The Fort Dorchester boys’ golf team earned its second consecutive Region 8-AAAA championship April 23 with a win at Miler Country Club.
The Patriots took charge in the first round of the championship match, posting a 301 score. They posted a 311 score in the second round for a first-place total of 612.
Trailing were Summerville (649), Beaufort (714) and West Ashley (726). Colleton County was unable to field a complete team for the competition.
The Region Low Medalist for the second year in a row was Fort Dorchester’s Jonathan Rushton, who has been recovering from surgery this season. He finished with a 146 score.
“He injured his wrist last summer and because of the surgery he wasn’t even able to swing a club until about February,” Patriot coach Tom Wilson said. “He has come on strong in the last four weeks.”
Also making the all-region team from Fort Dorchester were Sammy Maniche (151), Taylor Zoller (157) and Andrew Thomas (158).
Three Summerville golfers were named to the all-region team - Michael Goodwin (150), Nick Barnhill (163) and Tyler Ensley (167).
Summerville followed a 330 effort in the first round with a 319 in the second to claim the runner-up spot and qualify, along with Fort Dorchester, for the State AAAA Tournament to be held at Furman University May 11-12.
Wilson is hoping the Fort golfers will be able to top their performance at last year’s state meet, when they placed 10th.
“Over the last three or four weeks, we have shot between 300 and 306 about a dozen times, but the competition at the state tournament will be stiff,” Wilson said. “We need to work hard in practice and see if we can’t get below 300.”

You can reach Roger Lee by calling 873-9424 or emailing rlee@journalscene.com.