Submitted photo / Cardinal Mooney’s Rocco Turner poses with his championship hardware Saturday at North Star Golf Club. Turner shot a 1-over 145 over the course of two rounds at North Star Golf Club to win the state title.

Ever since he was strong enough to pick up a golf club at a young age, Cardinal Mooney junior Rocco Turner has been a golfer.

He first learned to play alongside his grandfather, who played golf at Ohio State, and has become progressively better as he’s gotten older — to the point where, this high school season, he has consistently been shooting rounds in the 70s.

Now, Turner is a state champion.

After vaulting to the top of the leaderboard with a 2-over 74 during the first round Friday, Turner closed things out Saturday by shooting a 1-under 71 to claim the Division III boys golf state championship by four strokes.

“When I finished, there were still a couple kids out there, so I didn’t exactly know (yet),” Turner said. “I was still trying to stay loose and make sure that I actually won, but it’s great. I’ll be celebrating with a bunch of family and it’s extra special that my brother was on the team, so he and I both get to enjoy it together.”

Coming into the weekend, Mooney golf coach Mary Theresa Bellino knew Turner was capable of putting together the scores necessary to win the state title, it was just a matter of maintaining consistency over the course of the two days.

“He’s just a really focused player,” Bellino said. “He’s a joy to coach because he doesn’t get wound up, he knows what the job is and he goes after it. So as happy as we all are, I’m not surprised (that he won).”

Turner’s final round 1-under 71 was one of only two under-par rounds carded for the entire tournament. He earned First-Team All-Ohio honors for his performance.

Not only did Turner and the rest of the field have to battle the course itself, but they had to deal with the conditions as well.

The start of Friday’s first round was delayed by an hour because of frost on the course, plus Turner said the wind was “crazy” throughout the round. Bellino said officials in the clubhouse noted that the wind was gusting to almost 40 mph.

“I just tried to play (the ball) low and hit fairways and greens and just make as many pars as I could because I knew every hole was a challenge with the conditions,” Turner said.

In Saturday’s final round, the wind wasn’t as much of an issue, which allowed Turner to be more “aggressive” and attack the course more to try to shoot low.

“You couldn’t miss big off the tee because there were a lot of hazards, so I just focused on driving and keeping it in play,” Turner said. “Once I did that, it was just a matter of hitting the greens and giving myself a chance with my putter because my putter has been feeling really good and I was able to roll in a couple putts.”

Despite it being her first season coaching the boys team, Bellino has experience guiding the Mooney girls teams to the state tournament in the past and she was able to use that experience to help guide Turner and the rest of the Cardinals.

“They did not know what to expect going down there and everything that goes on,” Bellino said. “So having that experience already, I think helped and I was able to help him stay calm and just do that job at hand. But he’s the kind of kid that knows what the job is and he just goes out there and does it.”

NOTE: As a team, the Cardinals finished ninth out of 12 total teams with a 723 team score. After Turner, his brother Dante shot 176 (90-86), Alex Eckstein shot 183 (96-87), senior Tim Reardon shot 219 (111-108) and senior Joe Zeno shot 254 (129-125). Warren JFK took seventh as a team. The Eagles’ top individual finisher was freshman Andrew LaPolla who was tied for 15th with a 163 (84-79). After that, Bryce Vanhorn shot 167 (88-79), Henry Phillips shot 179 (91-88), Andrew Fredenburg shot 186 (90-96) and Julian Bolino shot 192 (94-98).