The Yellow Jackets commandeered the Potomac Valley Conference Golf Championship at the Raven Golf Course at Snowshoe Resort last Tuesday with a title card of 365 to defeat Pendleton County at 409 and Petersburg at 465 with four other schools sending individual representatives including Tucker County, Tygarts Valley, Union and Pocahontas County to battle for All-PVC recognition.
“I am extremely proud of the team for winning the PVC championship,” Moorefield Golf coach Wade Armentrout stated.
“Players on this team work really hard, they put in the extra time and their improvement throughout the season has been rewarding to watch. Winning the conference championship was a goal for this team. And our next goal is to qualify for the state golf tournament in Wheeling.”[private]
Moorefield Golf was led by J.J. Carr (84) and Ryan McGregor (86), who were both selected to the All-PVC Golf team with their low-medalist scores.
“It was a really good accomplishment for the team and for me and Ryan as well. We worked really hard this year and deserve to have that victory. The Raven is pretty difficult, because there are so many areas to take penalties. Somewhere like Canaan Resort, you don’t have to worry about that as it is so tight up there. My drives have been really good, especially if I can hit 270,” Moorefield All-PVC Golf champion J.J. Carr remarked.
Joining the Yellow Jackets duo on the All-PVC Golf team were overall low-medalist Andrew Holbrook of Tygarts Valley (82), Pocahontas County’s David Gibb (84), Pendleton County’s Tanner Townsend (86) and Tucker County’s Harper Russell (91). Holbrook, Gibb and Russell qualified as individual low-medalist for their schools without a team total.
“It is a pretty good accomplishment and I’ve been trying to do it for two years here and I finally got it. It is a very good feeling to win the PVC Golf Championship. I haven’t won the PVC championship since being on the golf team and we have lost to Tucker County both years. Just going in focused and hitting the ball straight without hitting into the woods was the key,” Moorefield All-PVC Golf champion Ryan McGregor said.
The Yellow Jackets scoring card for the Potomac Valley Conference Golf Championship included No. 1 Carr (84), No. 2 McGregor (86), No. 4 Karson Reed (95) and No. 3 Hayden Baldwin (100). Moorefield’s Will Barb also recorded 100 strokes as the fifth seed, but Baldwin’s score was taken for the total being the higher seed on the team.
Compared to last season when the Mountain Lions won the PVC title, Moorefield showed tremendous improvement.
Last year, Carr netted an 85, Reed had a 101, Baldwin made a 107 and McGregor finished at 108.
The Yellow Jackets showed consistency and patience on a challenging course to gain the championship this season.
Pendleton County was the runner-up with a card of 409 at the Raven led by Townsend at 86, followed by Cameron Beachler (103), Brayden Beachler (104) and Elijah Butler (116).
Petersburg finished in third place in its first season as a Class A school with a total of 465.
Dakota Parsons paced the Vikings with a card of 94, followed by Samantha Colaw at 110, Bryson Riggleman at 121 and Kadin Tiney at 140.
Holbrook was the lone representative for Tygarts Valley, but the best PVC golfer on the course with a card of 82.
Union was represented by Peyton Haines with a card of 124, while his teammate Bridgette Knapp ended her golf season last week to play volleyball.
Tucker County’s two golfers at Snowshoe Resort were Harper Russell (91 – PVC) and Wyatt Better (94).
Pocahontas County brought three golfers to compete in the PVC championship: Gibb (84 – PVC), Michael Kane (108) and Ben Dunz (113).
Moorefield Golf Finishes Regular Season
As Runner-up To Keyser On Senior Night
Keyser stole the show at Valley View Golf Club on Wednesday with a team card of 163, but couldn’t squash the heart and determination of the Yellow Jackets on senior night in the regular season finale with a runner-up total of 163, while Petersburg took third place at 217.
Since Valley View is the home course for Moorefield and Petersburg, the seniors were honored together with a cake and all the teams were invited to have dinner for the celebration.
Moorefield’s senior is Hayden Baldwin who shot a total of 49 in the finale and Petersburg’s senior is Dakota Parsons who led the Vikings with a card of 43.
“I learned how to hit my driver straight during my career. If we all make putts and hit decent shots, we can be really good. Our team has really improved and we have become better everyday. As long as we keep practicing and doing what we can do, we will succeed. I love being a Yellow Jacket Golfer, because it means I can go out and have fun and represent my school,” Moorefield senior Hayden Baldwin noted.
Keyser has two golfers finish in the sub-40’s at Valley View to lead all golfers as the low-medalists as Jacob Malcolm shot a card of 37 and Darrick Broadwater made a 38, followed by Drew Matlick and Noah Broadwater with 44 strokes apiece for the team total of 163.
Moorefield Golf took second place with consistent scoring as all team members scored in the 40’s, except for one golfer.
Carr was the low-medalist for the Yellow Jackets with a total of 42 strokes, followed by Ryan McGregor and Karson Reed with 44 strokes apiece and rounding out the team total was James Williams at 46.
“I wasn’t pleased with my outing today. I could have cut down five strokes with my putting,” Moorefield low-medalist J.J. Carr commented.
Moorefield Golf’s results beyond the team total were Will Barb with a 47, Hayden Baldwin with a 49 and Isaac Rumer with a 57.
The Yellow Jackets had various approach shots scattering the fairways and had various challenges including having the right line of sight for putting to the hole and each golfer handled the obstacles in their own style.
Carr, McGregor and Reed were extremely focused and didn’t get as emotional on the regular season finale as previous matches in the season.
Williams had his grandmother and father in the gallery following him on the course and they provided encouragement when he had some tough strokes on the fairway.
Baldwin and Barb were very calm and collected during the match, even sharing some jokes with fellow golfers to lighten the mood.
“Hayden has been a great leader for this team. He realized early that he enjoyed playing golf and the more he played, the better golfer he became. He put in a lot of extra practice during the off-season to prepare for his senior year. I am extremely proud of the underclassmen on this team. Their work ethic is great,” Moorefield Golf coach Wade Armentrout remarked.
Petersburg’s third place finish of 217 was paced by Parsons at 43, followed by Samantha Colaw at 50, Bryson Riggleman at 58 and Corey Kisamore at 66.
The Yellow Jackets competed at Canaan Valley Resort in Tucker County for the Class A Region II Championship on Monday with state tournament berth on the line. The state golf tournament is held at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling on October 6-7.[/private]