Silver Knight JJ Smith Makes All Tournament Team

Freshman Golfer JJ Smith Earns All Tournament
The TCHS Knights Golf Team completed their third week of the season last week as they hosted their second match and participated in two 18-hole events. In the St. Marys Invitational, one of the Knights was selected for the All-Tourney Team.
Monday, August 19, was a cool and damp day to play 18 holes at the Speidel Jones Course in Oglebay Park, Wheeling. Jackets were worn by most players to protect against the cold breeze and misting rain as the TCHS team was hosted by Linsly on the site of the WV State Tournament. Although the Knights came up short of the Cadets by a score of 335-412, playing the course was valuable experience for the team which by the end of the season might contend for a slot at the state tournament. Individual scores for TCHS were: JJ Smith – 92; John Mace – 102; Luke Deaton – 104; Morgan Fisher – 114; Colby Nichols – 118; and Chase Camerlin – 126. Medalist for the match was Adam Gill of Linsly, who shot nine over par, 80. “At Speidel, I parred Hole 10 after hitting my drive into the trees,” said JJ Smith. “But the rest of my round was bad.” John Mace reflected on the challenge of playing the course: “Speidel was really tough! I’m not used to putting on such fast greens, and I definitely did not play my best golf.” Teammate and senior captain Luke Deaton agreed: “My approach shots were very good, but I just couldn’t putt!” Coach Joe Griffith noted that in spite of the cool day and rain jackets, another kind of jackets also affected the match–yellow jackets. “One of our players got stung on the wrist, and two spectators also were attacked. One of them was stung 10 times! Many of the courses have had problems with yellow jackets this season.”
The Knights were home on Tuesday to host a large match with seven other schools. St. Marys had five players shoot in the 30s to win the match with a team total of 152. Other team scores were: Wirt – 175; Tyler – 177; Magnolia – 182; Ritchie – 187; Parkersburg Catholic – 189; Frontier – 215; and Tyler B – 203. Paden City had only 3 players. Scores for TCHS were: JJ Smith – 42; Luke Deaton – 44; John Mace – 45; Colby Nichols – 46; Cole Moore – 48; Morgan Fisher – 48. For the Tyler B Team, Chase Camerlin – 41; Xavier Kanz – 44; Jackson Smith – 59; William Northcraft – 59; and Aiden Smith – 62. For Paden City – Koen Bowser – 56; Jacob Goddard – 68; and Sage Lively – 67. Medalist was Preston Lawhon of St. Marys, who shot two over par, 36. Senior Captain Colby Nichols was pleased with his round: “Our home match was a special one since it was my birthday. Along with a lot of people wishing me a happy birthday and cupcakes at the end of the match, I played well and recovered well. My drive on Hole 1 was super short, but then I hit onto the green and got a par. It was a good day.” Senior Captain Cole Moore also had a good shot onto the green: “On Hole 3, I chipped in for a birdie.” Coach Griffith was pleased with the match: “We had 50 golfers out there on the course, but play moved along quite well. All six of the teams in our region were there, and we came in 2nd among them. So that bodes well for our chances of qualifying for the state tournament come October.”
After taking Wednesday off for the first day of school, the team made the short trip down Rt. 2 to participate in the St. Marys Invitational on Thursday. Out of 13 teams, the Knights finished exactly in the middle, while St. Marys easily won their own tournament. Team scores were: St. Marys – 290; Doddridge – 317; Brooke – 317; Williamstown – 329; Roane – 333: John Marshall – 334; Tyler – 344; Ravenswood – 350; Parkersburg Catholic – 376; Wirt – 385; Ritchie – 387; Frontier – 399; and Calhoun – 454. Individual TCHS scores were: JJ Smith – 74 (All-Tournament Team); John Mace – 83; Luke Deaton – 91; Colby Nichols – 96; and Cole Moore – 111. Medalist was Preston Lawhon of St. Marys, who shot four over par, 68. JJ Smith was happy with some of his shots in his round which earned him a spot on the All-Tourney Team: ” I hit good tee shots on Holes 7 and 9 both times through and parred them both. But on Hole 4, I got double par the second time around.” And Luke Deaton noted that, “My first nine holes were pretty good, but the second nine seemed to get worse as the day wore on. But I was still relatively pleased with my overall score.”
“The team has played eight matches in the past ten weekdays, so they are a bit tired,” said Coach Griffith. “But school just started Wednesday, and we like to schedule a lot of our matches before the start of the school year.”
The Knights are now 27-25 on the season, and have a much lighter week this week with only one match. They hosted their third home match last night against three other teams after having Meet the Team Night on Monday.
The Middle School Knights had their Meet the Team on Tuesday. They will begin their season tomorrow, as they take on the Paden City Middle School Golf Team in a home match at Sistersville Country Club. Spectators are permitted, and golf carts are available for rental.
Match results can be found on the school site by going to: tylerconsolidatedhighschool.org/golf Search for Athletics and Documents.