PINEHURST — Two days after opening the golf season, Richmond Senior High School’s teams returned to Pinehurst No. 6 on Wednesday.
Playing the front nine holes again, the Raiders improved their total team score and jumped two places for a second-place finish. The Lady Raider golf team showed improvement on the course head coach Keith Parsons noted, and took fourth overall.
Following the new format this season, Richmond was paired with Pinecrest and Purnell Swett high schools in the first grouping and the top four golfers’ scores were used to calculate the final team total.
The Patriots (144, E) and Lady Patriots (203, +59) both earned their second straight wins of the season on the par 36 course.
Richmond’s boys’ team knocked off 17 strokes from Monday’s match, finishing with a team tally of 189 (+45). Senior Jonathan Rich again led the Raiders on the scorecard, shooting a 39 (+3), taking off three strokes from the season opener.
Junior Ethan Brown shot a season-low 47 (+11), while senior Jaxon Mabe made his season debut with a 48 (+12). Also helping the Raiders leapfrog Scotland and Lumberton high schools from Monday’s match were senior Will Thompson (55, +19) and sophomore Ayden Mabe (60, +24).
“I adjusted to the format and the pace of play a lot better yesterday, even though I still didn’t score how I wanted to,” Rich explained. “The first day I was thrown off pretty bad because of the changes from how we’ve always played.
“But I’m really proud of the guys for grinding yesterday and I think it’s just a glimpse of how good we can be this year.”
Through two matches this season, the Raiders have placed fourth and second, respectively. Using the Sandhills Athletic Conference’s points system, Richmond sits in third place with 12 points. Pinecrest leads with 16 points, followed by Scotland with 13 points.
Pinecrest’s Jackson Van Paris led the field for the second straight match, shooting three shots under par (33, -3). Richmond held off Scotland (192) by three strokes on Wednesday.
“Great to see our boys finish second after a fourth-place finish in the opener,” Parsons said. “Hopefully, that trend will continue, and I think each player feels as if he can improve upon the score he turned in Wednesday.”
For the Lady Raiders, it was senior Georgia Grace Anderson who again topped the scorecard with a 55 (+19), matching her score from Monday’s match. The girls’ team placed third out of four qualifying squads, posting a score of 243, three strokes better than Lumberton.
Senior Angeli Yang recorded a nine-hole score of 62 (+26), while senior Delany Driggers and juniors Jamie Sears and Abigail Tatum all finished with a 63 (+27).
Scotland’s Kate Carter shot a 47 (+11) to lead the playing field. With their second third-place finish, the Lady Raiders sit tied with Lumberton for second place in the conference standings with 12 points.
“On the girls’ side, we continue to see improvement from everyone, even if the scores might not show it yet,” Parsons said. “All five members of our group are practicing and getting more comfortable on the course. I believe we will see a breakthrough soon from them.”
Richmond’s golf teams will return to the tee box on Monday at Pinehurst No. 7, and play in the first flight set for a 2 p.m. tee time.
