SANFORD — Two veteran members of the Richmond Senior High School boys’ golf team led the way for the Raiders in Tuesday’s match.
Playing in their second nine-hole Sandhills Athletic Conference match of the new season, the Raiders finished the round in third place out of seven teams. The match was played at the Sanford Golf Course.
The third-place finish was the second time in two matches the Raiders placed third overall.
Using the top-three scores out of six golfers in action, Richmond posted a round score of 179. That was a new season-low for the Raiders, a total of seven shots better than their first outing last week at Pinehurst No. 6.
In Richmond’s lineup this week were juniors James Pack, Kevin Tabacolde and Camden Williams, joined by sophomores Graham Odom, Grayson Robson and CJ Turner.
"It was another good day for us, finishing third with a better score than the opening match,” head coach Keith Parsons said. “CJ and Kevin again led the way and were solid nearly all day. I'm sure both would like to have one or two holes back to get their scores even lower, but their consistency so far has been outstanding.
“Camden was very happy about his effort, and Graham, Grayson and James all battled hard. Graham has been a great find for us, since this is his first year, and Grayson finished last season so strongly we knew he was going to be a factor for us.
“James has been hobbled a bit with an injury and hasn't been able to be at his best so far,” he added. “He has been a big part of our program for three seasons, so when he gets healthy, that will be a big boost for us."
Turner and Tabacolde, who were the top two golfers, respectively, for Richmond in the opening match, followed a similar path in Sanford.
Cracking into the top 10 for the second straight match, Turner shot a team-best 41, a stroke higher than last week. Tabacolde was just behind his teammate, finishing tied for 11th overall with a round score of 43, also a shot higher.
Odom was Richmond’s third-best scorer for the second match in a row. He shot a season-low round score of 48, two strokes better than Week 1.
All three of the Raiders’ other competing golfers also posted season-best scores. Williams dropped nine strokes between the two matches and finished with a 47.
Robson shot a 48, six shots better, and Pack took a stroke away from his total with a 57.
Pinecrest High School won the match with a team score of 140, followed by second-place Union Pines High School (172). Finishing behind Richmond were Lee County (180), Hoke County (187), Southern Lee (194) and Scotland (199) high schools.
Shooting under par for the round and taking the top-three individual spots were a trio of Pinecrest Patriots — Carson Bertagnole (33), Jack Halloran (34) and Emerson Vaughan (35).
The Raiders will play another nine-hole conference match next Tuesday when they host the SAC teams at Foxfire Resort. Golfers will tee off at 3 p.m.
