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Back at full strength, the Rockbridge County High School golf team placed third of seven teams in its fourth Valley District tournament of the season on Monday of last week at Woodstone Meadows Golf Course in McGaheysville.
The Wildcats are battling for one of two spots in the Region 3C tournament. They were glad to have their captain, junior Andrew McCoy, healthy again after he had missed the previous tournament on Aug. 11 due to a hip injury.
At Woodstone Meadows, McCoy led the Wildcats by placing third, shooting a 65 on the 18-hole, par-65 course on the hot, sunny day. “Andrew had another wonderful round,” said RC head coach David Miller.
McCoy only trailed two golfers from William Monroe, who shot a 62 and a 65, respectively.
William Monroe, which is in a different region and won’t be competing for one of those spots, comfortably won with a 276. RC was leading Spotswood until the very end when Spotswood’s No. 6 player, sophomore Amaday Mozheyko, fired a 79 to give his team a score of 313. The Wildcats placed third with a 315, edging fourth-place Turner Ashby (318), which had beaten RC twice this season. Completing the standings were East Rockingham (328), Broadway (369) and Harrisonburg (396).
RC sophomore Harrison Tanner carded a 71 for his team’s second score. Miller said McCoy and Tanner “are both playing great golf and have a real shot at being regional qualifiers [individually].”
Also stepping up with a strong performance was junior Jack Jensen, who posted an 81 for the Wildcats’ third score and kept himself in the running for an individual spot in the regional tournament.
Completing RC’s team scoring was senior Will Gibbs, shooting a 94, while freshman teammate Finbar Looney carded a 95. “Great job from both young men, and having that fourth score getting lower really helps our team,” said Miller.
Also competing for the Wildcats was sophomore Dean Fafatas, posting a 103. Miller said Fafatas “just needs more time, but will get there.”
The Wildcats will return to action with two nondistrict nine-hole home matches next week at the Lexington Golf & Country Club. They’ll face Alleghany on Tuesday at 4:30 pm. before taking on Northside on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 4 p.m. RC will then compete in the final Valley District tournament of the season on Monday, Sept. 11, at 10:45 a.m. at Shenvalee Golf Resort in New Market, with Broadway playing host.
