AOTW: Long shot Peisko finding his groove on golf course
GOING THE DISTANCE: Oxford senior Doug Piesko has had a fine season for the Wildcats. He has broken 70 tiwce this season, including a 67 here at Twin Lakes at the OAA White Division Tournament No. 2. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
OXFORD — Last summer Doug Piesko spent plenty of time on the golf course, playing in a variety of summer tournaments. The goal was to turn himself from an average high school gofer into one of the tops in the state.
So far this season, he has done that.
Peisko, a senior at Oxford High School, has had a fantastic start to the 2011 season with six top-10 finishes as tournaments. Now, he wants to help the Wildcats continue one of their best seasons in school history.
Oxford has posted a perfect 9-0 record in dual matches, including 6-0 in the OAA White Division. The Wildcats claimed the overall league crown in their first season in the league. In comparison, Oxford tied for fourth overall in the Flint Metro League last season and was 7-4 overall in that conference.
“We have a lot of goals (for) this season,” said Piesko. “We (wanted) to win the league and our goal is to make it out of districts and then qualify (for the state finals).”
Oxford was second at the Oxford Hills district last season, but finished 11th at the regional and well out of contention for a state finals pass. The Wildcats have not qualified for the state finals since reaching the Class B state finals in the fall 1998 season.
“Doug is a talented young man,” said Oxford coach Terry Kelley of his four-year varsity veteran.”He’s worked on his game and has come a long ways (in his career). He’s had quite a year.”
Piesko averaged in the upper 70s last season and this year is averaging around 73 for tournaments. He fired a four-under round of 66 in April at the Oakland County Division II championships hosted at Pontiac Municipal, leading the Wildcats to the runner-up trophy.
He cared a 67 at Twin Lakes at the recent OAA White Division tournament No. 2, which was medalist honors again. That helped Oxford post a four-player score of 294, which shattered the school record for a team tournament effort.
“I worked hard on my game. Really, I worked on all of it, driving, short game. I just wanted to be a better golfer, have a great senior year,” said Piesko.
Piesko talked to several schools in the offseason and signed with Division II Lake Superior State in February.Now the focus is on the final month of the prep season.
Oxford is expected to be one of the top teams at Thursday’s Division 1 district at Paint Creek Country Club in Orion Twp., along with Lake Orion, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Grand Blanc, Swartz Creek, Clarkston and Rochester Stoney creek also among the 14-school field. The top six teams advance to the regional round.
The following week at Flushing Valley, the top three teams from each region advance to the Lower Peninsula Division 1 state finals, which will be held inside Oakland County’s borders for the first time since the 1980s at Oakland University’s Katke Cousins.
“That’s our goal,” said Piesko of the destination of the state finals. “We’ve talked about it for a long time and our goal is to make it to the state finals.”
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