FAYETTEVILLE — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ golf team hit the course for the second time this spring Tuesday, heading to Fayetteville’s Gates Four Country Club hosted by Jack Britt High School.
For the second week in a row, Richmond grabbed a fifth-place finish of the eight Sandhills Athletic Conference teams. Sophomore Jonathan Rich was the Raiders’ top golfer, shooting an 87 (+15). In last week’s season opener at Bayonet, Rich shot a career-best 77.
Sophomore Jacob Puckett was the highlight for the Raiders, as he went from shooting a career-worst round in Week 1 to tying the best score of his high school career.
Pinecrest High School would take first place with a team score a 304, followed by Purnell Swett High School (332), Jack Britt (346), Scotland High School (357) and Richmond (385). Rounding out the standings were Hoke County High School (416), Lumberton High School (492) and Seventy-First High School didn’t have enough players to qualify for the team score.
“It was a tough day for us,” first-year head coach Keith Parsons said. “The wind was a factor, and the course simultaneously was hosting a college tournament, so many of the hole locations were tricky, too.”
Rich shot a 42 (+6) on the front nine, before shooting a 45 (+9) on the back. The Raiders had two other golfers finish below the 100 mark in Puckett (92, +20) and fellow sophomore Carter Richardson (99, +27).
Puckett shot a 102 last week and improved his score by 10 strokes. He finished the day with a 48 (+12) on the front, before notching a 44 (+8) on the final nine holes. Richardson wasn’t far behind with a 47 (+11) and 52 (+16) on the back.
The other Raiders on the course Tuesday were senior Noah Altman (107), and sophomores Jaxon Mabe (107) and Will Thompson (114).
“All in all, this was a great learning experience for us,” Parsons said. “I am very happy for Jacob, he tied his low career round. And Carter really grinded it out to give us three scores lower than 100.”
Richmond will be back in action Monday at Pinecrest Country Club and Golf Course, hosted by Lumberton. Tee times start at 2 p.m.
