The Golden Tornado reminded the competition they have mastered their hometown Polish Pines Golf Course with precision on every corner.
Avoiding the towering trees dominating the tremendous slope of the mountain, they took first place by a score of 155 to edge out Moorefield as the runner-up at 170 with Frankfort (210), Petersburg (244) and Union (incomplete) falling in line in Keyser last Wednesday.
Having the mountainside turned into a golf course creates a unique slope with numerous trees hugging narrow fairways which reminds one of slalom skiing with obstacles coming from every angle for challenging strokes throughout the nine-hole course.
According to the golf experts, Polish Pines has a slope rating of 113 and the 2,757 yards of links has numerous challenges from bumpy hillsides to sand bunkers, tree obstructions and a pond with a fountain.
Keyser was guided by overall low medalist and third seeded Darrick Broadwater with a total of 37 strokes to help the Golden Tornado seal the win.
There was a three-way tie for the second low medalist as Moorefield’s top seeded J.J. Carr carded a 38 along with Keyser duo of top seeded Jacob Malcolm and second seeded Drew Matlick.[private]
Noah Broadwater rounded out the scoring for Keyser.
Carr led the Yellow Jackets (38), followed by second seeded Ryan McGregor at 41, fourth seeded Karson Reed at 44 and third seeded Hayden Baldwin at 47.
Moorefield’s Isaac Rumer also finished with 47 strokes in the seventh seeded spot, followed by fifth seeded Will Barb with 49 and sixth seed James Williams garnered a 54 on the day.
Having consistency is what has been the hallmark of the Yellow Jackets this season and that was one of the toughest challenges dealing with the Polish Pines and the scores still were on par compared to other matches this year.
Carr did better than most of the other golfers at navigating through the narrow trees invading the social distancing of the course fairways and was very consistent at finishing putts.
McGregor was on pace to end the match sub-40, but the last green spelled disaster with a couple errant putting attempts which made him sink down in disbelief looking perplexed.
Spectators had to be careful and aware of each stroke, especially some of the drives to the green near the top of the hill as the tight spacing for aim caused a number of golfers to hit the ball into the tree lines off of the designated fairway paths with one ball nearly hitting one of the members of the gallery.
Moorefield golfer Karson Reed was on a tee preparing for a drive when a ball zipped over from an adjacent hole from a Vikings swing going directly behind him in the middle of his attempt to make the stroke.
Reed managed to get the ball over the pond and the fountain to the other side, but was immediately discouraged about the landing area and made the adjustments to finish in a solid standing on the hole.
One of the Frankfort golfers was trying to guide the ball over the creek and the ball hit a tree trunk and sailed back over his head for another attempt moments later.
There was a small bell that the golfers would ring once they finished that portion of the course to let the other golfers know when to begin as it wasn’t a dinner bell notification as some might of originally thought.
Searching for the golf balls in the forest was like finding an Easter egg as the treasure was hidden momentarily and the golfers took their time to discover them as Rumer and Barb seemed content in the adventure among others.
Frankfort was paced by top seeded Brady Whitacre with a card of 44 and Petersburg was guided by number one seed Dakota Parsons with a 56, while Union’s top golfer Peyton Haines notched a 62.
Petersburg’s Corey Kisamore turned one of the sand bunkers into a geyser with a towering blast of sand going up as the ball flew out to the putting green.
Moorefield has worked diligently to keep the scoring as low as possible on the slopes of Polish Pines and this kind of preparation and focus will pay dividends as the challenge to return to the state tournament in Wheeling is approaching at a fast rate.
The Yellow Jackets visited The Raven at Snowshoe yesterday for the Potomac Valley Conference Championship and has senior night at Valley View tonight before going to Canaan Valley to battle Tucker County.
The Region II Championship will be back at The Raven on September 28 and the season concludes for those who qualify at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling on October 6-7 for the state tournament.[/private]