WHEELING – The opening day of the West Virginia State High School Golf Tournament played on the Speidel Golf Course at Oglebay Park is in the books and the local contingents have some ground to make up during the final round Wednesday.
Shady Spring and Summers County are in fourth place in their respective classes, while Greenbrier East is in sixth place.
The Tigers trail Keyser by 13 shots in Class AA, while the Bobcats are 12 shots back of Wheeling Central in Class A. The Spartans have the biggest deficit to make up, trailing Wheeling Park by 27 shots.
Shady Spring won the state title two years ago and finished third last year. Senior Tanner Vest played on both of those teams and he led the Tigers Wednesday with a 77 in his opening round.
Vest shot one of only five rounds in the 70’s across all three classes.
Fellow senior Zach Smith brings more state tournament experience to the Shady line-up, but the other two players, Tyler Beard and Cooper Ward, are both freshman seeing what state tournament golf is like for the first time.
“I am excited where we are at in the team competition. There won’t be a lot of pressure on the young guys and I really think we can make some noise tomorrow,” Vest said. “I am really proud of them for how they hung in there today. It’s always a hard course and a long day. It’s windy and cold, then it gets hot. We seem to get all four seasons in one round up here.”
Vest was runner-up in the Class AA individual race last year and he is once again poised to make a run at the title this year. The senior standout is only three shots behind leader Noah Broadwater from Keyser who had the overall low round of the day at 74.
“This was probably the hardest course set-up that I have ever seen with the pin placements and how fast the greens were today. It was insane,” Vest said about the Speidel layout. “I was really upset with my putting today, but those two factors played into it. There is definitely a ton of room for improvement for me.”
Wednesday will be a slight role reversal for Vest who took a one-shot lead into the final round last year. He also knows a three-shot lead is easily made up on the final day of the state tournament.
“I always tell myself before every round to just go out there and play my game. I know if I play my game I am better than most players around,” Vest said. “I am going to keep playing my game and I know those putts are going to drop. I hit so many good putts today that didn’t quite fall. Once the flood gates open, then it’s over.”
Vest will tee off in the final group Wednesday along with Broadwater, Max Bowen from Herbert Hoover and Stephen McDavid from Winfield.
Kerri-Anne Cook from Westside is tied for eighth in the Class AA individual competition, nine shots back of the lead, while Cody Blake from Independence is 11th in his first ever state tournament appearance.
Last year after struggling on the opening day of the state tournament, Summers County was not in contention for the win. One year later with experience under their belts, the Bobcats are right in the the thick of the title chase.
“We kind of shot ourselves out of it on the first day last year. We were maybe 40 or 50 shots back last year, but now we are in the hunt,” Summers County head coach Jerod Ewing said. “We can pick up 12 shots pretty quickly and we are right where I had hoped we would be after day one.”
Although his team is made up of all underclassmen, Ewing’s bunch has set a high standard and expects to play well, even on the the biggest stage.
“Actually the kids weren’t really pleased with how they played today. They are just not really used to greens like the ones up here and having to putt the ball that slow with such slick greens. If you get above the hole, there is really no way to stop the ball,” Ewing said.
Along with the wind and fast greens, excess rain this past weekend didn’t do the Bobcats any favors either.
“The course is playing really soft. Our guys aren’t the longest hitters, so the course being wet doesn’t really work into our favor. We are having to make that up in other ways,” Ewing explained. “I thought we did a good job of that today and hopefully we can improve tomorrow. We just have to try and play our best tomorrow and see what happens.”
Sean Cooper led the Bobcats Wednesday with an 83, just one shot off the lead held by Blake Lewis from Parkersburg Catholic.
“Sean had a triple-bogey on hole 17, so he was disappointed in that,” Ewing said. “Other than that he has played really good. He was solid today and he is excited about where he is.”
The Class A individual race could be a wild one Wednesday with 15 players within six shots of the lead. One of those players is Sean Cooper’s twin brother Brian who is only four shots back.
With the Cooper brothers playing well along with Xavier Honaker and Marshall Legg capable of playing a good round, Ewing is excited for not only Wednesday, but years to come.
“I think we have a really good shot if we go out and play good. At the same time, I am proud of these guys no matter what happens,” Ewing said. “This is a good experience and we don’t lose any of these guys for next year. That is tremendous for us.”
Greenbrier East did not have its best day, but Arod Lemons played well enough to be inside the top-10, tied for eighth in Class AAA. Lemons is seven shots behind the leader Gavin Goodrich from Wheeling Park.
The final round starts Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. going off split tees.
Class AAA Team scores
1. Wheeling Park +27 240
2. Hurricane +34 247
3. Cabell Midland +38 251
4. George Washington +43Â 256
5. Morgantown +45 258
6. Greenbrier East +53 266
7. Washington +66 279
8. Martinsburg +78 291
Class AAA Individual scores
1 Gavin Goodrich, Wheeling Park +5 76
T2 Jack Michae,l Cabell Midland +6 77
T2 Campbell Koegler, Wheeling Park +6 77
T4 Savannah Hawkins, Hurricane +7 78
T4 Parker Vannoy, Parkersburg South +7 78
T6 Tanner Sutphin, Hurricane +11 82
T6 Colton Sprowls, John Marshall +11 82
T8 Solas Chhin-Kreiner, Morgantown +12 83
T8 Kaleb Smith, St. Albans +12 83
T8 Arod Lemons, Greenbrier East +12 83
11 Nik Tomblin, George Washington +13 84
T12 Austin Willard, George Washington +14 85
T12 Taylor Sargent, Cabell Midland +14 85
14 Gabe Watson, Morgantown +15 86
T15 Mario Palumbo, George Washington +16Â 87
T15 Carson O’Dell, Hurricane +16 87
T15 Jake Honaker, Greenbrier East +16 87
T15 Noah Milhoan, Wheeling Park +16 87
T15 Andrew Pennybacker, Wheeling Park +16Â 87
20 Will Wentz Riverside +17 88
T21 Andrew Sheets Morgantown +18 89
T21 Rhett Snyder Washington +18Â 89
T21 Matthew Carney Cabell Midland +18 89
24 Brody Davis Morgantown +19 90
25 Alex White Cabell Midland +20 91
T26 Noah Reasbeck Martinsburg +23 94
T26 Sherman Lineberg, George Washington +23 94
T26 Andrew Taylor, Washington +23 94
T29 Briar Manko, Preston +24 95
T29 Brielle Milhoan, Parkersburg +24 95
T31 Alix Lewis, Martinsburg +25 96
T31 Jason Falso, Washington +25 96
T31 Foster Fielding, Greenbrier East +25 96
T34 Kellen Pauley, Hurricane +29 100
T34 Vance Waller, Washington +29 100
T36 Ben Reisenweber, Martinsburg +30 101
T36 Issac Cantrell, Greenbrier East +30 101
38 Beau Fletcher, Hedgesville +31 102
39 Parker Robinson, Martinsburg +34 105
40 Ashton Allen, Spring Mills +38 109
Class AA Team scores
1. Keyser +34 247
2. Winfield +38 251
3. Herbert Hoover +40 253
4. Shady Spring +47 260
5. Fairmont Senior +56 269
6. Point Pleasant +81 294
7. Lincoln +93 306
8. Lewis County +107 320
Class AA Individual scores
1 Noah Broadwater, Keyser +4 75
2 Tanner Vest, Shady Spring +7 78
T3 Max Bowen, Herbert Hoover +10Â 81
T3 Stephen McDavid, Winfield +10 81
5 Jackson Woodburn, Winfield +11 82
T6 Noah Sergent, Herbert Hoover +12 83
T6 Drew Matlick, Keyser +12 F +12 83 83
T8 Caden Musgrove, Fairmont Senior +13 84
T8 Kerri Anne Cook, Westside +13 84
10 Jude Smith, Weir +15 86
11 Cody Blake, Independence +16 87
T12 Emerson Simons, Roane County +17 88
T12 Andrew Johnson, Winfield +17 88
T14 Sawyer Osbourn, Herbert Hoover +18 89
T14 Tyler Beard, Shady Spring +18 89
T14 Owen Sweitzer, Keyser +18 89
T17 Brennen Sang, Point Pleasant +19 90
T17 Sam Phillips, Herbert Hoover +19 90
T19 Landen Barkley, Fairmont Senior +21 92
T19 Joseph Milhoan, Point Pleasant +21 92
T21 Logan Huffman, Fairmont Senior +22 93
T21 Zachary Smith, Shady Spring +22 93
23 Cooper Ward, Shady Spring +25 96
T24 Jacob Brannon, Robert C. Byrd +26 97
T24 Nick Anderson, Lincoln +26 97
26 Pierce McBee, Lincoln +28 99
27 Scott Underwood, Lewis County +30 101
28 Blake Hunt, East Fairmont +31 102
T29 Tristan Wolford, Fairmont Senior +32 103
T29 Isaac Meddings, Wayne +32 103
31 Preston Keiffer, Winfield +33 104
32 Evan Ack, Keyser +34 105
33 Ally Wellman, Wayne +36 107
34 Wyatt Burns, Lewis County +37 108
35 Lance Hostutler, Lincoln +39 110
T36 Adam Kinkelo, Lewis County +40 111
T36 Kade Richards, Lewis County +40 111
38 Bronson Shepard, Point Pleasant +41 112
39 Elijah Grady, Point Pleasant +44 115
40 Levi Belcastro, Lincoln +48 119
Class A Team scores
1. Wheeling Central +42 255
2. St. Marys +46 259
3. Wahama +50 263
4. Summers County +54 267
5. Charleston Catholic +75 288
6.East Hardy +77 290
7. Moorefield +85 298
8. Gilmer County +119 332
Class A Individual scores
1 Blake Lewis, Parkersburg Catholic +11 82
T2 Sean Cooper, Summers County +12 83
T2 Grant Roush, Wahama +12 83
T2 Justin Doerr, Wheeling Central +12 83
T2 Will Gruse, Charleston Catholic +12 83
T2 Lucas Riggleman, Petersburg +12 83
T7 Brayden Hall, St. Marys +14 85
T7 Ryan Costanzo, Wheeling Central +14 85
T7 J. W. Teets, East Hardy +14 85
T10 Cole Darnold, St. Marys +15 86
T10 Brian Cooper, Summers County +15 86
T10 Connor Ingels, Wahama +15 86
13 Luke Tiu, Wheeling Central +16 87
T14 Landon Prager, Wheeling Central +17 88
T14 Preston Lawhon, St. Marys +17 88
16 J. J. Carr, Moorefield +19 90
17 Landon Bennett, Calhoun County +20 91
18 Kelan Lucas, Ravenswood +22 93
T19 Ethan Gray, Wahama +23 94
T19 Trent Renner, St. Marys +23 94
T21 Cameron Beachle,r Pendleton County +26 97
T21 Andrew Addair, River View +26 97
T23 Xavier Honaker, Summers County +27 98
T23 Sydney Baird, Webster County +27 98
25 Jordan Teets, East Hardy +28 99
26 Conner Mayhorn, Charleston Catholic +30 101
27 Mason Nichols, Tyler Consolidated +31 102
T28 Brady Meadows, Wahama +32 103
T28 James Williams, Moorefield +32 103
30 Max Wilcox, Charleston Catholic +33 104
T31 Tyler Miller, Moorefield +34 105
T31 Jake Jordan, Charleston Catholic +34 105
T33 Marshall Legg, Summers County +35 106
T33 Levi Mongold, East Hardy +35 106
T33 Braylon Mencer, Gilmer County +35 106
36 Nate Smith, East Hardy +36 107
37 Logan Arden, Gilmer County +41 112
38 Austin Stewart, Gilmer County +43 114
39 Isaac Rumer, Moorefield +45 116
40 Seth Stewart, Gilmer County +46 117