The Salem High golfers were in Draper Monday for a River Ridge District match at the Draper Valley Golf Club, hosted by Pulaski County. The Spartans finished third on the day in a very tight match, with just four strokes between the first and third teams.
Blacksburg emerged victorious by a narrow margin with a team score of 299, three strokes better than Hidden Valley. Salem was just one shot behind the Titans at 303. Salem saw five of their six players post a round of 78 or better.
“The leaderboard was stacked tight with over 20 players posting rounds in the 70s,” said Salem coach Blaine Hancock.
Four players were vying for the medalist honor on the day, but Pulaski’s Will Rackaway emerged on top, posting a one under par 71 to finish just one shot ahead of the second-place finishers, Salem sophomore JD Williamson, Cave Spring’s Andrew McAfe, and Hidden Valley’s Harris Camp.
“JD was phenomenal for us, posting an even par season best performance,” said Hancock. “He was steady from the start with only one hiccup on the 13th hole.”
After JD came senior Ashnoor Kaur with a 75 to tie for ninth, followed by sophomore McKenzie Eversole, freshman Chloe Collins and junior Mike Bateman who all posted 78s. Finishing out the lineup for the Spartans was junior Eli Wells at 87.
“This was a strong showing from our top five players,” said Hancock. “We had some opportunities that we capitalized on and we let a few other shots get away. I’m proud that we keep improving each week. Each week in our district is going to be tight.”
Through the first two district matches Blacksburg leads with a 36 hole total of 596. Pulaski County is second at 608 followed by Salem and Cave Spring who tied for third at 612. Hidden Valley is close behind at 614, Patrick Henry is at 623 and Christiansburg brings up the rear at 660.
Monday was the second time in less than a week that the Spartans played at Draper Valley. Last week they competed in the “Battle on the New” over two days at the Pete Dye River Course in Radford, and Draper Valley. Salem, Blacksburg, Pulaski, and Abingdon were the four schools competing in match play.
“We all brought eight players and played in pairs of two,” said Hancock. “Each pairing consisted of six holes of best ball match play, six holes of alternate shot match play and six holes of individual match play.”
In part 1 of the matches at The River Course Salem played against Pulaski County and tied 8-8 while Abingdon won big over Blacksburg. Salem’s top pair of Ashnoor Kaur and JD Williamson lost their best ball match, but won alternate shot and both individual matches, going 3-1. Salem’s other twosomes were Bateman and Will Creger, Eversole and Collins, and Croix Bowen and Kemper Thomas.
In part 2 of the matches at Draper Valley, Hancock changed up the pairings slightly. The Spartans went head to head against Blacksburg, falling just short, 7.5-8.5, while Abingdon beat Pulaski.
Salem’s first group in this match was Williamson and Bateman. After winning the best ball portion, they lost the alternate shot, making it come down to the individual matches. JD forced a tie by making a birdie on the last hole while Mike won his match, going 2.5-1.5. Next out was McKenzie Eversole and Chloe Collins.
“While they both played well, Blacksburg’s team went extremely low in this match,” said Hancock. “Chloe was able to save a point by winning her individual match by a narrow margin with this group going 1-3.”
Wells and Bowen played the third two-some and Creger played with Thomas. Over the two rounds Salem went 15.5-16.5. Overall, Abingdon won the most points followed by Salem, then Pulaski and Blacksburg.
“This was a great experience for our team and it was a good mix up from our usual stroke play events,” said Hancock.
