Highlands – The Murphy boys golf team is the Smoky Mountain Conference champions for the fourth straight season.
Robbinsville closed the gap in the second round of the SMC Golf Championship Tournament at the Old Edwards Golf Club on April 29, but the lead the Bulldogs established in the first round was too much, and Murphy claimed its fourth SMC title in as many seasons.
Isaiah Brown of Robbinsville had the best round of the day, finishing with an 86. Carson Forrester of Highlands came in second with a 87. Murphy’s Brady Golden took the third slot as Murphy’s leading golfer for the day. Golden shot a 90 and ended Robbinsville’s team chance to close the lead, as he tied Robbinsville’s next-highest golfer, Isiac Collins.
The winner of the first round, Andrew Barolet, kept the Dogs’ lead intact as he finished with a 92, while Will Joyner finished with a 94 to preserve the 18-stroke lead the Dogs built in round one. Conner Golden finished with a 97, while Xander Wachacha finished with a 107.
Robbinsville only picked up two strokes in the second round, as the Black Knights finished with a team score of 370 to the Bulldogs’ 372. The score is based on the scores from the top four golfers on each team.
Golden’s second round had him starting off great, as he parred the first three holes and was tied for the lead with Brown at the break of the second round. He ran into trouble on the back nine, as he started off with a bogey on hole 10, triple-bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12. Golden had parred four of the front nine holes, and he could only manage one par on the back nine.
His teammates didn’t fare much better on the back nine, either, as Barolet and Joyner only managed two pars on the back nine and Wachacha only had one. To say the least, the back nine of Old Edwards Club proved to be difficult for the whole field. There were only 40 pars and three birdies from the 35 golfers in the field.
Isaiah Brown had the best individual score for the tournament as he finished with a total for both rounds at 167. Barolet was six stroke back at 173, Brady Golden was fourth at 179 and Will Joyner seventh with a 187. Conner Golden, Brady’s twin brother, was eighth with 188 and Xander Wachacha finished 12th with a 196.
Murphy’s win gives them their fourth consecutive SMC Golf Championship, all under head coach Joseph Watson. Watson said, “We could have played a little better but I’m very proud of the whole team. This win was a team effort with Andrew Barolet building the lead in the first round and he and Brady Golden and Will Joyner keeping us in it in the second round. I think those guys were in the top five score for the day.”
Murphy’s Brady Golden and Andrew Barolet received All-Conference honors, while honorable mentions were awarded to Joyner, Wachacha and Connor Golden.
The Dogs will begin state 1A regional play at Mountain Harbour Country Club in Hayesville this week.