“Concentration comes out of a combination of confidence and hunger.”
– Professional Golfer Arnold Palmer
The Yellow Jackets entered the WVSSAC State Golf Tournament in Wheeling as the Region II champions, but the challenges of Oglebay Resort’s Speidel Golf Club Jones Course proved its might testing Moorefield on every hole resulting in an overall seventh place finish with 571 points and the positive outcome was improvement from the first to second round.
Moorefield Golf started on the first hole each day, playing consecutively in the foursomes.
“It has been a wonderful experience for all of our players, especially proud of Zach [Arbaugh] and Ean [Carr] working hard to make this happen,” Moorefield Coach Wade Armentrout stated.
“I know each time they qualified as individuals, they wanted to set it as a goal to qualify as a team before they graduated. They wanted the team to become eligible, so they could share the experience here. They have had really good experiences as individuals, so I am proud of how hard they worked. They are great role models and it’s not just on the golf course. They help the young players all the
time. They are always good to help them in school and on the course. I am really proud of Ryan and Trace. This is a great experience for them playing a very difficult course. It exposed things we need to work on, but for us to be able to be here and just compete at such a high level in the state is fantastic. Before we started day number two was just to get better from day one. We talked about the improvements and it shows in their scores.”
On the opening day of the state tournament there was overcast skies with wind picking up and a storm rolled through near the conclusion bringing rain and lightning.
The second day was foggy and cool at the start with a drizzle, but the clouds cleared with the sun coming out for a nice day of golf
in the 70’s.
The Yellow Jackets combined for one birdie, 25 pars and 54 bogeys over the two-day state tournament.
Moorefield senior Zach Arbaugh was the low-medalist for the squad with a total of 169 strokes (87/82) in Wheeling which was one stroke shy of joining the top-8 medalists.
Moorefield senior Ean Carr finished the state tournament with a card of 187 (96/91).
Moorefield junior Trace Miller completed the two rounds with a 229 (112-117).
Moorefield freshman Ryan McGregor scored a 217 (114-103) at Oglebay Resort.
The Yellow Jackets opted to not enter any of the alternates, but had each one walk the entire course both days to observe their teammates and show support throughout the tournament.
Members of the team showing support in the gallery were:
Hayden Baldwin, Tori Humphries, Amber Riggleman, Jordan Ketterman, William Barb and Karson Reed.
Moorefield Coach Wade Armentrout was a spotter on the first day, then the second round was able to join his players along the
course seeing their games improve.
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The Speidel Golf Club’s Jones Course has a distance of 6,605 yards which kept those golfers active going up and down the hills to
complete the competition.
The view from the first tee was majestic with the trees surrounding the hole with a couple of sand bunkers leading up to the green and a hillside launch to the fairway with a distance of 442 yards.
Arbaugh hit a bogey on both days for the first hole, Carr shot a double bogey, Miller hit a seven strokes twice and McGregor hit six
times twice.
Carr put a top spin on the ball during his first stroke off the tee which helped calm the nerves of the rest of the team.
“It is a pretty special thing. The past four years we have been off by two, three or four shots every year. I try to tell these guys it is a lot harder to be here and to just enjoy the moment and learn from it,” Moorefield senior Ean Carr remarked.
“On the first tee I kind of topped the ball which was a good thing, because Ryan [McGregor] and Trace [Miller] were the next two to go off there after that. So seeing me top the ball, helped calm them down knowing if I did something like that it is okay. It is nerve racking, but once you start playing you don’t really think about it. There were some places it was really wet in areas, especially if your next set of greens you try chipping off you could get your club stuck. [Best aspect] Putting. It wasn’t great, but was certainly my best thing since it was consistent throughout the match. One putting holes compared to two-putting those holes is a two-stroke difference. I had a couple holes that I one-putted and that helped bring my score down. My favorite hole was probably hole number 14 yesterday and today. I shot a 14 on it yesterday and my sophomore year I struggled on it, but I finally conquered it. This last round I made a bogey on it. It is a hard hole, because it has boundaries all around it and water before the green. It is easy to mess up. Playing a course that is long and hilly and having bad greens is a mixture of everything. It is not flat anywhere. It is different than what we are used to on our side of the state. It was a wonderful experience to bring the team up here. It is fun, but having the whole team experience it makes it special.”
Arbaugh hit for par on holes number two, five (twice), six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16.
Carr had the best hole for the team with a birdie at hole no. 16 on the second day, and shot for par on holes nos. three (twice), four, six, eight, nine, 12, 13 and 16.
Miller shot for par on holes four and 15, while McGregor hit for par on hole number 13.
Hitting off the tee on hole no. 4 was breathtaking with the hillside going down to a pond with the green just beyond it which happened to be the shortest par-3 148-yard hole on the course.
Arbaugh dipped his club in the puddle of water prior to hitting and finished with a four on both days.
Carr hit for par on the first day and a bogey on the second day.
Miller hit a five on the first day, then cut the strokes down for a par on the second day.
McGregor shot a five and a bogey on the fourth hole.
Overall the players were consistent hitting in the fairway with the exception of a handful of holes, but the putting was the deal breaker
for most of the holes.
Once the players finished on the front-9, there was only enough time to grab lunch on the go as the pace needed to be maintained.
The view from the 9th hole leading to the clubhouse and the 10th hole overlooking the course were both beautiful in their own way.
The fan galleries kept along with the golfers throughout the course by cart or on foot patrol.
Golfers and fans alike had to watch out for the muddy terrain along the course.
Carr struggled on the 14th hole which was the longest of the course at 536 yards, needing 14 strokes on the first day as the trees swallowed the ball on numerous hits and the pond invited a plunge before turning it around to conquer on the second day with just a bogey (six).
Miller had a unique pop-up sort of like in baseball and the ball bounced down spinning behind the 12th hole tee.
Arbaugh shot a six and a five on the 14th hole, while Miller and McGregor each shot eight strokes per day on it.
McGregor had one shot toward the green that skipped across the water.
The 18th hole featured 416 yards with a long hillside with trees below which was one of the most photographed holes on the course.
Arbaugh had a two-foot putt ricochet out of the hole on the second day finishing with five strokes which was one below the first day.
Carr shot a bogey on both days for the 18th hole.
McGregor went from 10 strokes down to six on the second round, while Miller hit a six and seven on the 18th hole.
“They were able to improve on the course. You don’t want to go way left or way right. It isn’t about the distance you hit the ball, but how accurate you are. This is really good representing Moorefield here. It was one of my goals when I started coaching to make sure we competed at the highest level. I am really proud of the character the players show. I had two coaches come up to me yesterday saying their players really enjoyed playing with our players, because of how polite they were and the etiquette they used on the course.
That makes me just as proud as any of the scores,” Coach Armentrout said.
Miller stressed the difference it makes carrying the golf equipment on the course and his experience overall.
“I had a 112 on my first day, but in the practice round I shot a 93. You’d think I had never played golf before the way I was hitting the
ball. I think I did good on Monday, because I didn’t have to carry my own bag. It takes a lot of energy when you are carrying an additional 30 pounds on you,” Moorefield junior Trace Miller commented.
“Every time they would announce my name I would shake, because everybody is watching and you don’t want to hit a bad shot. I
hit a bad shot on 12. My tee shot went backwards. I don’t know how it happened, I popped it and it bounced back behind me. I think I looked up too quick. The hardest part of the course was the greens, because I thought they would break that way. They weren’t as tilted as Franklin and our course back home where you can actually see it. They were fast. My favorite hole would probably be 18,because that is where I hit my best shots the whole day. During Tuesday and Wednesday, my best shot was the tee shot, because all of them were straight. None of the others went straight. I was asked how I did on hole one, because I bombed the ball down the middle and I said I got a seven. You can drive the show, but if you can’t do anything else…It is hard to adjust.”
McGregor enjoyed the experience and was honored to have his name announced starting the day.
“The state tournament is fun. Oglebay is a really hard course. Ean [Carr] and Zach [Arbaugh] did pretty good this week. I focused a little harder on the second day knowing it was our last match and was trying to keep it in play,” Moorefield freshman Ryan McGregor noted.
“My favorite hole, I liked hole one. The announcer named you when you teed off and it was a nice view. The most challenging part was the fairways, they were really narrow and hard to hit. Driving the ball was the best aspect of my game, I hit it straight. Ean said
you have to hit it long and straight and keep it on the fairway. Putting was harder with two-tiered greens. They put sand traps right in front of the greens which made it harder to hit. I didn’t hit any sand traps all week.”
The alternates were appreciative of having the opportunity to observe and spend time together.
“I am thankful to have been able to come here to state my first year of playing golf,” Moorefield sophomore Tori Humphries stated.
“I have had a wonderful time and I am so happy to be part of a team where we are all part of a family. It was exciting and I was
glad to be able to support my teammates.”
“It shows how important every shot is and how in the end it can come down to one or two strokes,” Moorefield freshman Amber Riggleman said.
“I like hole four, the par three with the water. It is really pretty. I did see a bass jump up and get something out of the water. I
should have brought my golf club with a little string on it,” Moorefield sophomore Hayden Baldwin added.
“It was really exciting. I got to come out here and walk 22 miles and it was a good experience. I had a banana for breakfast,” Moorefield freshman Karson Reed remarked.
“It is pretty cool to come out here and compete at the state tournament, especially with the whole team,” Moorefield senior Zach Arbaugh commented.
“We got to stay in a cabin and relax. We have four bedrooms, so it is pretty awesome. It is good get them out here so they can get experience to come out here next year to play at this course. It is a good experience. I was happier that I improved, but it could have been a little better. My favorite hole was probably hole three, downhill par-three. It’s all right. It was challenging, I hit long on it each day. [The most challenging part] It was wet which made it play longer, balls were plugging and was easy to chuck a shot adding a few strokes. It was awesome to come out two years in a row and to bring the team this year. It is nice to come out here and play the course. I am close [medalist], but that two-foot putt I missed might be something I remember for awhile.”
Moorefield Golf knows what it takes to return to Wheeling.
“Success in golf depends less on strength of body more on strength of mind and character.” – Arnold Palmer
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