Auburn High School is headed back to the state’s Class 1 golf championship thanks to a second-place finish Wednesday in the region qualifier. George Wythe took the regional crown, but Auburn, the defending state runner up to GW, outdistanced everyone else to move on as a team.
George Wythe shot a blistering 309, while Auburn had a team score of 383.
Individual scores for Auburn were Slater Linkous (90), Reed Underwood (96), Caleb Wallace (97), Mike Royal (100), Lucas Butler (122) and Ethan Millirons (123).
The regional tournament was held at the Pete Dye Course in Radford.
Eastern Montgomery’s Haley Howard finished in a tie for sixth and advances to next week’s girls’ state tournament.
VT women tie LSU for tournament title; Emily Mahar wins, sets record
The Virginia Tech women’s golf team posted a three-round total of 3-over 843 and tied with LSU for the team title at the Princess Anne Invitational Sunday afternoon. The three-day tournament was played at the par 70, 5,816-yard Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach.
Hokie Emily Mahar claimed the individual title in the tournament. The sophomore from Brisbane, Australia, carded a 7-under 203 for a one-stroke win over Stacey White of Campbell. Mahar posted a 1-under 69 in each of the first two rounds and followed that with a career-best and Virginia Tech women’s golf program record of 5-under 65 in Sunday’s final round with five birdies and no score worse than par. This is Mahar’s fifth career top-5 finish for the Hokies. She is the program’s all-time leader in scoring average.
Also of note, Mahar was carrying the name of Sarah Joy Mitchell on her golf bag during the tournament. Beginning this season, the Hokies are honoring the memory of the fallen former member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets who gave her life defending her country.
The win marked the first-ever team tournament title in the program’s four-plus years of competition. The previous best was two second-place finishes, most recently in the 2018 Minnesota Invitational. Mahar’s win is the third individual title in school history. Elizabeth Bose won the Hurricane Invitational in the spring of 2018, and Keera Foocharoen won the Alexa Stirling Intercollegiate in the fall of 2018.
Alyssa Montgomery, a freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., finished 10th with a 211 and Foocharoen, a sophomore from Bangkok, Thailand, tied for 13th at 213. Jessica Spicer, a senior from Bahama, N.C., tied for 21st at 216 and Nora Wrenger, a redshirt freshman from Munich, Germany, tied for 64th at 226.
Becca DiNunzio, a freshman from Norfolk, Va., competed in the event as an individual. She finished tied for 17th overall. In all, the Hokies placed four golfers in the top 20.
With identical scores of 843, the Hokies and the LSU Tigers were crowned co-champions of the tournament. They finished 13 strokes ahead of Chattanooga and 21 strokes up on UCF. Host ODU finished fifth at 861, Coastal Carolina was sixth at 862, College of Charleston was seventh at 863 and South Florida and Sacramento State tied for eighth at 872. Campbell was 10th at 877, ECU was 11th at 878, UTSA was 12th at 879, MTSU was 13th at 880, Minnesota was 14th at 892 and Marshall was 15th at 926.
The Hokies return to action at the end of October, as they travel to Wilmington, N.C., to compete in the Landfall Tradition. The three-day event, hosted by UNC-Wilmington, will be played at the Country Club of Landfall Oct 25-27.
The Virginia Tech men’s golf team posted a three-round total of 872 and finished in eighth place at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate Sunday. The two-day tournament was played at the par 72, 7,358-yard Lonnie Poole Golf Course on the campus on NC State University in Raleigh.
Tech opened Saturday with a 302 in the morning’s first round and followed with a 5-under 283 in the afternoon to enter the final round in 10th place. Tech shot a 1-under 287 on Sunday, fifth-best score of the final round.
Connor Burgess, a junior from Lynchburg, Va., tied for eighth overall with a 6-under 210 to lead the Hokies. He finished seven strokes behind medalist Jonathan Brightwell of UNC-Greensboro. Burgess posted a 75 in Saturday’s first round before firing a 6-under 66 in the afternoon round. He finished up the event with a 3-under 69 on Sunday, including birdies on his final three holes.
Mark Lawrence Jr., a redshirt senior from Richmond, tied for 37th overall at 220 and Bradley de Beer, a sophomore from Western Cape, South Africa, tied for 47th at 223. Daniel Azallion, a freshman from Hilton Head Island, S.C., tied for 59th at 225 and Connor Johnson Jr., a sophomore from Richmond, tied for 66th at 226.
Host NC State took the team title with a 22-under 842, four strokes ahead of Campbell and 11 strokes ahead of Furman and UNC-Greensboro. UNC-Wilmington was fifth at 857, Augusta was sixth at 863 and Elon was seventh at 865, seven strokes ahead of the Hokies. Southern Illinois was ninth at 874, Maryland was 10th at 877, High Point was 11th at 878, Georgetown and Jacksonville tied for 12th at 890. George Mason was 14th at 900 and Ohio was 15th at 906.
Radford men third in tournament
The Radford University men’s golf team wrapped up play at the Musgrove Mill Match Play Invitational Tuesday, defeating fellow Big-South member USC Upstate to finish third in the event.
The Highlanders had a pair of dominant wins in the first and last matches of the day, as Peter Gasperini won, 6&4, while Patrick Gareiss won, 5&4, to help Radford seal a 3.5-1.5 win over USC Upstate.
