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| Jim Beatty being presented with his second place medal. |
OC
Golf - At the end of the day the OC golf team tied for third
with Blessed Trinity in the state AA golf tournament at Waynesboro, GA. In first was North Oconee at 303, second place
was taken by Westminster with a score of 315, Oglethorpe and Blessed Trinity
had 316. One measly stroke kept OC out
of a tie for second and a playoff to decide the issue. One stroke.
OC’s
Nathan Mallonee started on the 10th tee a little after 8 a.m., Jonah
Ingram was last teeing off at 10a.m. In
between Jake O’Bryan, Jim Beatty, Kory Lott and Ben Giles started their
round. We played with Blessed Trinity,
Vidalia and, I believe, Pike County.
North Oconee started on the first tee.
I wouldn’t mention North Oconee except they have David Mackey, a
freshman, who shot a seven under par 65 for the tournament. The next closest score was Jim Beatty’s par
72. As an aside, on the last hole Beatty
had to come out of the sand and then make a ten foot putt for par, which he
did, to the elation of the OC crowd watching him.
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| Sunday Practice |
Anyway, the
back nine was more difficult than the front nine. But OC figured it was a good thing to face
the most difficult side first. By the
time you reached the easier front nine, you’d be tired and not as mentally
sharp. But since you were on the easier
side you’d make fewer mistakes. There
may be something to that because Giles shot a 56 on the back nine and a 43 on
the front nine.
As OC’s
players started finishing their round the scores went up on the board. OC was looking good for a second place
finish. Everyone knew that North Oconee
was going to win the tournament. When
the highest score that was counted is an 80, well, there’s little doubt about
who’s going to win.
But OC was
looking good. People wanted to know
where Oglethorpe was. “Near Athens,” we’d
say, and they would raise an eyebrow as if to say, “I didn’t know that.”
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| After the match. |
OC was
looking good for a second place finish, or tie.
Every time a new group finished either Coach Rock or Coach Mallonee went
to the scoreboard to count strokes. OC
was looking better and better. Most of
the teams were scoring in the 320’s to 340’s.
Then a rumor came floating in that a Westminster player was sitting on a
score of 80, provided he pared the next couple of holes. If he kept his 80 then OC would lose by one
stroke. An 81 would tie and an 82 would
give OC second place.
As it happened
the rumor turned into fact and Westminster won second place, putting OC and
Blessed Trinity tied for third. GHSA
will do a playoff for a second place tie, but not third. Oh, well…
One thing is
certain; OC put the other schools that will stay in AA on notice that the Patriots
will be a team to contend with next year.
All of OC’s star players come back next year. Plus we have some up and coming eighth
graders who swing a good club that will be on the team. But for this year, third in the whole state
is a good deal.
You can see the pictures here: http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8510078
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