Jack Clark
jackclark@mvn.net
MT. VERNON —
If you’ve ever tried to get a four-foot putt to break the right way in a heavy rain, then you can understand the arduous travails of both the Woodlawn and Waltonville golf teams as they scurried to get in their match at Indian Hills Golf Course on Wednesday before the worst of the day’s inclement weather arrived.
Woodlawn won both the boys (161-196) and girls (128-152) varsity matches.
The heaviest downpour began as most of the players were starting their final holes.
When the rain came even harder play was halted, resulting in all golfers taking a par on their final link.
Woodlawn’s Nick Tannahill shot a 38. Lexi Bailey, also of Woodlawn, shot a 39, as each took respective boys and girls medalist honors.
Woodlawn boys scores also included Dustin Johnson (40), Gabe Owens (41), Drew Wehrheim (42), Dallas Quarterman (46) and Taylor Fauss (50).
Jordan Hale was low for Waltonville with a 43. Other Spartan scores included Justin Winchester (50), Matt Rogers (51), Levi Rapp (52), Dennis Nelson (52) and Derrick Whisenant (57).
Lady Cardinal scorers included Harley Mullins (42), Elicia Crider (47), Britney Wilson (47) and Allyssa Mullins (53).
Danielle Stroud led the Lady Spartans with a 47. Bobbi Massey shot a 51 and Justine Lamke carded a 54.
“We had some good, solid scores,” said Woodlawn coach David Larkin. “We had six guys 50 and under. A couple of them 40 and below. It’s always good to be below 40.
“The conditions weren’t real great. They had to play a little fast and play through some bad conditions. But everything turned out pretty well.”
Longtime Spartan coach Allen Haley said that the weather and inexperience took their toll on Waltonville.
“Miserable day. But, a miserable day on a golf course is better than none at all,” said Haley. “We knew coming in that, as far as our group, we’re young and inexperienced.”
Even though Indian Hills is the home course for Waltonville (Woodlawn plays home matches at Crooked Creek Golf Course), Larkin said that his players can't really look at this match as a road game, due to proximity. Woodlawn is only four miles from the King City, while Waltonville is 12 miles away.
“I think that most of our kids are pretty familiar with this course,” Larkin said. “It’s not really like an away match. Most of them have played here before. It’s a good place for us to come to.”
Larkin indicated that the Woodlawn golf program is young on the boys team, but not so much so for the Lady Cardinals.
“We only have one senior on the boys (team),” said Larkin. “But the girls team is exactly the opposite. We have four seniors there. We’ll be looking to rebuild there next year.”
After coaching Waltonville golf for a decade, Haley has a keen eye for talent, for both his and his opponent’s players.
“We knew that we would be in trouble with Woodlawn, they’re awfully good,” Haley said. “They’ve got a bunch of young kids too, but they’ve played a lot of golf. We’ve got a bunch of young kids who haven’t played at all (before this season). But we’re getting better.”
Haley expects the Woodlawn program to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming weeks.
“Woodlawn will be a handful later on,” said Haley. “Especially in the postseason.”
With an inexperienced team, Haley concentrates not so much on the final score, but on seeing his golfers become better during the course of the 2010 season.
“I’m not too worried about scores. I’m only concerned with improvement,” said Haley. “By the end of the year, if we’ve improved, then I can say that I’m happy.”
