RAEFORD — Playing its second full match in a span of five days, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ golf team was dialed in Tuesday.
The Raiders played 18 holes at Bayonet at Puppy Creek and were near the top of the scorecard in the first full Sandhills Athletic Conference match of the season.
Finishing the day with a team score of 339, Richmond placed second out of the six qualifying teams. It was the program’s best overall finish this spring.
Using the top four individual scores to combine for the team score, Pinecrest High School clinched the victory with a final posting of 277. The Patriots’ Carson Bertagnole led the field with a round-low score of 67.
In the previous two conference matches this season, both nine-hole contests, the Raiders had placed third overall.
Richmond finished ahead of third-place Lee County High School (351), fourth-place Union Pines High School (353), fifth-place Southern Lee High School (396) and sixth-place Scotland High School (411).
Also competing in the match was Hoke County High School, which didn’t have enough golfers to qualify for the points standings.
"We had a great day. Having four players score better than 90 in our first 18-hole conference match is so good,” head coach Keith Parsons said.
"We have gotten a little better each match and that really showed yesterday. I am excited about the rest of the season."
Sophomore CJ Turner kept his strong start to the season going, leading the Raiders on the scorecard for the fourth time in four matches. He ended his round with an 80 (+8), placing him eighth overall in the field.
Also shooting under 90 were sophomores Grayson Robson (84) and Graham Odom (85), along with freshman Drake Wallace (89). The three Raiders finished 11th, 12th and 16th overall, respectively.
Senior Landon Summerlin and junior Camden Williams both competed for the Raiders, and each shot a final score of 102.
Through three conference matches, the Raiders have compiled 16 points, which puts them in second place in the standings behind Pinecrest (21 points).
The Raiders will play two SAC matches next week, starting with an 18-hole contest at the Country Club of Whispering Pines Monday (2 p.m.). That will be followed by Richmond’s home match at Foxfire Resort (nine holes) Tuesday at 3 p.m.
