Huntersville – With a third-place finish in the regional tournament, Connor Golden of Murphy earned a trip to the boys state 1A golf championship.
The 1A West Regional tournament was held at North Stone Country Club on May 5. Murphy had three golfers qualify, while Andrews had five. Connor Golden was the only one from Cherokee County to make state.
Connor Golden finished in third place, while Bradey Golden finished in 17th as the only two from Cherokee County in the top 20. Only one other golfer from the Smoky Mountain Conference earned a top-20 finish.
Connor Golden started his round on the 10th hole and opened with a par. He went on to wrap up his first nine holes at +2 with seven pars and two bogeys.
On the back nine, he bogeyed his 11th hole of the day, but bounced back with a birdie on the next hole to get back to +2. He then bogeyed holes five and seven – his 14th and 16th holes of the day – to get to +4 through 16 holes.
Connor Golden ended his round with a birdie on the par 5 eighth hole and a double bogey on the par 4 ninth hole to bring his score to a +5 77. His round of 77 put him in third, just one shot clear of being tied for fourth and one shot behind second place.
Bradey Golden finished his round tied for 17th after shooting 86 (+14). Bradey Golden also started his round on the back nine and opened with back-to-back pars. He then double bogeyed his third hole of the day, but followed it up with two more pars to stay at +2.
Trouble came on a tough stretch to wrap up the back nine. He played holes 15-18 at +5 to bring his score to +7 through the first nine holes of his round.
Bradey Golden started his second nine with a double bogey, then followed it up with a par. In another tough stretch on holes 3-6, his score came to +15.
On the seventh hole – his 16th hole of the day – he notched his first birdie of the day on the 184-yard par 3. He had a strong finish to the round by following up the birdie with two pars to finish his round at +14.
It was a tough regional round for Murphy’s third golfer, Easton Manuel. He started his day with a triple bogey and struggled to bounce back, resulting in shooting +51.
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Due to Murphy only having three golfers in the tournament, they did not earn any team points.
Andrews did earn team points and finished eighth after shooting a combined 387. The Wildcats’ highest finisher was Brady Queen, who shot 94 to finish the tournament tied for 42nd. Queen shot 49 on the front nine and 45 on the back.
Logan Shuler finished tied for 44th after shooting 95. He shot 52 on the front nine and 43 on the back.
Boone Parker finished in 48th place after shooting 98. He shot 49 on both the front and back nines.
Tucker Stalcup finished tied for 49th after shooting 100. Stalcup shot 53 on the front nine and 47 on the back.
Braxton Rickett rounded out Andrews’ golfers with a tie for 51st. He shot 47 on the front nine and 54 on the back nine.
Murphy’s Connor Golden will head to Longlead Golf & Family Club in Southern Pines to compete in the state 1A championship Monday and Tuesday. The results will be published in the May 21 edition of the Cherokee Scout.