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Duty, Richlands earn Regional golf titles
Northside golfer wins individual crown; Wildcats are team champs
ELIZABETHTOWN - The NCHSAA 2-A East Regional golf tournament turned out much like the regular season in the East Central Conference.
Northside's Tom Duty delivered a steady round to win the individual tournament while Richlands High escaped with the team crown during Monday's round at Carolina Sands at White Lake Golf Club.
Duty was the medalist as the only golfer to record a round under par. The ECC individual season champion finished with a 2-under 70 to win by four strokes.
"I was pleasantly surprised," Duty said. "It wasn't an easy course, but I just played golf and didn't think about it."
The victory sends Duty, along with teammate Ivy Conekin, to the 2-A State Tournament May 12-13 at Longleaf Golf and Country Club in Southern Pines. Conekin shot a 5-over 77, sinking a crucial putt on the 18th green, to join Duty as the first two Northside golfers to qualify for the state event.
"That's pretty awesome," NHS head coach Tony Marshburn said. "(Tom) and Ivy both kept the ball in play today, that was the key. They kept it in play and putted well.
"They've done an excellent job and I'm proud of them. They're going to represent themselves and Northside very well."
The Wildcats, meanwhile, will send a contingent to Southern Pines after squeezing out a win by the slimmest of margins. Richlands, who won 58 of their 63 regular-season matches, toured the 18 holes in 315 strokes, one better than runner-up South Brunswick. First Flight finished a close third at 322. Those three schools qualified as a team for the state match.
"I am real proud of the boys and how they played today when it counted the most," RHS head coach Fred Schlagentweight said after the Wildcats won their first golf regional since 1989. "Even yesterday, during the practice round, they were all business.
"They didn't just play 18 holes, they took extra shots from trouble spots, from the traps, from the rough. They worked overtime on the practice greens and they really prepared to go out today and play the best they could."
Senior Elliott Jarman led Richlands with a 4-over 76 and freshman Trent Cloninger added a 77. Senior Jeb Kiser and sophomore Jordan Brown each shot 81, senior Evan Roundtree had an 89 and freshman Carson Shepard a 90.
"This was a tough golf course and the final three holes were really tough finishing holes," said Schlagentweith. "That's what made this such a close tournament. Our kids really didn't let down at all and they couldn't afford to."
Duty and Conekin were also the benficiaries of a practice round on Sunday. Duty said the early look at the layout paid dividends. He birdies two of his first four holes and never looked back.
"During the practice round I got a game plan together and decided this course wasn't an attack course. It was a course where you've got to lay back and plan your shots," Duty explained. "I stuck to the game plan ... it was a big help."
Duty noted that he hit 17 of 18 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation, crediting his play from the tee box for keeping his score low.
"Tee shots were big for me today," he said, adding that he didn't have a single three-putt. "It was a medium (length) course; I hit driver three times today. So I hit a lot of fairway woods off the tee box today.
"I stayed close on a lot of holes, stuck it tight and had a lot of four, five footers for birdie."
Conekin also proved efficient in reaching greens in regulation and got plenty of help from his flat stick.
"All my tee shots were pretty much in play, just dead straight," he said. "I really didn't have that much putting, I two-putted almost every green."
Conekin ran into trouble on the ninth hole when his tee shot hit a tree and left him in the woods. But he punched out to 100 yards, then stuck his approach to within one foot of the hole and saved par.
The Monarchs senior was eventually faced with a three-foot putt on 18 to earn a berth in the state tournament.
"It was pretty much straight and I hit it solid," Conekin said. "I'm glad I made it ... my heart was pumping."
The Northside duo and the Wildcats will now spend the next week preparing for the challenge ahead.
"All the way back (to school) all they were talking about was what they had to work on, what they had to do to get ready for State," said Schlagentweight. "It is absolutely the case of being a team that wants to do the absolute best that they can and they are already making plans to do that."
TEAM: Richlands 315, South Brunswick 316, First Flight 322, West Bladen 326, South Lenoir 327, Clinton 342, East Duplin 343, Whiteville 363, Red Springs 376.
INDIVIDUAL: Medalist-Tom Duty (NS) 70. Richlands: Elliott Jarman 76, Trent Cloninger 77, Jeb Kiser 81, Jordan Brown 81, Evan Roundtree 89, Carson Shepard 90. NS: Conekin 77.
