by Bill Turner
University of South Carolina and former Hidden Valley standout golfer Meredith Swanson fired a final round 2-under 71 to run away with Sunday’s Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame Women’s Championship at Ashley Plantation.
It was Swanson’s third straight WHOF title and sixth overall, the first coming when she was 13 years old. Her 5-under, 139 two-day total bested runner-up Lyndsey Hunnell by nine shots.
In the team competition, Roanoke Country Club cruised to a 38-shot win over Hanging Rock. Cave Spring’s Meagan Board, 16, helped RCC to the victory with a final round 76, tieing her for third in the individual race with eight-time winner Dot Bolling. W&L-bound Sara Moir, also from RCC, tied for fifth with Hanging Rock’s Sara Cole at 159.
In the men’s championship, 17-year old Korey Watts fired a final-round 71 and 3-day total of 209, as he held off a trio of challengers down the stretch to win the title by three shots over Marshall Bailey. Watts’ playing partners in the final threesome, ex-pros Matt Chandler and Justin Young, tied for third at 213.
In the men’s team competition, Hanging Rock posted a 4-shot victory over runner-up Botetourt Golf & Swim Club.
