SANFORD — Hitting the links for the third time this spring, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ golf team continued to lower its overall score.
The Raiders traveled to Sanford Golf Course on Monday to play a nine-hole match and shot a combined score of 199 amongst their top four golfers.
That mark was six strokes better than their previous outing at Foxfire last week.
Richmond placed fifth out of the six qualifying Sandhills Athletic Conference teams, edging Hoke County High School by five strokes (204).
Pinecrest High School, which is first in the conference standings, placed first overall with a team tally of 142. The Raiders were just 12 shots behind fourth-place Scotland High School (187).
“Always great to see improvement from week to week,” head coach Keith Parsons said. “We have been able to lower our score slightly each week, and I think that is mostly because we have some new players in our group who are finding their comfort levels.”
Junior Ayden Mabe became the third Raider in three matches this spring to post a team-best score, shooting a 43 on Monday. That was three strokes better than his previous season-low, which he shot in the first match two weeks ago.
Senior Ethan Brown also improved his individual score, finishing his round with a 44. That was one stroke lower than his round at Foxfire.
Fellow senior Caleb Talton also notched a new season-low score of 56, and senior Chandler Orr contributed the final score to the team total with a 56.
Also competing for the Raiders were junior Lane Richardson (58) and senior David O’Neal (64). Both of those scores were season-lows for Richardson and O’Neal.
“Pleased with the rounds of Ayden and Ethan, for sure. And I’m sure both would say they were disappointed their scores weren’t lower, which is another good thing,” Parsons said.
“Both of them, and everyone really, has shots out there they can cut from their scores going forward. I can’t wait for next week, our first 18-hole match at The Bayonet in Raeford.”
Pinecrest’s Jackson Bode shot the lowest score of the round, a 34 (-2).
Richmond, which is fifth in the SAC standings with 8.5 points, will play its first 18-hole round of the season next Monday at The Bayonet.
