John Marshall In Second, Wheeling Park In Fifth After First Day Of State Golf
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WHEELING -- The West Virginia high school golf season is coming to a head, and the John Marshall Monarchs and Wheeling Park Patriots are right in the thick of it.
Monday was the first day of the WVSSAC Class AAA and Class AAAA golf championships, with Tuesday marking the finale. Class A and Class AA will take over on Wednesday and Thursday.
When it comes to the big schools though, two local outfits are heading into Tuesday's second round of play at Oglebay's Jones Course feeling good-- particularly the Monarchs from Marshall County.
John Marshall posted a strong round Monday and sits in second place after Monday. The Monarchs are only one stroke behind first-place Shady Spring, who as a team are +23 while the Monarchs are +24. Winfield is the closest behind John Marshall at +28.
The Jones Course at Speidel Golf Club, as ever, has proved a challenge for all the eight teams and handful of individuals competing.
"It’s a brutal golf course," John Marshall head coach Eli Lambie said. "It’s changing all the time. It was real wet when we started the day, and we had kind of a misty rain. The wind’s been shifting around all day. The greens and playing surfaces change as it dries out, so it becomes kind of a moving target, playing this course, and it’s all about how we can adapt as we go along here."
John Marshall sophomore Drew Marling played an exceptional first round, firing a 74, three over Par. On the front-nine, Marling made par on each hole except for a bogey on the third hole. In the back-nine, the sophomore picked up a birdie and two bogeys.
"Drew played really well," Lambie said. "We were out here the last couple days and he was saying that he’s feeling really good. A couple of the guys struggled early on, but they were still putting good swings on it, so they were able to start putting it together as the round went. We’ve played a lot of golf this year and these guys have built up great endurance, and they’ve always been more of a second-half team, so my hope is that they’ll put the pedal to the metal tomorrow and turn it on."
Sophomore Hayden Harvey shot an 81, junior Brayden Kempkens carded an 82, and sophomore Kamden Knapp finished with a 90.
Brooke's Max Malinky also qualified as an individual for the state tournament. The junior finished up Monday with a 94.
In Class AAAA, Wheeling Park are squarely in the middle of the fray, sitting in fifth out of eight teams at +35 as a team. They are only nine strokes away from second-place Morgantown, though first-place Hurricane (+18) is out in front of everybody coming out of Monday.
The Patriots were led through the first day by sophomore Seth Weidner, who is in a multi-man tie for sixth place with four other golfers with a 79 on their scorecard.
Weidner made Par on 11 holes and picked up a birdie on the back-nine.
"I felt like we played fairly well early, and then I felt like we didn’t quite finish like I wanted them to finish, but the course is tough," Wheeling Park head coach Shane Glass said. "I mean, it was wet in the fairways, so we weren’t getting any roll. Greens are pretty fast-- we could play better, but it is what it is."
Freshman Ellie West is just outside the top 10 of the tournament at an 84 after Monday. Senior Quinn Marsh wrapped up his round with an 86, and fellow senior Brody Groome carded a 94.
First tee times are set for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday for the final round for Class AAA and Class AAAA from Oglebay.