McCarty’s 1-under 34 leads the way –
Story by Mark Carpenter –
Photos by Patrice Yezzi England –
Round One of the 2016 Southern Hills Athletic Conference Boys Golf Tournament, played at the Hilltop Golf Course, is in the books and as expected, the early lead belongs to the West Union Dragons, but perhaps not by as much as expected. West Union sits atop the team leader board after nine holes of the 36-hole event, but with just a seven stroke advantage over second place North Adams, Turning in their best team score of the season, the Ripley Blue Jays occupy the third spot.
The Dragons were paced by a solid round by defending individual champion Elijah McCarty,who opened the tourney with a 1-under par score of 34, but that didn’t totally pull him away from the field. Just two strokes behind at 36 is Manchester’s Logan Hayslip, and three back at 37 are McCarty’s teammate Craig Horton and North Adams’ Bryant Lung. Three players are four off the pace at 39, North Adams’ Patrick England and the Ripley duo of Dylan Phillips and Scottie Ott.
When the four rounds of the SHAC Tournament are completed next week, the top 15 golfers will be named to the All-Conference Team. After Day One, the top 15 also includes Noah Lung from North Adams (40), plus Tyler Fowler and Jacob Pell from West Union (42),
Lurking just out of the top 15 are Manchester’s Jalen James at 45 and Peebles’ Bostin Robinson with the same, along with North Adams’ Colt Shumaker at 46.
Round Two of the SHAC was played on Thursday, Sept. 15 back at Hilltop, while the third round will be played Sept. 20 at Whiteoak and the fourth and final round at Buckeye Hills on Sept. 22, Look for reports on all that action in future issues of The People’s Defender.
Round One Team Scores: West Union 155, North Adams 162, Ripley 171, Manchester 186, Whiteoak 187, Eastern Brown 197, Lynchburg 200, Fairfield 209.
