The Salem High golfers teed it up at the Draper Valley Golf Course in Draper, VA Monday and finished fifth among the seven teams in a River Ridge District match.
“It was a beautiful day, but the wind was up and the course was firm and fast,” said Salem coach Blaine Hancock. “Draper hasn’t received the rain that the Roanoke Valley has been hit with and it made for a challenge. Draper Valley did not allow a single person to go under par.”
Blacksburg finished with a team score of 301 two win the round. Host Pulaski and Cave Spring tied for second at 310, Patrick Henry came in at 315 and Salem had a 319. Rounding out the day were Hidden Valley at 324 and Christiansburg at 327.
Two juniors tied for the top spot as Harris Camp of Hidden Valley and Jack Skinner of Blacksburg both shot even par 72. Salem was paced by sophomore Mike Bateman who fired a 74 to tie for third individually.
“Mike opened up with a 35 on his first nine holes and collected three birdies on the day,” said Hancock. “He’s really starting to elevate his game.”
Junior Ashnoor Kaur shot 77, sophomore Croix Bowen had an 83 and Eli Wells rounded out Salem’s scoring with an 85.
“We’ve had a lot of great rounds this year, but just haven’t been able to put four scores together on the same day,” said Hancock. “We’re hanging in there and battling. Our ultimate goal is to be our best at the end of the year for postseason play and I’m confident we can get there with this team.”
With three district matches to go Blacksburg leads the River Ridge at 775. Next is Pulaski at 784 followed by Cave Spring at 797 and Salem is fourth at 803. Next comes Hidden Valley at 809, PH at 814 and Christiansburg brings up the rear at 829.
