O’Shell takes second after winning a playoff

By Brian Hunsicker

Published: October 14, 2008

Mitch O’Shell will never have an easier playoff. After shooting a one-under par 71 in Tuesday’s Northwest Region tournament, the Forest Park junior finished in a tie with GW-Danville’s Parker Hodges. The two needed a playoff to decide the second medalist.
O’Shell’s tee shot on the 527-yard par 5 landed in the right rough; Hodges’ landed in the woods to the left and down an embankment. After a search by numerous people, including O’Shell, Hodges decided to hit out.
Instead, his ball landed in even deeper trouble. He conceded, but O’Shell still needed to hole out. His approach landed just in front of the green; a chip got him on. Two putts and no pressure later, he tapped in to earn second place.
“It was pretty simple,” he said. “I just had to hit a drive.”
Though the Bruins failed to qualify for next week’s state tournament as a team, both O’Shell and Joe Buttgereit will be going as individuals. Forest Park’s 309 team total was good enough for fourth place, five strokes behind second-place Loudoun Valley. The top two teams, Battlefield and the Vikings, move on to states.
Individually, Buttgereit finished in a tie for fourth with Loudoun Valley’s Zack Bosse, though no playoff was needed because both players earned the same bronze medal.
O’Shell’s outing was an improvement from last week’s Cardinal District tournament, where he finished three strokes behind Buttgereit. But over the past week, O’Shell worked with his swing coach and began seeing improvement.
“[Monday], we had a practice round here and I felt really comfortable coming into today,” he said.
The highlight of his day was an eagle on the par-4 12th, a dogleg left. He played the back nine to an even-par 36.
Buttgereit, a two-time district champion, finished five strokes behind top medalist Andrew Lister of Battlefield.