The Shadow
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS — (Left) Noah Burns hits his tee ball on the 18th hole, while (right) Clay Robertson (right) rolls in a birdie putt on the 17th during the Western Gate Conference 31 Tournament Monday at The Homestead’s Old Course. Robertson shot a 1-over-par 73 to win individual honors, while the Chargers’ 338 was nine shots better than Auburn for the team championship. (Gavin Dressler Photos)
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS — (Left) Noah Burns hits his tee ball on the 18th hole, while (right) Clay Robertson (right) rolls in a birdie putt on the 17th during the Western Gate Conference 31 Tournament Monday at The Homestead’s Old Course. Robertson shot a 1-over-par 73 to win individual honors, while the Chargers’ 338 was nine shots better than Auburn for the team championship. (Gavin Dressler Photos)
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HOT SPRINGS — Bath County shot their best round of golf at the most important time Monday.
Led by Clay Robertson’s sizzling 33 on the back nine and medalist winning 1-over-par 73, the Chargers captured the Western Gate Conference 45 Tournament title at The Homestead’s Old Course.
Bath County fired a 338, to defeat runner-up Auburn (347) by nine shots and defending champion Radford by 21 strokes.
“Hey, let’s be honest, Radford wins everything in our conference,” said BCHS coach Terry Bradley, whose team won its first district or conference championship in 15 seasons. “It feels good to get something for the little schools.”
Robertson was backed by an 85 from Caleb Fry, an 89 from Noah Burns and a 91 from Josh Chestnut.
The Chargers were beaten handily by Radford last week at The Cascades and finished 60 strokes behind the Bobcats at last year’s conference tournament.
“Caleb Fry has been an important part of our success,” said Bradley. “And don’t underestimate Noah Burns’ and John Chesnut’s efforts. They have personal goals each match and they were really close today at their No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.”
Robertson, who started his round by making an eagle at the 469-yard, 1st hole, was 4-over at the turn.
But consecutive birdies on 10 and 11 and another at 17 highlighted his back nine.
Robertson two-putted from 60 feet, curling in an 18-footer for par on the 18th to cap his round.
The senior’s 73 was two shots better than Radford’s Walker Helms.
“I am really happy for Clay,” said Bradley. “He works extremely hard. He played an incredible back nine. He deserves all of this — I wish I had him one more year.
“All of our players are making their golf game a priority and it is finally paying dividends,” he added. “Homestead pro Mark Fry is the biggest reason for our success. We get top instruction at top facilities. I am glad to see the players taking advantage of it.”
Covington freshman Noah Fertig will join the Chargers at Monday’s Group 1A West Regional at Cedar Hill Country Club in Jonesville.
Fertig shot a 91, five shots clear of the regional qualifying number of 96.
“I’m very proud of Seth for making the regions,” said Cougar coach Rob Bennett. “If he can make a few putts I think he could go to the states. We’re going to work really hard the rest of this week.”
Ethan Hinton added a 97 for the Cougars, Noah Fertig had a 100 and Caleb Haynes carded a 102.
“We’ve had a good season,” said Bennett. “Again thanks to (CHS football) Coach Tenney for letting the football players play. It’s ashame we couldn’t take a few more (to the regionals), but the competition this year was pretty tough in the conference.”
Bennett also praised the work of Bradley and the Chargers.
“Congratulations to Clay and to Bath County,” he said. “I know those guys have worked extremely hard.”
Team Scores
1. Bath County * 338
2. Auburn * 347
3. Radford 359
4. Covington 390
5. Eastern Montogmery Inc.
* – Team Regional Qualifiers
Individual Results
1. Clay Robertson (BC) 73
2. Walker Helms (R) ** 75
3. Caleb Fry (BC) 85
Sean Wilkins (A) 85
Trevor Dominy (A) 85
6. Kyle Altizer (A) 87
7. Noah Burns (BC) 89
8. Weston Howell (A) 90
9. Josh Chestnut (BC) 91
Seth Fertig (C) ** 91
11. Ryan Albert (A) 93
12. Evan Coulson (R) ** 94
13. Robert Irby (R) ** 95
Daniel Whitley (R) ** 95
15. Coleman Ashworth (R) ** 96
16. Ethan Hinton (C) 97
17. Noah Fertig (C) 100
18. Adam Quesenberry (A) 101
19. Caleb Haynes (C) 102
20. Jack Herring (R) 104
21. Austin Hall (BC) 105
22. Cody Woodzell (BC) 107
23. Austin Gilmore (EM) 113
24. Logan Sheets (EM) 131
25. Dakota Hanks (EM) 136
** – Individual Regional Qualifiers
