Hayesville – Coach Joseph Watson and his Murphy Bulldogs golf team took a big step on the way to their fourth conference championship at Mountain Harbour Golf Club on Thursday.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the first round of the Smoky Mountain Conference Championship tournament with a total of 62. Their nearest competitor was Robbinsville, which finished the day at 80. They were followed by Swain at 133, Highlands at 134, Cherokee at 423, Hayesville at 152, Blue Ridge Early College at 163 and Andrews at 177.
The Bulldogs were led to the lead by Andrew Barolet. Barolet parred three of the front nine holes on the day and birded another to go into the latter part of the afternoon with a 41. He continued his day on the back nine with three more pars and a birdie to finish with a score of 81.
Robbinsville’s Isiah Brown tied Barolet on the day with three pars and a birdie on the front nine, and six pars and a birdie on the back nine. Brown’s trouble holes cost him in the totals, as he had four double bogeys, three holes in the front nine, and one on the back nine. Barolet never did worse than a bogey on any of the 18 holes he played.
Brady Golden had a lot of trouble on the front nine, as he only parred three holes and had a triple bogey on two of the front nine to go into the halfway mark on the day with a 46. He improved play on the back nine as he parred two holes and never did worse than a bogey on the rest of the holes to finish with an 89 for the day.
Xander Wachacha had a rough start to the day as he had a triple bogey on his first hole, but he recovered as he led the Bulldog team in birdies for the day with three. Wachacha finished the day with an 89 as well.
Conner Golden had an unusually rough day on the course. It started off with three double bogeys and a triple bogey on the first nine holes to give him a 49 at the turn.
Things got a little better for him in the second half of the afternoon as he birdied one hole and parred four more, but the final hole of the day cost him as he had his only triple bogey on the 18th hole to finish the day at 91.
Will Joyner parred two on the front nine, but had a triple bogey and a double bogey that had him finishing at the turn with a 46. Joyner did better on the back nine, with a birdie and two pars, but two triple-bogey holes pulled his final score down to a 94.
The good news for the Bulldogs was that only one of Brown’s teammates had a better score than Joyner, and that was Isiac Collins with a 93. Robbinsville’s other golfers finished with two 97s and a 104. That gave the Dogs a 12-point lead going into round two of the conference tournament.
“I’m proud of the way they played in the first round,” Watson said after the tournament. “They were little disappointed after the front nine, and really turned it on the back nine, to give us a pretty good lead going into the second round.”
Andrews finished the halfway point of the tournament with a score of 152. Its leading golfer was Brady Queen with a 105, followed by Tucker Stalcup at 113, Keegan Ellis with 123 and Wesley Morgan with 124.
The second round of the tournament will be held today at Old Edwards Club in Highlands.