Murphy – After finishing the regular season undefeated, the Bulldogs’ boys golf team captured the Smoky Mountain Conference championship for the first time since 2006.
Murphy’s quartet of Wyatt Simmons, Andrew Barolet, Hugh and Harper Martin combined for a score of 770 over two days, beating second-place Highlands by 15 strokes.
Though Murphy won by a significant margin, it didn’t look that way after the first day. After the first round at Sky Valley (Ga.) Country Club on April 22, the Bulldogs sat in third place, 12 strokes behind the first-place Highlanders.
Four days later, the second round of the tournament took place at Old Union Country Club in Blairsville, Ga., which is Murphy’s home course. The Bulldogs took advantage, winning the round by 22 strokes to blow past Highlands and second-place Swain to win the conference championship.
“You could tell they were more confident being able to come home,” head coach Joseph Watson said about his team’s second-round performance. “They were disappointed in being behind, but there’s nothing they could’ve done about it after the round. You just have to play your next round and come back and play hard, and that’s what they did.”
Simmons and Barolet were both selected to the All-Smoky Mountain Conference team, with Simmons taking home the award for conference golfer of the year. Simmons shot 167 over the two-day event, beating Highlands’ Ryan Ubertino by six strokes.
Simmons shot a 78 in the second round, which was the best single-round score in the tournament by eight strokes. Barolet shot a 187 to finish sixth overall, and his second-round score of 88 tied for the third best.
Murphy was scheduled to compete in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A regional championship Monday and Tuesday at Meadowbrook Golf Club in Rutherfordton.