Gallery by Brad Davis
Prior to the start of the high school golf season, one thing was clear.
The battle to be one of the two teams to represent Class AAA Region 3 at the state golf tournament in Wheeling on Oct. 5 would be a heavyweight slugfest.
With just three weeks left in the regular season, nothing has changed, except for the fact that the battle may be even tougher than first thought.
Toss in perennial golf power, George Washington, and the battle will not be for the faint of heart.
“I definitely think it is going to be tough to make it to states this year,” first-year Greenbrier East head coach, Doug Bicksler said. “It is going to come down to whoever is playing the best that week. I think any of the three of us, Woodrow Wilson, Oak Hill or East could go. Who knows, someone else could sneak in there.”
The Region 3 nail-biting battles continued Wednesday when Greenbrier East visited Bridge Haven Golf Club for a match between Oak Hill and Midland Trail.
After dropping a tight match earlier in the season to East and Woodrow at the Greenbrier, the Red Devils headed into Wednesday’s clash a more confident bunch.
Shortened to seven holes due to lightning, the match ended in a tie which came just one day after Woodrow Wilson and Greenbrier East battled to a draw Tuesday.
“In our last match, we also tied Woodrow (Wilson),” Oak Hill head coach Matt Sydnor said. “In our last two matches we tied our two main foes. It is going to be a really competitive match at regionals.”
The low medalist honors for the day went to Oak Hill’s senior standout, Jack Hayes. After a third-place finish to start the season, Hayes has now been low medalist in five straight matches for the Red Devils.
“I really think confidence has been a big thing for me. I have been really confident in my game the last few weeks and it has translated to the course,” Hayes said.
While Hayes has been the anchor for the Red Devils, the solid play of Zane Wolfe, Ian Maynor and Bethany Rosiek has made Oak Hill a serious state tournament contender.
“I am very pleased with how the kids have progressed. I said it back in August that this was the best team that I have had at Oak Hill,” Sydnor said. “Bethany is really starting to hit the ball well and gaining confidence. Ian and Zane are also gaining confidence.”
The Spartans are a senior heavy team led by the play of Zach Patton.
“Zach has definitely been our most consistent player. It’s funny because he didn’t make the traveling squad the first week out. He had a bad a bad week,” Bicksler explained. “Then the next week he just turned it on from there. I think his nine-hole scoring average is around 38 right now.”
Patton fell victim early in the season to a qualifying method used by Bicksler to determine his weekly roster for matches.
“We talked about it at the beginning of the season. We play every Saturday morning at 8 o’clock. It’s nine holes and the scores that week determines who plays,” Bicksler said. “We have too many guys that are grouped together to single anybody out. This gives everybody a chance to come out and play. We get a couple where someone has to play at different time because of something else. We make sure they play with another teammate and submit a nine-hole score.”
While the system used by Bicksler is somewhat unique these days, he has seen positive results from his entire team, not just Patton.
“I think it has given them another pressure type situation where they know that they have to be ready to go for that day,” Bicksler said. “It seems to have really helped with their scores.”
The X-factor at the regional tournament on Sept. 28 in Charleston, will be the course itself, Berry Hills Country Club. It is a course that George Washington is more familiar with than the southern part of the region.
“Only one guy on my team has even played there,” Bicksler said. “We are going to try and sneak down there and at least get a look at the course beforehand. But yes the course is an unknown quantity for our guys.”
Wednesday’s clash between the Spartans and the Red Devils is not their only battle this week. Tonight, the two rivals will square off on the pitch in a key sectional soccer clash in Oak Hill.
Greenbrier East enters the contest undefeated in five matches while the Red Devils are 5-1-1 and defending sectional champions.
Coming off a hat trick against South Charleston Tuesday, Hayes will again be a key factor against the Spartans.
“It will definitely be a great game because both of us are really solid teams,” Hayes said. “It’s going to come down to which team wants it more.”
