Giles Co. wins State Group A golf title

MIDLOTHIAN — Chatham was already facing a strong deficit heading into the second round of the Group A state golf tournament, but that didn’t detour the Cavaliers from going out and posting a solid score.

Chatham shot five shots better than Monday, putting up a 318 to finish third for the second consecutive year in the Group A state golf tournament held at Independence Golf Club.

Giles County followed up its solid 314 on the first day with a 308 on the second day to finish at 622 — 14 shots better than second-place and defending Group A state champion Galax (636) and 21 strokes better than Chatham (643).

“Winning was our goal, no question,” Chatham coach Don Yard said. “But at the same time, we knew coming in there were other good teams that were going to be here, so all you can do is the best you can do. That’s what we did. We had a little trouble putting today and yesterday also, but that’s just golf.”

Senior Jake Hardy shot the lowest single-day score of the tournament for the Cavaliers, finishing with a 78 and an overall score of 158. Sophomore Stanley Shelton shot 79 for the second consecutive day to finish tied with Hardy for top overall score on the team.

“I’m pretty sure I was really nervous the first six holes,” Hardy said after bogeying the first six holes. “I just calmed down a little, bit and I ended up paring the next hole and then making a birdie and then par to finish out 41. I just made one bogey on the back and I’m pretty happy with it.”

Shelton finished with an eagle for the second consecutive day, hitting his second shot on the par-4 18th hole from about 75 yards out that bounced on the green and rolled into the hole. Shelton’s shot was set up by a 350-yard tee shot.

“I hit a good drive — it went right down the middle of the fairway. I hit good drives all day,” Shelton said. “(I) had a 74-yard shot into the green, hit it a little fat, honestly, and just bounced up there, took a break and rolled into the hole.”

Junior Drew Arnold shot an 80 for the second consecutive day to finish with a two-day total of 160. Senior Jesse Wells carded an 81 to finish his tournament at 169, while Rachel Nicholson and Cam Shelton both finished the tournament with scores of 160.

For the second consecutive year, Chatham finished ahead of Dogwood District foe Appomattox. The Raiders finished fourth after posting an identical 318 on the final day.

“It says a lot about our team and the way we can play, the way we’ve grown and just gotten better,” Hardy said. “I just guess we got outplayed.”