There was an advantage to be had Monday afternoon during the Group 3A West regional golf tournament at Hidden Valley Country Club.
It wasn’t who was hitting from the red tees or which players were bombing it longest off the tee.
More importantly, it was who got to the clubhouse the quickest.
On a day when the first players went off at 9 a.m. and the weather progressively got colder and windier as the afternoon wore on, there were huge pluses to posting a score and letting the late starters fight the elements.
“It was getting rough out there for sure,” Hidden Valley junior Kristin Hearp said after her round of even-par 71. She had posted her round more than three hours before the team competitions and individual medalist were determined. By that time, there was a steady rain falling with groups of at-large, individual players still on the course. The early starts by the team groups paid dividends.
The Hidden Valley top four scorers made the team championship a runaway, posting a school-record total of 294. The Titan total was 12 shots clear of runner-up William Byrd’s 4-man total of 306. Both teams advance to next week’s Group 3A state championship at Ivy Hills Golf Club.
For Hidden Valley, it was a performance led by youngsters. Hearp, a junior who has verbally committed to Virginia Tech, saw her 71 matched by Titan sophomore Brad Williams. Close behind was freshman Andrew Withers’ impressive 74 and sophomore Sam Comer’s 78.
Byrd was led by long-hitting Tyler Hurley, who had made his mark in August with a consistent pair of rounds in the Bob McLelland Metro. Hurley got to the house with the third round of even-par 71. The Terrier 4-man total was rounded out by Derrick Chocklett’s 75, a 79 by Dylan Carr and Ty Houser’s 81.
Lord Botetourt, the only other ” Big-11 ” squad competing in the team side, finished 7th.
With Hearp, Williams and Hurley sitting pretty in the clubhouse with 71s, tournament officials were checking protocol for what looked like a pending 3-way playoff.
Hearp, who won the Metro, would have been alone at the top of the early leader board had it not been for a slow start Monday. She shot a 4-over 39 on the front nine before regrouping with a blistering 4-under 32 on the inward nine.
“Four over on the front with a couple of three-putts and two bad club selections,” Hearp said while waiting out the finish of the individual at-large players. “But, I finished strong with birdies at 14 and 16, along with an eagle at 12.”
The expected playoff for the individual title in the downpour never materialized due to the strong finish of Abingdon sophomore Andrew Spiegler.
Spiegler, who has already committed to playing his college golf at the University of South Carolina, was battling the wind and cold on the back side, sitting at even par after the 12th.
“My assistant coach told me at No.12 there were three players already in at even par,” Spiegler noted. “I made birdie at 16 to get to one-under and knew there was a challenge ahead.”
“During our practice round, we never got to play 17 and 18, so I had no idea what to expect on the final two holes,” Spiegler added. “On 17, it was like I was driving into space, but I found the fairway.”
The steady soph put his second shot just over the green in the fringe before calmly 2-putting to take the one-shot lead to the par-4 18th.
“The tee box at 18 is deceptive,” Spiegler pointed out. “I hit it into the right rough, not knowing you needed to aim left. I just missed some trees and had 94 yards to the pin.”
The future Gamecock played a perfect wedge to 11 feet below the pin and confidently rolled his birdie putt firmly into the center of the jar for the 2-shot win.
– Bill Turner
