Auburn Hills was a challenge, but the River Ridge District golfers went low on a beautiful afternoon in Riner Monday.
The Spartans were without senior Ashnoor Kaur, who is in Pennsylvania for an AJGA event this week, and finished sixth on the day with a team score of 313. Three teams went sub-300 for the round and five players shot even par or better.
Blacksburg won the round with a 290. Hidden Valley shot 293, Cave Spring 299, Christiansburg 308 and Pulaski was one shot better than Salem at 312. Patrick Henry brought up the rear with a 320, which would be competitive in most districts.
“There were some diabolical pin locations, but that didn’t stop the field from going low,” said Salem coach Blaine Hancock. “You have to bring it each week in our district. We put three scores in the 70s but we have to break 300 if we want to have a chance to finish near the top. It wasn’t what we wanted, but we still had a lot of positives.”
Salem was led by freshman Chloe Collins, who finished tied for 11th with a four over par 76.
“She just keeps impressing us each week,” said Hancock. “We knew Chloe was going to be a great player, but she is rapidly taking her game to another level.”
Mike Bateman finished tied for 15th with a 77 and sophomore JD Williamson put together a solid performance, finishing tied for 21st with a 79. Sophomore McKenzie Eversole and junior Croix Bowen both posted 81 while junior Eli Wells rounded out the lineup with an 85.
The tournament marked the halfway point of the district season and Salem is fifth with an average score of 308.3. Blacksburg leads at 886, an average of 295.3, followed by Hidden Valley at 907, Cave Spring at 911 and Pulaski is one spot ahead of the Spartans in fourth at 920.
“We had some solid scores but we know we are capable of going lower,” said Hancock.
Last Thursday the Spartans cracked the 300 mark to earn their first team win at the Copper Cove course near Smith Mountain Lake. It was a three team invitational with Salem carding 298, Cave Spring 303 and host Franklin County at 325.
Kaur and Williamson led the way for the Spartans, both carding a one over par 73. Collins posted a season best 75 and the final counting score came from Eversole with a 77.
“It’s the first time we’ve cracked 300 this season, but I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” said Hancock. “We played great, but we hope to continue on this trajectory getting a little better each round.”
Next up for the Spartans is a non-district match on Monday, Aug. 31, at the Waterfront Country Club hosted by Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy.
