Members of the 2009 Silver Knights golf team

Two weeks ago, Tyler Consolidated’s golf team had their first look at where they’d be playing the regional championships. This past week, on Monday, Aug. 17, they got their first look at Speidel Golf Course Jones Course in Oglebay Park, the site of the OVAC tournament.

“Speidel is a challenging course, with long tee shots to reach the fairways,” said Head Coach Joe Griffith. “For the younger golfer, the course can be rather intimidating.

“We will play our OVAC Tournament there next month, so wescheduled an 18-hole match up there so that our players could see the whole course. The day we played was one of the hottest of the summer, too. With the high humidity, it was very tiring for the players to walk and carry clubs for 18 holes on the hills of Speidel.”

St. Clairsville won the event with a team score of 383. Hosting Linsly scored 409 with Tyler Consolidated not too far behind at 420.

Dalton Wells led the team with a 97. Swayde Carpenter followed at 100. Ethan Garrison was third at 112, Tyler Lemasters was fourth at 117, Levi Kissner was fifth at 120, and Nate Bolin rounded out the team with 122.

On Tuesday, Aug. 18, the Silver Knights linksters traveled to North Bend Golf for a tri with Ritchie County and St. Marys.

The defending Class AA state champions ran away from the competition scoring 308, while the Blue Devils scored a 335. The Knights finished third at 385.

Wells again paced the Knights at 89. Carpenter shot a 97 for second place honors on the team, followed by Lemasters at 99, Garrison at 100, Kissner with 111, Bolin with 117, Brice Kehrer at 118, and Chelsa Thomas rounding out the squad at 121.

“We don’t normally play 18 holes on a nine-hole course, but this gave our players a chance to go back around and play the same holes a second time and hopefully do better,” said Griffith.

“But for many of our players, that wasn’t the case. The rolling hills of North Bend give the players a lot of different lies compared to our home course, so that was good practice for them. The day was much cooler than at Speidel, with occasional rain showers.”

“I think I played better at North Bend than I have been playing lately,” said Thomas, the only female player on the team.

“It was hard but I did okay. I shot an 89 but I did hit the ball well, and I think I am improving every match,” mentioned Wells.

On Wednesday, Aug. 19, the Knights returned home to the Sistersville Country Club hosting Parkersburg Catholic, John Marshall junior varsity and Paden City in a nine hole match.

The Crusaders won the event with a score of 170. The Silver Knights finished second with a score of 193, defeating the JV Monarchs at 211 and Wildcats at 220.

Carpenter and Wells equaled each other with 46 strokes. Bolin wasn’t far behind at 48. Lemasters and Kissner came in at 53, while Kehrer was a stroke behind them at 54. Garrison and Thomas shot a 57 and 62 respectively.

“After two long days to start the week, it was nice to be back home for a match. We did beat two teams, but our score of 193 is still way too high for what this team is capable of,” said Griffith.

“Our two sophomores – Dalton Wells and Swayde Carpenter – led the way, but their rounds of 46 are several strokes higher than they should have been. Nate Bolin had one of his best rounds so far to help the cause with a score of 48. But as a team, we should be shooting in the low 180s or even dropping into the 170s.

“I played the best I ever have at Sistersville on Wednesday. It just was a good day for golf,” noted Bolin.

“I thought I played pretty decent this week, but I left some strokes out there. Improving as a team and a player will become beneficial,” said Carpenter.

“It’s been a long week, playing some tough teams and courses, but we played better than last week,” added Garrison.

The team’s overall record now stands at 7-27-1.

They played yesterday against Magnolia and River at Riverside, but results were not available at press time.

Today they will welcome River, St. Marys and Paden City to the Sistersville Country Club.