It was a busy week for the TCHS Golf Teams, with four matches being played, including the first ever Regional Tournament for Girls Golf in West Virginia. Two Lady Knights golfers qualified for the upcoming state tournament.

On Monday, August 24, the TCHS Lady Knights golfers departed at 5:00am for Green Hills Country Club near Fairmont, where they competed in the first ever WVSSAC Girls North Regional Tournament. Girls golf in West Virginia has grown so much in the past decade or more, that a regional qualifying event for the state tournament was added this year. Eight teams consisting of three or more players, plus many individuals from across the top of the state brought the total field to 54 girls. A similar South Regional was held yesterday. From these two events a total of 64 girls will move on to compete in the girls state tournament on September 8 at The Links at Woodridge, near Mineral Wells.

For Tyler Consolidated, Senior Captain Morgan Fisher, along with sophomore Kaylin Eastham, qualified to play at Woodridge next week. Fisher shot a nice round of 101 to finish in 9th place overall, while Eastham shot 103 to finish in 10th place.

Other scores for the Knights were Prentice Kanz – 118, and Zylin Villono – 134. Both are ninth-graders.

Medalist for the regional was Williamstown’s senior standout golfer, Madilyn Buttrey, who shot 8 over par on the hilly course.

Team scores were: Morgantown – 298; Wheeling Park – 309; University – 318; TYLER – 322; Fairmont Senior – 328; Wheeling Central – 350; Weir – 377; and Brooke – 384.

Fisher reflected on her round: “I played pretty well, and I am really happy that I get to go on to compete in the state tournament.”

Coach Griffith was pleased with how the team did. “We aren’t used to playing the kind of course like Green Hills, so to finish fourth behind three Quad-A schools was pretty good. The top three teams advance, and we weren’t far from achieving that.”

Last Wednesday, the TCHS Girl Golfers hosted their annual All-Girls HS/MS Combo. Team scores, counting three players, were: University – 144; TYLER – 150; and Calhoun – 154.

For the Knights, Kaylin Eastham was the low scorer with her round of 45, followed by Morgan Fisher – 51; Prentice Kanz – 54; and Zylin Villono – 60. Medalist for the match was sophomore Kate Dotson, of Wirt, who shot 4 over par, 38.

For the middle school players, Evy Davis of Frontier was the medalist with her round of 53. For the TCMS, Teagan Barnhart shot 63.

Eastham commented on the event: “This was a fun match, and it’s really nice to see so many girls involved in golf.”

The TCHS Lady Knights are now 10-10 on the season. They hosted Monroe Central on Monday and will compete in the WV Girls State Tournament next Tuesday.

The TCHS Varsity team also competed in two events last week, the first on Tuesday as they took on Magnolia at Sistersville Country Club. The Knights dominated the match, besting the Eagles by 81 strokes – 157 to 238.

For the Knights A-Team, junior Xavier Kanz had his best round ever in high school matches, firing a one-over par, 35. Freshman Cade Heintzman had 40, backed up by John Mace – 41; Collin King – 41; Chase Camerlin – 43; and Lincoln Goode – 49.

The Knights B-Team was: Coley Bell – 44; Lucas Goddard – 46; Jaxon Buchanan – 55; Jaxon Murray – 56; and Aiden Smith – 56.

The Knights C-Team was: Austin Brown – 54; Brooks Blosser – 55; Maddox Blair – 61; Hunter Martin – 65; and Jacob Goddard – 66.

Kanz commented on his round: “Some days almost everything clicks, and this was one of those rounds. But I will keep working to shoot even par or below.”

The final match of last week was the Tin Cup Classic, pitting four northern schools against four southern schools. The event was hosted by Wirt at the Mingo Bottom Golf Course near Elizabeth, and featured three types of match play, each covering three holes on the course. The first three holes were Best Ball, the next three were a Scramble Match, and the final three holes were a Singles Match.

The North–consisting of Tyler, St. Marys, Ritchie, and Doddridge–easily defeated the South schools of Wirt, Roane, Ripley, and Calhoun by a score of 27.5 to 12.5.

“The Tin Cup Classic was something new for our players,” said Coach Griffith. “Instead of our normal stroke play, we used the Match Play format. I think the players enjoyed the change, but most are ready to go back to stroke play.”

The win brought the Knights Varsity record to 28-5 as they reach the midpoint of the season.

This week the Varsity and Girls both hosted matches on Monday, with the Varsity traveling to Parkersburg Catholic on Tuesday. Today the Middle school team finally sees some action as they host four other schools. Tomorrow, the Varsity will head to Wellsburg for the Brooke Invitational, while the JVs go to ClairMar later in the day.