FAYETTEVILLE — With each match so far the season, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ golf team has shown improvement.
That trend continued Monday when the Raiders competed in their third and final nine-hole match against Mid-South Conference opponents.
Playing from the blue tees at Kings Grant Golf Club, the Raiders recorded their third consecutive second-place finish. In the process, Richmond posted its lowest score of the season as a team, shooting a 161.
Taking five strokes off from last week’s outing, and six shots off its season-opening score, the Raiders were led by their third different player in as many matches on the scorecard.
With 3,062 yards to cover on the front nine holes, senior Kevin Cosey was Richmond’s leading golfer. He recorded a career-low nine-hole round score of 37, finishing +1 on the day.
Junior Graham Odom also had a career afternoon on the golf course, as he, too, finished his round with a new career-low score. Odom was +3 for his round, shooting a 39.
Richmond’s other two golfers to finish in the top four qualifying spots were junior CJ Turner and sophomore Drake Wallace. A week after shooting even par, Turner posted a 41 (+5) and Wallace posted a 44 (+8). Wallace’s score tied a season-low for himself.
“Kevin shot his best score today, and Graham did as well,” head coach Chris Turner said. “I’m really happy for both of them for having a really good round. CJ and Drake were third and fourth to help record our lowest team score for the third straight match.
“The weather was perfect, but the course was very tight with lots of out of bounds,” he added. “So it took a lot of smart shot-making to get around the course by our guys.”
The team the Raiders have been chasing all season – Pinecrest High School – won its third consecutive match with a team score of 145. Richmond maintained its double-digit average between third-place Jack Britt High School (175).
Other teams to compete Monday were fourth-place Pine Forest High School (207), fifth-place Hoke County High School (210), and Overhills High School, which didn’t have enough golfers to qualify for the team score.
Two other Raiders were in competition on the course, looking to offset other teams’ golfers. Junior Grayson Robson finished with a 47 (+11) and senior Tyler McKenzie posted a 52 (+16).
With spring break set to begin Friday, the Raiders will have a short hiatus between matches before returning to competitive play April 13.
That will be Richmond’s senior night home match at Foxfire Resort & Golf, and also be the first of several 18-hole matches to end the regular season.
Coach Turner noted, “We have a few things to work on during our time off. One thing we will focus on is our overthinking. If we can get the guys to stop thinking so much and just play, I know we can score even lower.”
