Oxford senior Corey Seiler had enough of the heart-breaking disappointments, and he made amends for those letdowns with a pair of top-tier golfing performances.
Last weekend at Cornell University, Seiler became the first Chenango County golfer to qualify for the Section IV state tournament team in 10 years placing fifth at the 55-person medalist tournament. Monday at the Section IV, Class C Team Tournament, Seiler was the top individual medalist – by two shots – shooting a 2-over-par 72 at Maple Hill Golf Club.
It was huge turnaround from his junior season when he missed the state team by just one stroke. As a sophomore, Seiler was also part of an Oxford basketball team that came up one point short in the sectional championship game.
“I might have played a tournament the week after the medalist tournament last year, but after that, I didn’t touch a club for a month,” Seiler said. “I had no desire to play golf.”
After a month away from the game, Seiler realized that if he continued to avoid golf, he would probably ruin his chance at redemption this season. “The path I was on last year, I wasn’t going to make it,” Seiler said. “Everyone around me knew I could do it, and my brother Scotty helped with with my swing. Him, and my family, helped me get back into it.”
Seiler had one of the best individual seasons of any local golfer in recent memory averaging less than two strokes over par in match play, and he didn’t shoot higher than 39 in any match. His season-long consistency earns Seiler our weekly honor as Evening Sun/Smith Ford LLC Athlete of the Week.
“It was quite a blow to him (not making the Section IV team),” said Oxford coach Tim Paden. “With the type of mindset he had this season, missing it wasn’t going to be an option.”
