The Owensboro boys’ golf team cruised to another victory on Tuesday, shooting a 293 to win the City-County tournament at Ben Hawes Golf Course for the second straight year.
With the tournament a two-day event, the boys played the front nine on Monday and the back nine on Tuesday. OHS was in the lead after day one with a 145; Will Rickard and Cole Crews both led the Red Devils with a low score of 35.
“Coming into City-County, we won it last year and I felt like we were a little better of a team this year,” Owensboro head coach Pat Hume said. “So I had high expectations and the guys lived up to it.”
Rickard followed up with a 34 on Tuesday, finishing with a 69 and winning the individual medalist honors.
Jax Malone, one of the most consistent golfers for the Red Devils all year, struggled through the front nine, shooting a 41. Unfazed, he bounced back on the second day shooting a 33, the lowest score of the day.
Cole Crews, Malone, and Nolan Warren rounded out the team’s top four scores, shooting a 73, 74, and 77, respectively.
“I am proud of the guys,” Hume said. “Back-to-back city champs and back-to-back individualists. “
Daviess County finished second, shooting a 317. The Panthers’ Grant Broughton finished second in the individual, shooting a 72. On the first day he shot an impressive 32, but he struggled down the stretch on day two and posted a 40.
Shooting 37 and 39 respectively on Tuesday, Logan Mewes and Collin Reynolds bounced back after a rough first day that saw the duo shoot 46 and 44. Moving forward, head coach Lars King is hoping they refound their confidence.
Walker Ferguson, Mewes, and Reynolds rounded out the Panthers’ top four scores, shooting 79, 83, and 83, respectively.
“Overall as a team, I felt like we played about where we’ve been playing this year,” King said. “If we shoot this score in two weeks at regionals we’re going to make it to the next round as a team. I feel that is a positive going forward.”
Shooting a 321, Owensboro Catholic finished third. Luke Estes and John Wm Wathen led the Aces with a 79. After the first day, the Aces had a four-way tie between Wathen, Estes, Hayden Crabtree, and Houston Danzer for a low score of 39.
“The first nine I was very pleased. The top four all shot 39 for 156,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Mark Price said. “That’s better than we’ve done in the last couple of tournaments. I was pleased with that and hopefully that can give them some confidence heading into the stretch.”
Crabtree and Danzer weren’t able to replicate their front-nine success, shooting a 41 and a 44 on the back nine to finish with an 80 and 83, respectively.
Apollo finished fourth shooting 375. Carter Kimmel and Brady Robbins led the way for the Eagles, each shooting a 90. Beau Brock and Kamdyn Ulmer shot a 96 and 99, respectively, to round out the team’s scores.
“My team did a good job for their first City-County tournament,” Apollo head coach David Lyons said. “This is a young team. Even my senior, this is only his second year of golf. My 2-4 players are all first-year first tournament experienced golfers. For the inexperience that they have, they’ve exceeded my expectations.”
Led by Hayden Aull’s 97, Trinity finished with a 436. Connor Hatfield, Finn Williams, and Cam Aud shot 109, 110, and 120, respectively, to round out the team’s top four scores.
Entering City-County, head coach Neal Kirkpatrick wanted to see his team compete against themselves and maintain damage control — eliminating mistakes, mainly around the green.
“Through the front nine, we struggled a little bit,” Kirkpatrick said. “I think it was mostly nerves. This is the first time we’ve played out here on the big course this year. There are a lot of talented golfers in this match and quite a bit of people out here watching. I think it was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for them, but overall they battled and I think they had a good time.”
