LUMBERTON — A new season-best team score was the result of the Richmond Senior High School golf team’s outing to Pinecrest Country Club and Golf Resort in Lumberton Monday.
Competing in their third match of the season, the Raiders placed fifth out of the eight Sandhills Athletic Conference teams for the third week in a row. Richmond posted a team score of 349 between its top four golfers, a score that was 19 strokes better than its Week 1 score.
SAC leader Pinecrest High School won its third-straight match, posting a score of 277, which was -11 par. Ahead of Richmond was Purnell Swett High School (318), Jack Britt High School (324) and Scotland High School (325).
Hoke County High School shot 31 more strokes than Richmond for sixth place (380), while host Lumberton rounded out the team scores with a seventh-place finish (490). Seventy-First High School did not qualify.
“Today was our best score by 19 strokes, so I’m very impressed by our play,” head coach Keith Parsons said. “It’s definitely something to build on next week when we host a match at Foxfire.”
Sophomore Jonathan Rich was atop the Raiders’ scorecard, posting an 83 (+11) in 18 holes. He shot four strokes better than he did last week at Gates Four in Fayetteville. Two other Raider golfers made the cut under 90, in sophomore Carter Richardson’s 85 (+13) and sophomore Jaxon Mabe’s 89 (+17).
Both of their scores were season-bests, as Richardson dropped 14 strokes off his score from last week. Mabe posted a 107 at Gates Four, seeing his score improve by 18 strokes.
Richmond’s fourth-best scorer was sophomore Jacob Puckett, who finished the day with a 92 (+20). Last week, he set a new personal best with the same score.
Rich shot a 40 (+4) on the front nine, before finishing with a 43 (+7) on the back. Other nine-hole scores for Richmond were Richardson 41 (+5), 44 (+8); Mabe 44 (+8), 45 (+9); and Puckett 47 (+11), 45 (+9).
“I’m particularly happy for Jaxon,” Parsons said. “He’s been hitting the ball better and better, just not getting much out of his round. Today he put it together a bit and posted a solid score.”
Also in action for the Raiders were juniors Bryson Lampley and Noah Altman, who shot a 94 and 101, respectively.
Richmond will return to action next week when it hosts its first tournament of the spring at Foxfire Golf and Country Club. Tee times begin at 2 p.m.
