Marty Gordon
Auburn High School dominated the competition on the course this week, winning both the Mt. Empire and Region C Class 1 state golf titles.
Auburn Coach Jeff Gandee was named the Region C coach of the year.
Drew Royal and Matthew Altizer both shot 72 at the district meet with a team score of 297, outdistancing the competition by 63-strokes. George Wythe was second as a team with a 359. Giles was third with a 360 mark.
In the region, Auburn shot a 316, 34 strokes over second place George Wythe. Altizer led the team with a 76 score.
Meanwhile Blacksburg is continuing its hunt for another state title. The team rolled to a 25-stroke victory in the sub-region tournament held this week at Blacksburg Country Club.
The Bruins shot a course record team score of 273, which was 15 under par, to defeat seven other schools.
Blacksburg was led by medalist Jake Albert who carded an eight under par 64. Also contributing to the Blacksburg score were Cameron Sharp and Jack Skinner who both shot three under par 69s and Emerson Keene who shot a one under par 71.
Next up for the Bruins is the region 4D tournament that will be held Monday, Oct. 7 at Shenandoah Valley golf club in front Royal Virginia.
Eastern Montgomery are this year’s Pioneer District champs with Narrows second. Cam Sutphin led the Mustangs with a score of 85.
The Radford University women’s golf team led by a record-breaking second round from Macy Johnson would see the Highlanders place in a tie for third in a shortened Pirate Collegiate Classic at the Greenville Country Club.
Johnson would shine once again as she would lead the player leaderboard for the second time this season, posting the lowest score of 136 over the 36-holes in this year’s Pirate Collegiate Classic.
The sophomore would record a 70 (-2) to open the first round. Johnson would make history in the second after she would go 6-under par 66 to set a new individual single-round program record that was previously held by teammate Hannah Lindemann. Johnson would begin her second round at the tenth hole and go on to have an incredible back nine, making six birdies and going bogey-free. In the front nine she would bogey the first hole, but bounced back to officially clinch the record after carding her seventh birdie at the 9th hole.
Rahul Rajendran of the Virginia Tech men’s golf team carded a 10-over 226 (74-75-77) to lead the Hokies at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, which concluded Wednesday at Blessings Golf Club (par 72, 7,737 yards).
Tech wrapped up competition in tenth place in the team standings at 927 (305-307-315). LSU, led by three golfers in the top eight, posted a 16-shot victory over runner-up Mississippi State. The Tigers fired a 2-under 862 (285-297-280) to capture the team title.
Virginia Tech women’s golfer Emily Mathews fired a 14-over 230 (72-79-79) to lead the Hokies at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, which concluded Wednesday at Blessings Golf Club (par 72, 6,501 yards).
Tech placed 10th in the team standings with a cumulative 947 (312-318-317). Tournament host Arkansas ran away with the team title, firing a tournament-record, 12-under 852 (279-293-280). Mississippi State was the runner-up at 21-over 885 (286-310-289).
The Razorbacks were bolstered by the exceptional play of reigning individual champion Maria Jose Marin, who carded an 11-under 205 (65-73-67) to successfully defend her title. Julia Lopez Ramirez finished six shots back at 5-under 211 (68-77-66).
