Cavaliers win team title; JF finishes second

The Region III golf tournament that was hosted by Amherst at Winton Country Club on Monday was dominated by two groups of Cavaliers and a Terrier.

William Byrd’s Ben Firebaugh shot a 1-under 70, and was three shots clear of the field as he claimed the individual title and the Player of the Year award.

Lord Botetourt claimed the team title with a 308. The Cavaliers were led by Clay O’Connor’s 73. Ben Mathias shot a 75 and Austin Broyles and Ryan DeHeer rounded out LB’s foursome with a pair of 80s. The Cavaliers coach Todd Smith received the Coach of the Year award.

Jefferson Forest, the defending Region III champions, was the runner-up this year. JF’s George McDaniel and Jon Lively shot 80, Rob Haney had a 79 and Nick Garfield was the low man for the Cavaliers with a 75.

Garfield, a junior, who was listed as the Cavaliers’ sixth golfer for the tournament, came up with one of his best efforts of the season.

“I haven’t shot close to that all year, so it was pretty good timing,” Garfield said. “We are just looking to do as good as possible (at the state tournament). We don’t really have any expectations on us. We finished last (at last year’s state tournament). We have to do better than that.”

By finishing in the top two spots of the regional tournament, both sets of Cavaliers qualify for the Group AA state golf tournament, which will be held Oct. 12-13 at Williamsburg National Golf Club.

“We have played better but when you get into the region level the pressure level goes up,” JF coach Ray Davidson said. “I’m proud of our kids and when you’re No. 6 comes in with a 75 that’s great. We haven’t had anybody who’s been super low, but we have all been in a little group. The kids are just so close that it doesn’t matter what number you put on front of them on a given day, we have a lot of kids that could place in the top four.”

The other Seminole District school competing as a team at the tournament was E.C. Glass and the Hilltoppers placed third with a 317.

Harrison Scharf paced Glass with a 73, Nate Buhler shot a 77, Jack Robertson scored an 81 and Caleb Pollard finished with an 86. Though the Hilltoppers didn’t qualify as a team, both Scharf, who finished tied for second with O’Connor, and Buhler were among the top six individuals not on one of the teams to qualify for the state tournament.

“It was unfortunate for the team,” said Scharf, who started slow but rebounded nicely. “We were close and really tried to get there.

“On No. 3 I had a triple (bogey) and it didn’t look to good. But, I got on a little bit of a roll and birdied five straight holes. I’m looking forward to playing with some of the top players and hopefully get a top 10 (at the state tournament).”