John Dickerson may be officially retired from the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but don’t tell him that.

With congratulations and well-wishes from the Board of Directors, Dickerson’s 13-year tenure as an assistant commissioner at the OHSAA came to an end last month, but with 44 years of experience in education and high school athletics, it is no surprise that he was asked to continue in his role of overseeing the OHSAA golf championships.

Those championships – featuring three divisions for boys and two divisions for girls – tee off next weekend (Oct. 10-11) when the boys and girls Div. II championships will be played at The Ohio State University Scarlet and Gray courses in Columbus and the Div. III boys championship will be played at the Players Club at Foxfire Golf Club in nearby Lockbourne.

The following weekend (Oct. 17-18), the boys and girls Div. I championships will both be held at Ohio State, with the boys playing the Scarlet course and the girls playing Gray.

OHSAA.org caught up with Dickerson Oct. 1 at the OHSAA central office as he continued preparations for the OHSAA golf championships.

Q: How have you seen the Ohio high school state golf championships evolve in your years as an administrator for those championships?

A: “We have seen the number of boys teams around the state stay about the same, with 700 to 710 teams in three divisions, but the number of girls teams has gone up by more than 50, which means we can have two divisions now. The Ohio High School Golf Coaches Association is excited about that, but more important is the excitement and opportunity for our schools and participants. In the past there was only one division and there was a big discrepancy in enrollment between the larger schools and the smaller schools. With two divisions, it doesn’t eliminate that entirely, but the playing field is more level.”

Q: What does it mean to have such excellent facilities like Ohio State and Foxfire available to host the championships?

A: “We have a long history with Scarlet and Gray and it is a real thrill for kids to play there. Both are good, challenging golf courses. Scarlet is as challenging a golf course as they will play, especially with the renovations they made to the course in 2005. By and large, the scores have been a shade higher, but we have good golfers who have played in so many tournaments during the summer. Scarlet is fair, but difficult. And Foxfire is an extremely good facility, too. In fact we played all our state championships there in 2005 when Ohio State was being renovated. The folks at Foxfire are extremely excited about hosting a championship and bend over backwards to make us feel welcome.”

Q: Is there any information fans should be reminded of before heading to the course?

A: “During the first weekend (Oct. 10-11), fans can keep their ticket stub from either Ohio State or Foxfire and use it to enter the other championship site without purchasing another ticket. Also, a reminder to all spectators that no coolers are permitted on the course.”

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Contact: Tim Stried, tstried@ohsaa.org