It rained. It poured. After 2 days, Fort Mill and NaFo golfers were among the best
Despite rainy conditions for most of the second round, both the Fort Mill and Nation Ford boys’ golf teams finished in the top 10 in the state at the 5A state tournament at the Country Club of South Carolina.
Fort Mill finished seventh with a 611 (312-299) as a team over the two day, 36-hole tournament. Nation Ford finished 10th with a 623 (318-305) as a team. The tournament was played among the top 16 teams in 5A at the Florence course. The course played 6,687-yards from the black tees and was a par 72 for the golfers.
Gaffney won the event with a 549 (280-269) and was the only team to shoot under par over the 36-holes of the tournament. Boiling Springs was second with a 577 (286-291) and Rock Hill finished third with a 583 (293-290).
The Jackets were led by Griffin Tarver over the two days with a 147 (76-71). He shot one under par 71 on the second day. After the first day, Fort Mill was in eighth place with a 312. They improved their scores by 13 strokes on day two.
“I am extremely proud of our team,” said Fort Mill head coach Judd Dye. “Our goal was to cut 12 strokes off of our score and we cut off 13 to shoot 299. We controlled what we could control and we exceeded our scoring goal.”
Besides Tarver, the Jackets had a 151 (78-73) from Cam Cappuzzo, a 156 (80-76) from Bryce Wittmer and a 157 (78-79) from Tyler Patterson to give Fort Mill a 611. Mike Wheeler also shot back-to-back rounds of 80 both days for Fort Mill as well.
Fort Mill was five shots ahead of Blythewood for seventh place and four shots behind Dorman, which finished sixth.
Nation Ford set a new school record on day two of the tournament shooting a 305 as a team and just missed the school record for 36-holes by one stroke with a 623. The Falcons were led by Nolan Will who shot a 151 (74-77). He was followed with a round of 153 (79-74) by John Moss and a 158 (83-75) from Daniel King. Grant Bridges rounded out the scoring for Nation Ford with a 161 (82-79). David King had back-to-back rounds of 83 on both days for the Falcons as well.
Falcons’ head coach Fred Bruce said he was proud of his players improving on their scores on day two of the tournament as they talked about what to do better after day one of the tournament.
“For them it was about understanding course management,” he said. “We talked about playing away from problems and committing to their shots.”
Nation Ford was 14 shots ahead of 11th place Wade Hampton and Sumter, which tied with a 637. The Falcons were just two back from James Island, which shot a 621 to finish ninth.
Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM
This story was originally published May 16, 2018 at 3:31 PM with the headline "It rained. It poured. After 2 days, Fort Mill and NaFo golfers were among the best."