The first state championship of the 2017 West Virginia Golf Association tournament season did not lack in drama down the stretch on Sunday as the team of Carter/O’Dell found their three-shot lead disappear through 10 holes of play. Ideal weather was served up again by mother nature and led to some great opportunities for teams to climb back into the competition. At one time, three other teams matched the leaders at -17 due to terrific play during the morning. Chasing down the leaders were the teams of Michael Foust/Drew Whitten, Jess Ferrell/Phil Reale II, and Josh Arbaugh/Mark Johnson. As Carter/O’Dell made birdie on #14 to get to -18, Arbaugh/Johnson matched the score three holes ahead with a birdie of their own on #17. A missed opportunity on #18 kept Arbaugh & Johnson at -18, while Carter/O’Dell made another birdie on #15 to claim the outright lead again at -19. Arbaugh & Johnson couldn’t find a way to score on their last two holes, as they finished with two pars on #1 and #2, but still had the round of the day with an 11-under, 61. Playing in the group behind the leaders were Foust/Whitten and Ferrell/Reale II who managed only a one-under score between both teams on the last 7 holes as the winds began to pick-up and become more gusty. Foust & Whitten finished three back (-17), while Ferrell & Reale II finished two back (-18). Quietly putting together a solid run on the final 5 holes was the team of Grimmett & Tomblin, who birdied 3 of the last 5 to finish in the three way tie for second at -18. To put the finishing touches on an outstanding two days of golf, Carter & O’Dell walked away from the challenging 18th hole with birdie to finish at -20 and take home the first championship of the year.
The Senior Division may have been the most compelling competition of the championship. Glade Springs members, Joel Davis & Ed McCall found themselves in the lead by two shots following Round 1 and were trailed by the team of Tim Mount & Van Stemple. The two teams battled all day and found themselves in a tie at the end of 18 holes, their duel then continued in a sudden-death playoff beginning on #18. Both teams birdied the 18th and moved to #1 where Mount & Stemple made birdie to win the division.
Nicolle Flood-Sawczyszyn and partner Shelley Hyde won the Women’s Division to the tune of an impressive 12-shot victory over the runner-up team of Karen Rainey & Janie Webber. The two finished at -7 and were the only team in the Women’s Division who stayed in red numbers on the weekend.
The WVGA would like to extend our thanks to The Resort at Glade Springs for providing an outstanding weekend of golf on a course that was in fantastic shape for our first championship of the year. For more information please visit wvga.org and follow the WVGA on its various social media profiles for all the latest news and highlights!
