St. Clairsville Wins Third Consecutive Buckeye 8 Golf Title
Photo by Kim North Trending
ST. CLAIRSVILLE - For the ninth time and third straight, St. Clairsville has claimed the Buckeye 8 golf championship.
Tuesday at sun-drenched Belmont Hills Country Club, the Red Devils shot a combined 325 for 18 holes that gave them a two-day total of 632 in the 18th annual event. The first 18 holes were played two weeks ago at the Cadiz Country Club where they carded a blistering 307 that gave them a 59-shot lead over second place Harrison Central.
Although Tuesday's round wasn't one of his team's best, St. Clairsville head coach Ryan Clifford will take it and move forward.
"Having a 59-shot lead and coming to our home course, I liked our chance today," Clifford said. "I'm not sure that we didn't play well today because a 325 on this course isn't too bad.
"Our top kids still had pressure on them because they were still playing for individual honors," he added. "They were trying to score as low as they could, but the greens were really fast today. The goal was to win the tournament when we started two weeks ago, and we did that."
Clifford said his team has bigger goals in their sights.
"We've got some bigger things we're looking at down the road. We'll celebrate this one today, however."
The Huskies fired a 367 Tuesday to secure their second-place finish. Indian Creek finished third at 786, followed by Beaver Local (791), Martins Ferry (809) and East Liverpool (817). Union Local had a 929.
On the individual side, East Liverpool's Preston Dawson defeated St. Clairsville's Andrew Abel on the first playoff hole to earn top honors. Both tied at 155 after Dawson shot 76 Tuesday to catch Abel who took a 3-shot lead into the final day.
"Preparation was the key," Dawson explained. "He (Abel) is a very good player. It was a great time today. I had a little rough time on the front, but my putter caught fire late."
When asked how he finished last year at the Buckeye 8, Dawson said, "I don't even remember playing. I think I lost in a playoff for the fifth player."
On the first playoff hole, No. 18, Abel's drive hit the cart path and kicked over the hill to the right of the hole. Dawson, meanwhile, drove his shot straight down the middle of the fairway about 30 yards from the pin. Abel's second shot carried the green and went down the hill on the left of the green. Dawson made par while Abel bogeyed to decide the title.
"He caught a bad break there. He missed the fairway by two feet and it (the ball) kicked down over the hill. There was a lot of pressure on him with all the people looking on, but that will be good for him down the stretch."
Abel had more than defending his title on his mind during the round.
"My grandfather was having open heart surgery today, so I was thinking about that a lot," he noted.
IN addition to Dawson and Abel, also earning first-team honors were St. Clairsville's trio of Brodie Foster, Evan Fix and Maverick Malin; Indian Creek's Noah Tweedy and Jackson Reed of Cambridge.