It has become a rout. The West Union Dragons boys golf team, after three rounds of play, is running away with the 2015 Southern Hills Athletic Conference tournament, holding a commanding 60-stroke lead over second-place North Adams with nine holes left to play.
Round three of this year’s tourney was played on Sept. 22 at Whiteoak Golf Course and though the Dragons were still running away with the team title, there was another change at the top of the individual standings. West Union’s Elijah McCarty was the medalist for day three, firing a 35 to jump back into first place overall. McCarty (111) goes into what promised to be an exciting final round with a four-stroke lead over Ripley’s Dylan Phillips (115) and a five-stroke lead over teammate Craig Horton (116), who lead after the second round and shot a 43 in round three.
At Whiteoak on Tuesday, the Dragons got the 35 from McCarty and 42 from Horton, along with a 39 from Tyler Fowler and 43’s from both Jacob Pell and Eli Fuller. Their team score of 159 in round three was good enough to increase their lead by 28 more strokes heading into the final round.
North Adams remained in second place, though a very distant second, but comfortably in front of third place Lynchburg. The Devils were paced in the third round by Patrick England, who carded a 43, followed by Noah Lung at 46, Bryant Lung at 48, Corey McClellan at 50, and Colt Shumaker at 52.
Round three was a good one for the boys from Manchester, who actually placed second on the day behind West Union. The Hounds were led by a round of 42 by Dylan Colvin who was followed closely by Jace Thatcher at 43. Logan Hayslip scored a 48, Jalen James 51, and Justin Aldridge 64.
Peebles had three golfers on the course for the third round, with Joe McElwee leading the squad with a 50, followed by Jordan Syroney at 54, and Owen Behr at 77.
The final round of the tournament was played on Sept. 24 at Hilltop Golf Course in Manchester. Look for a full report on that action in the Sept. 30 issue of The People’s Defender.
