Published Thursday, May 01, 2008 1:42 PM
Updated Thursday, May 01, 2008 1:43 PM

 

Patriots claim first region golf title

The Fort Dorchester golf team won its first Region 8-AAAA championship last week.

Over the past few years, the Patriots have been easing up on Summerville, which has won six out of the last 12 titles. Last year during the region championship at Wescott, the Patriots nearly upset the Green Wave, but fell two strokes shy. On April 24, the Fort finally toppled Summerville, shooting a 36-hole 622 to win the 2008 region championship match at Shadowmoss Plantation Golf Club.

Surprisingly, the Patriots ran away with the match. Summerville, the runner up, finished a full 36 strokes behind the Fort. Beaufort placed third with a 726-point total, followed by West Ashley (805) and Colleton County (883).

“Going into the tournament, I thought it would be a toss up between us and Summerville,” Patriot coach Tom Wilson said. “We played well and they didn’t have a good day.”

As the top two teams from the region, Fort D and Summerville advance to the 4-A state tournament at Furman University May 5-6. Summerville has placed higher than the Fort at a couple of tournaments this year, however, the Patriots are undefeated in conference play.

“The kids are improving their course management and are doing a better job placing the ball in the fairway,” Wilson said. “I’ve tried to place more emphasis on the short game and I believe it has paid off.”

Leading the scoring for the Patriots was Freshman Jonathan Rushton, who shot a 76 the first round and a 75 the second for a 151 total. His effort won him low medalist honors for the tournament and a spot on the All-region team.

“The first 18 didn’t really go well for me at all, but things started to come around during the second 18,” Rushton said. “For one thing, I had a better putt. The previous two times I played at Shadowmoss, I didn’t break 80 so I’m pleased. Now I’ve shown that I can play well in a big tournament and I think only good things will come of that.”

Jordan Griffith had the next best effort for the Patriots, carding rounds of 75 and 79 for a 154 total. Trailing were Taylor Zoller with a 157 total (81-76) and Michael Bachman at 160 (79-81). They join Rushton on the All-region team. Others named All-region team are Ben Sloan and Michael Goodwin of Summerville and Taylor Simonsen of Beaufort.

Sloan and Goodwin led the Summerville golfers, shooting a 159 (86-73) and (80-79), respectively. Trailing were Brannon Parnell with a 165 (86-79) and Tyler Ensley with a 175 (82-93).

Fort D’s Sammy Maniche had an 18-hole score of 81 and Andrew Thomas had a score of 83. Summerville’s Nick Barnhill had an 18-hole score of 93 and Matt McInnis finished with an 85.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.