JF, Rustburg qualify for Region III golf

Jefferson Forest’s golf team earned an automatic berth to next month’s Region III tournament by locking up the Seminole District regular-season title, Monday at Amherst.

Rustburg, which ranked fourth after the first two regular-season meets — the Heritage Invitational at London Downs and a Seminole match at Ivy Hill in early August — surprised the rest of the district field, winning the Seminole District tournament by four strokes over the Cavaliers, 321-325, on the Par-71 Winton Country Club Course.

JF led Liberty by 14 strokes going into the third and final 18-hole event that counted toward the regular-season championship. But by taking the tournament title, the Red Devils clinched the second team bid to the Region III tournament, scheduled for Oct. 8 at Heritage Oaks in Harrisonburg.

Last year, Liberty and Amherst tied for the regular-season title, based on district dual meet records, leaving JF out of contention for a regional berth for the first time in several seasons, even with a district tournament triumph.

Consistency helped the Cavaliers return to regionals as a team this year.

“That’s been our trademark all year,” Forest coach Ray Davidson said, noting he has two golfers averaging in the mid-30s over nine holes and five others who average between 40 and 45. “That’s why we’ve been pretty successful, because we’ve been fairly consistent. You can count on Brian Ross and Sam Dailey to be consistently low. Both are extremely good golfers.

“Our No. 3 golfer, Jon Lively, averages 40 and the rest of them are sophomores and freshmen,” he added. “They’re not going to shoot low all the time,” but they’ll rarely card anything higher than 45.

Chad Wisecarver of Rustburg and Clay Carimi of Liberty shared medalist honors by shooting rounds of 77. Ross, who shot an average of 36.5 per nine holes on the season, was selected as the district player of the year and Davidson and Liberty’s Mark Petersen were named co-coaches of the year.

Individually, Carimi and Liberty teammate Beckham Stanley (79) qualified for the regional meet along with Staunton River’s Jared Tice (81) and Amherst’s Colton King and Tyler Hunt, who each carded rounds of 82.

For the Cavaliers to stand a chance of qualifying as a team for the Group AA state tournament on Oct. 13 and 14 at Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet, they will probably have to shoot well under 325.

“We’re going to have to do better,” Davidson said. “If we are going to go to state, those guys (Dailey and Ross) are going to have to shoot low. We’re going to have to have one score in the mid-to-low 70s, one score in the mid-to-high 70s, one score around 80 and can’t have a score above 82 or 84 because there’ll be some tough competition at the regional level.”

ed the rest of the district field, winning the Seminole District tournament by four strokes over the Cavaliers, 321-325, on the Par-71 Winton Country Club Course.

JF led Liberty by 14 strokes going into the third and final 18-hole event that counted toward the regular-season championship. But by taking the tournament title, the Red Devils clinched the second team bid to the Region III tournament, scheduled for Oct. 8 at Heritage Oaks in Harrisonburg.

Last year, Liberty and Amherst tied for the regular-season title, based on district dual meet records, leaving JF out of contention for a regional berth for the first time in several seasons, even with a district tournament triumph.

Consistency helped the Cavaliers return to regionals as a team this year.

“That’s been our trademark all year,” Forest coach Ray Davidson said, noting he has two golfers averaging in the mid-30s over nine holes and five others who average between 40 and 45. “That’s why we’ve been pretty successful, because we’ve been fairly consistent. You can count on Brian Ross and Sam Dailey to be consistently low. Both are extremely good golfers.

“Our No. 3 golfer, Jon Lively, averages 40 and the rest of them are sophomores and freshmen,” he added. “They’re not going to shoot low all the time,” but they’ll rarely card anything higher than 45.

Chad Wisecarver of Rustburg and Clay Carimi of Liberty shared medalist honors by shooting rounds of 77. Ross, who shot an average of 36.5 per nine holes on the season, was selected as the district player of the year and Davidson and Liberty’s Mark Petersen were named co-coaches of the year.

Individually, Carimi and Liberty teammate Beckham Stanley (79) qualified for the regional meet along with Staunton River’s Jared Tice (81) and Amherst’s Colton King and Tyler Hunt, who each carded rounds of 82.

For the Cavaliers to stand a chance of qualifying as a team for the Group AA state tournament on Oct. 13 and 14 at Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet, they will probably have to shoot well under 325.

“We’re going to have to do better,” Davidson said. “If we are going to go to state, those guys (Dailey and Ross) are going to have to shoot low. We’re going to have to have one score in the mid-to-low 70s, one score in the mid-to-high 70s, one score around 80 and can’t have a score above 82 or 84 because there’ll be some tough competition at the regional level.”