First tee times Monday begin at 8 a.m. The top three teams and top 15 individuals not on those teams advance to next week’s state events in Bowling Green.
Senior Marcus Diulio, junior Carson White and sophomore Colin White join Mangine and Noe in the hunt for CovCath’s first state championship since 1984. The Whites are brothers. It was Carson who clinched the regional crown with a playoff birdie.
“A lot of positives at the regional,” said third-year Colonels coach Ryan Lubbers, a 21-year faculty member. “Matt Noe’s ball-striking was so good, I think he hit 13 greens. And even though some of the older guys wanted to play better, they inspired guys like Noe. Mangine qualified for all-state and it’s been a few years since we had a golfer do that. Carson White has pretty much been our second-best player all year.”
The Willows is as close to a home event as CovCath can get at this point in the season, and that’s a positive. The course is a 15-minute bus trip from school. The Colonels are riding some historic momentum after nailing down their 40th regional title and first since back-to-back crowns in 2018-19. They shot a team score of 310, edging Ryle in a playoff. All things being equal, some of the players believe that the simulator might have been the difference.
“We’re going to go out there and shoot our best,” Noe said. “Thanks to the simulator, we can do that.”
The coach views the simulator as a convenient, easy-access, easy-to-use tool of the trade that helps players improve. “You can just get in there and hit the ball,” said Lubbers. “You can track your club path and all kinds of other stuff and get better.”
Simulators entered the mainstream commercial market in earnest during the 1990s. Widespread adoption into private homes and commercial venues exploded in the 2010s and early 2020s. Despite recent technological advances that make them portable and more affordable, they aren’t in widespread use at the high school level, especially locally.
It’s an advantage to have one but not every school can afford one. They range in price from nearly $1,000 to five figures because the emerging technology isn’t cheap. Many professional courses are available on various simulators, so there are clear advantages to having one. Although prices are coming down for the more advanced models, the integration of tech, data and impact video continues to evolve.
“You can get real-time feedback,” said Lubbers, who golfed at Bishop Brossart. “It’s especially helpful working on distances with irons and wedges. And just as important as improving their golf game, it really allows us to bond as a team. That alone will be just as impactful as anything, just building a more cohesive team.”
Lubbers is the happy beneficiary of a plan that has been in the works for a while. Other Colonel coaches have wanted a simulator for the golf team. For former head coach and current faculty member Alex Ammerman from the CovCath class of 2010, it was a dream acquisition that remained unattained by the time he stepped down as head man. Ammerman led the Colonels to the 2018-19 regional crowns and a sixth-place finish at the 2018 state tournament.
The school was onboard with the purchase, but it had to come through outside donors. One thing led to another and through the generosity of others, the golf simulator finally arrived earlier this year. The team named it after longtime golf coach and faculty member Rick Hornsby from the CovCath class of 1970.
“Alex Ammerman and our assistant coaches Tim Schrand and Chris Pieper spent years coming up with a plan and raising the funds to get it on campus,” Lubbers said. “Our donors to the golf program have been incredibly generous and want to see our guys succeed.”
For review, that is the spirit of one school, a handful of coaches, some pretty special donors and a group of hungry golfers all pulling in the same direction for the betterment of one sports program. Lubbers said that’s the CovCath fight song put into action: “With a spirit that will not die, and the pledge of our loyalty, we will fight for old Covington Catholic High and go onward to victory.”
“Yes sir,” Mangine said. “I see everybody working hard.”
And so does his coach.
“The simulator is really cool and we’re very thankful to have it,” coach Lubbers said. “They all use it.”
CovCath and Ryle, led by Region 7 individual runner-up Hayden Li, are playing Monday against team champions and runners-up from Regions 5, 6 and 8. This includes local Region 8 champion Highlands, and runner-up Newport Central Catholic with individual runner-up Evan Himmelsbach in tow. It also includes tough competition from Region 5 with champion DeSales and Region 6 with always formidable St. Xavier.
The KHSAA local girls sectional gets underway Tuesday at Kenton County Willows. Area teams making it this far include Region 7 champion Notre Dame Academy and runner-up Conner. Top local golfers are Region 7 medalist Reese Anthony, an eighth grader from St. Henry, and individual runner-up Elizabeth Dixon. She is a senior at Ryle.
