Rockbridge County High School junior golfers Davis Welsh and Parker Flint qualified individually for the Region 3C tournament, while the Wildcats concluded the team portion of their season by placing fourth of nine teams in their fourth and final 18-hole Shenandoah District match on Monday of last week at The Club of Staunton.
The top two teams from the district, Waynesboro and Wilson Memorial, and the top five individuals outside of those teams advanced to the Region 3C tournament, which was scheduled to take place this past Monday, Sept. 28, at Lake Monticello Golf Course in Palmyra.
In Staunton, Welsh placed third overall in the district to earn alldistrict first-team honors. Adding up the total scores of the district matches, the Wildcats placed fifth of nine teams. Last year, the Wildcats won the district title and placed fifth of eight teams at the Region 3C tournament, but they graduated their top two golfers.
Waynesboro won last Monday’s tournament with a score of 316 to clinch its district title, while Wilson Memorial placed second with a 347. Fort Defiance (350) finished third, and RC (352) and Staunton (355) rounded out the top five.
Tying for first place individually were Waynesboro’s Ryan Harlow and Fort’s Carter Bird, each firing a 76 on the challenging par-71 course. Waynesboro’s Berkeley Gibb, the Shenandoah District player of the year, shot a 77 to place third of 54 golfers.
Flint led the Wildcats, firing an 83 to tie for fifth place. Sophomore Brudy Grue turned in RC’s second score, carding an 85, while Welsh shot an 89. Completing RC’s team scoring was junior Hendrick Colvin, posting a 95. Also competing for the Wildcats were junior Tanner Hickman (98) and senior Finbar Looney (101).
Reviewing the season for the Wildcats, RC head coach Garret Huffman said, “I am very proud of everyone on the team this year. Everyone worked hard each and every day.
“It was a challenging year without having a home course, but a huge thank you to everyone at The Ranch [Golf Club in Buena Vista] that allowed us to practice,” added Huffman, completing his second year as the Wildcats’ head coach.
From the Region 3C tournament, the top two teams and the top three individuals outside of those teams advanced to the Class 3 state tournament, which is scheduled to take place at Cutalong at Tributer Resort on Tuesday, Oct. 13 in Mineral. For results from the Region 3C tournament, visit www.thenews-gazette.com, and see next week’s newspaper for the story.
