State course too much for golfers

By Laura Clark

Published: October 15, 2008

Seniors golfers Tyler Hunt and Colton King finished in the top half of the field but out of medal contention in the Group AA State Tournament at Old Trail Golf Course in Crozet on Tuesday.

Hunt shot a 164 after two days and 36 holes. King shot a 167.

Hunt played Monday’s round with William Monroe’s Mikey Moyers, who was on track to win the state title after shooting a 6-under-par 65 the first day.

“I tried to block that out, but I knew I was playing with an absolute powerhouse,” Hunt said.

He shot a 9-over-80 the first day without birdies. Hunt started his round on the back nine, more wooded than the front, and got into trouble early.

On his second hole, Hunt drove into an old-growth tree line. His first attempt out sent the ball ricocheting back at him.

“It really aggravated me. I was trying to hit a punch shot. I had a lot of rocks around my ball,” he said.

His next shot brought him gently back into the fairway, and he took a double bogey on this hole.

Hunt made three pars as he progressed, mainly by sticking to the fairways and choosing conservative approach shots on longer holes. On the front nine, Hunt had eight pars and one bogey.

“It has a lot more birdie holes and a lot more opportunities,” he said. “The holes are more open and you have a larger margin for error. I would have been five or six strokes better, but I couldn’t get the putts to fall.”

On Tuesday, Hunt shot an 84, but with two birdies. On hole 12, a narrow 302-yard par 4, he chipped in from about 20 yards. Hole six was Hunt’s other birdie. He bounced back from a rotten hole five, which is a 379-yard par 4. The fairway curves uphill around a pond and has a small landing zone from the tee.

“He got in some really thick rough,” coach Roy Prior said. “It was murder getting out of there.”

But Hunt played the next hole, a 341-yard par 4, as smart as he could, Prior said. He made a 20-foot putt for birdie.

Prior said most scores were higher after the second day, as the pin placements were moved.

“They put them in areas like behind bunkers and sloped areas of the green to make them less accessible,” he said.

Despite these challenges, King improved from a 14-over-par 85 on Monday to an 82 Tuesday. He got off to a rough start on the back nine the first day.

“I was in the rough five of my first nine holes,” King said. “On one of the holes I was right up against a fence. I hit it and it went like three feet.”

The greens gave King the most trouble the first day, though he adjusted through the round by switching to a pitching wedge from a 9-iron on upshots. He missed several birdie putts by inches as he finished the round.

“The greens aren’t very receptive. The ball doesn’t spin,” he said. “I putted a whole lot better today, just didn’t hit the fairways. Yesterday I was leaving my birdie putts 10-foot long, and today they were like 2-3 foot.”

It was the first time for both players to make the state tournament.

“It’s definitely a new experience. It’s fun though,” King said. “I get to meet people we’ve never played against.”

“Once they got the jitters out, they played pretty well really. I’m extremely proud of these guys,” Prior said. “A lot of hard work went into it.”