WHEELING - The Kanawha Valley's two defending champion teams didn't bring their best games Tuesday, but it was still good enough for each to lead after the first day of the state golf tournament.
WHEELING - The Kanawha Valley's two defending champion teams didn't bring their best games Tuesday, but it was still good enough for each to lead after the first day of the state golf tournament.
Hurricane holds a six-stroke lead for team honors in Class AAA after the opening round of the two-day event at Oglebay Park's Robert Trent Jones course, and Charleston Catholic is up by three shots in Class A. Scott and Ritchie County are tied atop AA.
Few players were satisfied with their rounds Tuesday as scores soared, mostly due to lightning-fast greens caused by a lack of rain. Some teams were on the course for as long as 81/2 hours.
"The greens are extremely, extremely fast,'' said Catholic coach Bill Gillispie.
Junior Aaron Barna of Hurricane, who was the AAA medalist last year for his title-winning team, shot an 8-over-par 79 on Tuesday, which tied him for the team low with junior Sam Booth and junior Brian Anania.
"They were a little disappointed,'' said Hurricane coach Glenna Ragle, "though I told them they shouldn't be. The greens and the pin placements are so hard. These three boys didn't have their best scores, and they were disappointed in their own play. But we're still [ahead], and they should be able to do better [today]. They're hoping to hit bed early, and go out and do better.''
In the state tournament, teams compete with four players each and the scores of the best three rounds are counted.
Hurricane's four-player score stands at 237, which is six shots better than Cabell Midland and Wheeling Park (243) and seven ahead of George Washington (244).
Andrew Skeens of GW tied the Hurricane trio at 79, the best AAA score of the day for an area player. Patriots teammate Elizabeth Fredrick had an 81. The top AAA rounds of the day were a 3-over 74 by Chandler Beavers of Princeton and a 4-over 75 by Wheeling Park's Marshall Hone.
Last year, Barna became the first Kanawha Valley golfer to win medalist honors since Capital's Christian Brand in 2005.
WHEELING - The Kanawha Valley's two defending champion teams didn't bring their best games Tuesday, but it was still good enough for each to lead after the first day of the state golf tournament.
Hurricane holds a six-stroke lead for team honors in Class AAA after the opening round of the two-day event at Oglebay Park's Robert Trent Jones course, and Charleston Catholic is up by three shots in Class A. Scott and Ritchie County are tied atop AA.
Few players were satisfied with their rounds Tuesday as scores soared, mostly due to lightning-fast greens caused by a lack of rain. Some teams were on the course for as long as 81/2 hours.
"The greens are extremely, extremely fast,'' said Catholic coach Bill Gillispie.
Junior Aaron Barna of Hurricane, who was the AAA medalist last year for his title-winning team, shot an 8-over-par 79 on Tuesday, which tied him for the team low with junior Sam Booth and junior Brian Anania.
"They were a little disappointed,'' said Hurricane coach Glenna Ragle, "though I told them they shouldn't be. The greens and the pin placements are so hard. These three boys didn't have their best scores, and they were disappointed in their own play. But we're still [ahead], and they should be able to do better [today]. They're hoping to hit bed early, and go out and do better.''
In the state tournament, teams compete with four players each and the scores of the best three rounds are counted.
Hurricane's four-player score stands at 237, which is six shots better than Cabell Midland and Wheeling Park (243) and seven ahead of George Washington (244).
Andrew Skeens of GW tied the Hurricane trio at 79, the best AAA score of the day for an area player. Patriots teammate Elizabeth Fredrick had an 81. The top AAA rounds of the day were a 3-over 74 by Chandler Beavers of Princeton and a 4-over 75 by Wheeling Park's Marshall Hone.
Last year, Barna became the first Kanawha Valley golfer to win medalist honors since Capital's Christian Brand in 2005.
Catholic, likewise, didn't play up to its usual standards, but relied on its youth to shoot an opening-round 253, putting the Irish ahead of Trinity (256) and St. Marys (258).
Freshmen Will Kimberling and David Miller had the best scores for the Irish with rounds of 82 and 85, respectively. Justen Holstein, Catholic's No. 1 player on the season, carded an 86 and Michael Bush shot a 91. Holstein had a 73 during a practice round this week.
"Our two freshmen who have never been here before are our first two,'' Gillispie said.
"I guess it's good our No. 1 and 2 didn't play well today, knowing they've already been through this and Day 2 before, and there's a little experience there. We're hoping they can turn it around. Both [Holstein and Bush] finished in the top eight last year. You know they're going to play better [today], but you don't know how the freshmen will be on Day 2.''
Gillispie is still wary of St. Marys, which won the Region 1 title that was long the property of Wheeling Central, which has captured three state golf titles since 2000 but did not qualify as a team this year.
"St. Marys didn't play well,'' Gillisie said, "but I wouldn't put it away from them just yet. There's a lot of room for improvement.''
The top individual-round score in single-A was posted by Matt McLaughlin of Trinity (78). Garrett Burdette of Buffalo shot an 82 and is tied for fifth with Kimberling.
Harry Howell of Scott completed the course in 77 strokes and leads the individual race in Class AA by a full six shots. Among the foursome deadlocked at 83 is Poca's George Hamrick.
Ravenswood, the defending champ in AA, stands in fourth place at 265, eight back of the leaders.
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