ST. HENRY BREEZES TO WIN AT SEASON-OPENING EAGLE TRACE INVITATIONAL
MOREHEAD | St. Henry wasted little time in establishing itself as a team to beat in Friday’s Eagle Trace Invitational. And the Crusaders never let off the pedal as they captured the season-opening tournament for KHSAA boys’ golf with a 20-stroke victory at the par-72, 6,502-yard Eagle Trace Golf Club.
“We got off to a nice start. One of our players, Mason Butler, was three under through three (holes). (He) held that together until about the 15th hole and finished with a 73 today. It was a really nice round for him,” said St. Henry coach Jared Cahill. “To get off to a start like we did on those first few holes is really nice. There are some tough starting holes and they really kept it together so I was really proud of them.”
The Crusaders not only started well, they finished well. The team shot a 299 and all six players, including the one competing as an individual, all went below 80 and finished in the top 20.
As an indication of how well things went for St. Henry, freshman Kevin Tobergte posted a career-low 75 in his first high school tournament.
“Shooting 299 here makes me very happy as a coach. They really held it together,” Cahill said. “A 299 is a pretty good score for us, 11 over par.”
Cahill credited his squad’s unity as a driving force in performing well.
“For me it’s about the team aspect. All five of them play as a team. They all care about each other. They are constantly asking about how each other is playing,” he said. “I think for me as a coach, that’s what I look to the most is the team camaraderie. How we enjoy being together on the golf course. There is no one man who carries the whole ship.”
Montgomery County finished in second with a 319, followed by Greenup County (322), East Carter (358), Russell (362), Madison Southern (375), Mercer County (384), Paintsville (394), Ashland (394) and Elliott County (421).
A total of 16 teams entered at least one individual in the 63-player field.
Lee County’s Zach Watterson posted the low round with a 4-under 68. He opened with a birdie on 14, parred the next six holes before posting a two on the 152-yard, par-3 third. Watterson never shot above par on a single hole, while also birding the fifth and the 13th.
After he finished, Watterson and his coach drove directly to Richmond to compete in another tournament.
Montgomery County’s Logan McCormick was one stroke back of Watterson with a 69.
“I didn’t really hit it off the tee well, but I hit my irons well. I made a couple pretty good par saves (and) I had two or three good putts,” he said. “On No. 1, I hit my tee shot in the water, but dropped out and hit it two to three feet from the hole and then putted for par. That was probably my best hole and it kept my round going.”
Although perennial power Montgomery County, which finished sixth at last year’s state tournament, graduated three of last year’s top four players, McCormick kept the Indians near the top of the standings on Friday.
“The team played pretty well, about as well as expected, so that was pretty good,” he added.
McCormick was pleased how he started off the season.
“Over the winter, me and my swing coach changed my swing a lot. I got to play in a lot of tournaments this summer. I’ve got a lot of big goals for myself this year, so to start off today with a 69 is very good.”
Several squads return tomorrow to compete in the Greenup County Invitational at the Hidden Cove Golf Course in Grayson. Ashland, Boyd County, East Carter, Elliott County, Lewis County, Manual, Morgan County, Rowan County, Russell, St. Henry and West Carter are scheduled to join Greenup County in the 12-team field.
“We got off to a nice start. One of our players, Mason Butler, was three under through three (holes). (He) held that together until about the 15th hole and finished with a 73 today. It was a really nice round for him,” said St. Henry coach Jared Cahill. “To get off to a start like we did on those first few holes is really nice. There are some tough starting holes and they really kept it together so I was really proud of them.”
The Crusaders not only started well, they finished well. The team shot a 299 and all six players, including the one competing as an individual, all went below 80 and finished in the top 20.
As an indication of how well things went for St. Henry, freshman Kevin Tobergte posted a career-low 75 in his first high school tournament.
“Shooting 299 here makes me very happy as a coach. They really held it together,” Cahill said. “A 299 is a pretty good score for us, 11 over par.”
Cahill credited his squad’s unity as a driving force in performing well.
“For me it’s about the team aspect. All five of them play as a team. They all care about each other. They are constantly asking about how each other is playing,” he said. “I think for me as a coach, that’s what I look to the most is the team camaraderie. How we enjoy being together on the golf course. There is no one man who carries the whole ship.”
Montgomery County finished in second with a 319, followed by Greenup County (322), East Carter (358), Russell (362), Madison Southern (375), Mercer County (384), Paintsville (394), Ashland (394) and Elliott County (421).
A total of 16 teams entered at least one individual in the 63-player field.
Lee County’s Zach Watterson posted the low round with a 4-under 68. He opened with a birdie on 14, parred the next six holes before posting a two on the 152-yard, par-3 third. Watterson never shot above par on a single hole, while also birding the fifth and the 13th.
After he finished, Watterson and his coach drove directly to Richmond to compete in another tournament.
Montgomery County’s Logan McCormick was one stroke back of Watterson with a 69.
“I didn’t really hit it off the tee well, but I hit my irons well. I made a couple pretty good par saves (and) I had two or three good putts,” he said. “On No. 1, I hit my tee shot in the water, but dropped out and hit it two to three feet from the hole and then putted for par. That was probably my best hole and it kept my round going.”
Although perennial power Montgomery County, which finished sixth at last year’s state tournament, graduated three of last year’s top four players, McCormick kept the Indians near the top of the standings on Friday.
“The team played pretty well, about as well as expected, so that was pretty good,” he added.
McCormick was pleased how he started off the season.
“Over the winter, me and my swing coach changed my swing a lot. I got to play in a lot of tournaments this summer. I’ve got a lot of big goals for myself this year, so to start off today with a 69 is very good.”
Several squads return tomorrow to compete in the Greenup County Invitational at the Hidden Cove Golf Course in Grayson. Ashland, Boyd County, East Carter, Elliott County, Lewis County, Manual, Morgan County, Rowan County, Russell, St. Henry and West Carter are scheduled to join Greenup County in the 12-team field.
pre-tournament notes:
TEAM resultsPl. Name Team Scores
1. St. Henry 299 2. Montgomery County 319 3. Greenup County 322 4. East Carter 358 5. Russell 362 6. Madison Southern 375 7. Mercer County 384 8. Paintsville 394 Ashland Blazer 394 10. Elliott County 421 |
TEAM resultsPl. Name Team Scores
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individual resultsPl. Name Team Scores
1. Zach Watterson (Lee County) 68 2. Logan McCormick (Montgomery County) 69 3. Connor Calhoun (Ashland Blazer) 72 4. Mason Butler (St. Henry) 73 5. Evan Schwarz (St. Henry) 74 6. Logan Liles (Lewis County) 75 Kevin Tobergte (St. Henry) 75 8. Reed Gritton (Mercer County) 76 9. Brennan Eilers (St. Henry) 77 Nick James (West Carter) 77 Drew Stultz (Greenup County) 77 Tyson Webb (West Carter) 77 13. Ryan Butler (St. Henry) 78 Braxton Caldwell (Pineville) 78 Gunner Cassity (Russell) 78 Chandler McCoy (Montgomery County) 78 Clifton Scully (Madison Southern) 78 18. Gabe Ryan* (St. Henry) 79 Dylan Stultz (Greenup County) 79 Brett Bentley (Greenup County) 79 21. Jeff Foster (Montgomery County) 82 Max Waddell (Russell) 82 23. Griffin Keeton (Greenup County) 87 24. Boone Gibson* (Greenup County) 88 25. James (Isaac) Walker (East Carter) 89 Titus McGlone (East Carter) 89 Cody Fouts (East Carter) 89 28. Jadon Gordon (Greenup County) 90 Meier Patrick (Montgomery County) 90 30. Matthew Tomolonis (East Carter) 91 31. Sam Bingham (Madison Southern) 93 Jason Price (Paintsville) 93 33. Brayden DeHart (West Carter) 94 Logan Thompson (Mercer County) 94 Jaxon Watts (Paintsville) 94 36. Christian Parker (Rowan County) 95 Avery Sartin (Lewis County) 95 Branson Sosby (Nicholas County) 95 39. Price Harris (East Carter) 98 Brody Kilburn (Russell) 98 41. Eli Griffith (Elliott County) 99 42. Griffin Collins (Paintsville) 100 Regan Southworth (Mercer County) 100 44. Chris Curry (Madison Southern) 102 Ben Ferguson (Madison Southern) 102 46. Hunter Muser (Ashland Blazer) 103 47. C.J. Bartram (Russell) 104 Preston McCoy (Montgomery County) 104 49. Drew Anderson (Nicholas County) 106 Gatlin Griffith (Elliott County) 106 Jason Hunt (Nicholas County) 106 52. Cam Adams (Elliott County) 107 Ben Bruner (Paintsville) 107 Parker Williams (Ashland Blazer) 107 55. Aaron Adams (Elliott County) 109 56. Liam Ferguson (Ashland Blazer) 112 57. Jonah Ferguson (Madison Southern) 113 Ethan Hensley (Paintsville) 113 Torin Kirk (Russell) 113 60. John Whited (Mercer County) 114 61, Levi Cheek (Mercer County) 117 62. Caleb Campbell (Ashland Blazer) 133 63. Nick Turner (Rowan County) WD *Entered as an individual and was not eligible for the team score |
individual resultsPl. Name Team Scores
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