FOXFIRE — In its second outing this spring, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ golf team improved its overall team score on Monday.
Competing in a nine-hole match at Foxfire against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents, the Raiders shot a 200 to finish in fifth place.
Three strokes better than last week’s season-opening match, Richmond also leapfrogged a spot in the final standings.
Playing the Red Course, golfers played the first five holes on the front before finishing the round on Nos. 15-18 on the back nine. The Raiders had six golfers in action, with the top four scorers contributing to the scorecard.
“Always nice when we improve from week to week, both in total strokes and the standings,” head coach Keith Parsons said. “I know Ayden (Mabe) and Kevin (Tabacolde) felt as if they left some strokes out on the course, which makes their scores even better.
“We had great debuts this week from Jullian Cline and Jeff Linton, both seniors who decided to finish their high school experience by playing golf. And Walker Lambeth and James Pack were solid, too, and have a lot of room to grow.”
The Raiders were led by Mabe and Tabacolde, who both finished the afternoon with a score of 44 on the par 35 course.
The score for Mabe was a season-best, taking one shot off his outing last week at Bayonet at Puppy Creek. Tabacolde’s score was three strokes higher than his high school debut last Monday.
Pack, a freshman, took six strokes off his game and finished with a 56. Lambeth also produced a 56 during the match, up a shot from last week.
As Parsons noted, Cline and Linton both made their first career appearance in a match. Cline was right behind Lambeth and Pack with a final score of 57, followed by Linton’s 62.
As a team, Pinecrest High School shot an even par, ending the match with a score of 140. Leading the field was Carson Bertagnole, who posted two-under par with a 33.
Rounding out the standings were Lee County (173), Union Pines (177), Southern Lee (188), Hoke County (205) and Scotland (205).
Through two matches this spring, Tabacolde’s average score of 42.5 strokes per match have him tied for the seventh best in the SAC.
Richmond will return to action on Thursday for another nine-hole match at Sanford Golf Course. The shotgun start will begin at 3 p.m.
