By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The Fluvanna County High School golf team hosted teams from Charlottesville High, Monticello High and Albemarle High at the Lake Monticello golf course on Sept. 5. The greens at the Lake Monticello course had just been aerated and that procedure usually means that putting can be an adventure for a week or more. However, the Lake Monticello maintenance team had the greens sanded and running very true for this contest.
The match was medal play (i.e. the lowest score wins with all holes played to completion and no putts conceded.) Each coach selects his team’s top six players for the competition. In this match, six foursomes teed off in a shotgun start. At the end of the nine-hole round, the top four scores for each team are totaled and the lowest total score wins. This format insures that a team cannot win the overall match simply because it has the lowest scoring player. If a team has one low score and three high scores in will not win. The final scores for this match were Albemarle High 167, (an average of less than 42) Fluvanna High 182, Monticello High 204 and Charlottesville High 214.
The Fluvanna County squad was led by Killian Donnelly, a freshman, playing in the number one slot. Donnelly got off to a shaky start, with two double bogeys, but settled down to play his final seven holes in only two over par for a very respectable 42. The number one players started their nine holes on hole number six and finished on the par five fifth hole. Donnelly ended his round with a birdie four, chipping his third shot to within three feet and calmly sinking the birdie putt. Donnelly played intelligently throughout. For instance, on the potentially drivable par four second hole, he resisted the temptation to try to reach the green off the tee, as several others did to no avail. Instead, Donnelly went with a middle iron off the tee, fired his second shot on to the middle of the green and two putted for his par.
The second-best score for the Flucos was a 43 turned in by number three player Maggie Wentz, a senior, and one of four young women on the eleven player Fluco roster. The third best score by a Fluco was turned in by number two player, junior Jarred Williams, who carded a 45. Senior number six player Caleb Vickers was the fourth lowest for the Flucos with a 52. The other two in the top six for the Flucos were senior Cameron Marshall and junior Tyler Haynes who played in the number four and five slots respectively.
Fluco Coach Bryan Searcy said that his team has been playing well so far this season. In an early season tournament, the Flucos finished seventh out of 17 teams and in the first Jefferson District mini-tournament they came in a very respectable third.
Because darkness sets in earlier and earlier each day this time of year, the golf team’s schedule is front loaded as compared to football and other fall sports. The golf team was scheduled to play earlier this week on both Sept. 9 and 11, and its final two dual matches will be on Sept. 18 at Orange County and on Sept. 25 at Monticello High. The year-end District meet for the golf team is scheduled for Sept. 30 at Charlottesville. On Sept. 30, the Fluco football team still has not started a six-game run against Jefferson District competition.
