The Botetourt Golf & Swim Club will be the site of the Botetourt Metro Golf Tournament on Tuesday of next week, with most of the area high schools participating.
This will be the first Metro tournament since the fall of 2019, as the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 affair. The high school golf season was rescheduled for the spring but the Metro was not included due to limits on number of schools that were allowed to compete at an event.
This year’s Metro will be only one day instead of the two-day, 36 hole events of the past. It will be held at the Botetourt Golf & Swim Club with the first group teeing off at 10 am. Salem and Glenvar will both be competing in the tournament, which will include 20 teams and 108 players.
Glenvar opened with a Three Rivers District match at the Cliff View course Monday, hosted by Alleghany. The Highlanders finished fourth among five teams with a 346. Floyd County was the team winner with a 319 while Radford took second at 331. James River was third at 335 and host Alleghany carded 490.
Mason Hylton had the low score for the Highlanders with a 78. Jackson Shepherd was next at 81 and also scoring were Aiden Hylton at 92 and Adam Harvey at 95. Grayson Shepherd and Brendan Magruder played and shot 111 and 113, respectively, but their scores did not count. Mason Hylton and Jackson Shepherd are both juniors who have continued to improve each season.
“I expect that growth to continue this season,” said coach Blaine Mills. “As a team, I’m looking forward to us building on our successes of last year and continue to get better. I feel we will have one of the best teams from top to bottom since I started coaching. We have a lot of new names and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
The Highlanders open with a busy schedule. They’re at Olde Mill for a match today, then play at the Pete Dye River Course on Monday before participating in the Metro a day later.
Salem won’t open until next Monday, August 9, with a River Ridge District match at the Hidden Valley Country Club. The Spartans return everyone from last year’s team, including Trey Joyce, Hunter King, Alex Rea, Macy Johnson, Josh Kiser, Taylor Davis and Andrew Rea. Coach Thad Snyder also welcomes freshman Kathryn Ha, who has already made a name for herself in summer tournaments.
“Kathryn is an excellent player and will really help the overall scoring,” said Snyder. “I have high hopes and feel really good about this group.”