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.”
Paden raves about Seiler’s accuracy and length off the tee, and his short game is perhaps the best part of a well-rounded game. “The amount of touch and feel he has around the greens, I think it’s beyond just playing a lot of golf,” Paden said. “I think it’s something he has been gifted with. He has that feel and ability about how hard or soft to hit the ball. His interpretation of greens and where he needs to land the ball is always right on.”
For at least the past 25 years, the Seiler name has been synonymous with winning championships at Oxford’s Bluestone Golf Course. Corey’s father Scott has multiple individual and member-guest titles, uncle Todd Seiler also has several championships, and just last year, Corey’s older brother Scott won his first member-guest championship – perhaps the first of many more. While nothing is a sure thing, it’s a safe bet Corey will follow in the family tradition and rack up some titles at his home course before long.
“If we just are out out playing, it’s not that competitive,” Seiler said. “If it’s a tournament, then we’re pretty into it and we all want to win.”
“There’s definitely a history of good golfers in that family,” Paden said attesting to the Seiler golfing prowess.
Corey, like his father, brother, and uncle, come to the course with a relaxed attitude, and that served Corey well at the medalist tournament as he shot a 76 in the opening round. Weather conditions in the second round worked against the entire field, and Corey admits his game wasn’t as sharp. Still, he came in with an 82, well within the cutline in which the top nine make the sectional team.
“My biggest thing last Thursday was that I was just looking to go out and play golf,” Seiler said. “I knew what I could do, and I went out and played. I didn’t worry about making the team.”
Seiler says he’ll take that same attitude to next weekend’s state tournament, and his coach expects nothing less than the same consistent rounds he has turned in all season. “I don’t think the pressure will get to him,” Paden said. “If it was going to happen, it would have happened in Saturday’s second round. I’m not going to make any outlandish predictions, but this is the experience of a lifetime for Corey. My hope is that he lives it up and come away with great memories. If he continues to perform as he has all season, he will achieve success.”