MIDLOTHIAN — For two seniors, Appomattox’s Patrick Mayberry and Altavista’s Leighton Bennett had one last oppor-tunity to represent their high schools. After a frigid Monday, both heated up on a warm Tuesday.
Appomattox finished fourth in the Group A state golf tournament, shooting a 318 to finish 30 shots back of Giles County on Tuesday at Independence Golf Club.
Bennett finished 15th among the individuals and was fourth among the Region B golfers.
“They did bounce back very well today,” Appomattox coach Doug Marshall said. “Everybody played pretty solid today. I think we had a couple of guys had a bad hole here or there, but that’s golf.”
It was the first time this season that the Raiders shot below a 320. Mayberry was part of that success, carding a 76 with a 39-37 to lead the way.
“I went out and I was actually hitting the ball straight, hitting greens, making putts,” Mayberry said. “I think we realized what we had to do and Tyler Carrico came out and played really well as a sophomore. The rest of them shooting low 80s really helped. … It was a really awesome day. We played really good.”
Carrico was the only other Appomattox golfer to shoot under an 80, finishing with a 79 and an overall score of 163. Tyler Mullins shot an 81 to finish at 164, while Jake Perkins added an 82 (166), Eric Moore chipped in with an 83 (169) and Patrick Franklin carded an 88 (175).
“We had to do something to come back after shooting what we did the first day. We felt that we’d come out here and give our best,” Mullin said. “We had one senior, Patrick Mayberry, who had a really good showing today and we thought we’d bounce back and do what we could on his last day. … I felt like we’ve been capable of doing that all year long. We just haven’t really had a good showing and today was a good day to do it.”
Bennett, the lone Altavista golfer to advance past the Dogwood District tournament, shot an 86 to finish with a 169 — three shots back of Riverheads’ Luke Humphries.
“I started off pretty bad and it kind of started on the backside. Come to the front and played a lot better, finished off with a birdie,” Bennett said. “I played on the backside — down the middle of the backside — I played my best golf then.”
Bennett almost aced the final hole of his high school career and birdied it to finish the last nine holes with a 40.
“I’m very proud of him,” Altavista coach Tim Fenn said. “He had to grind through the front. He was 10-over on the front nine, struggled a lot, but on the backside, he was able to turn around and shoot a 40. A very nice way to end a career.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement