With just over two weeks to go before the district golf tournament, Cumberland County Coach Randy Herring likes the way his boys and girls are playing.
Early golf matches are used to figure things, fine tune swings and figure out strengths and weaknesses. And as the regular season winds down, coaches want to see their teams get better and better.
Herring saw just that in the Cumberland County dual match split with Monterey at the Cumberland Cove Golf Course in Monterey. CCHS won the boys match 160-163, but lost the girls contest 100-97.
“It was great to get the win,” Herring said. “We may have played one of the best matches of the year because my No. 4 and No. 5 players, Ryder [Flatt] and Boone [Buckner] played really well. Boone shoots even par, and he said it was just one of those days.”
Buckner set the pace for the Cumberland County boys with a blistering 36. Liam Fuentes, potentially one of the top players in the region, followed that with a 38.
Ryder Flatt contributed a 42 over the nine holes. Asher Mifflin added a score of 44, and Colyer Myer shot 45.
“Ryder, it was very encouraging to see him shoot 42. Asher was a little off yesterday, and he was kind of all over the place,” Herring said. “Colyer struggled a little. Liam was pretty steady. Monterey is actually a pretty good team, but our effort was good enough to win.”
Cumberland County usually plays 18-hole matches, but Herring said playing nine holes was a good change for his players. He said it forces everyone to sharpen their focus.
Monterey will be coming to Crossville this week for a match and will be playing 18 holes. Herring said the longer matches help prepare players for the postseason. All district, region and state tournaments are 18 holes.
The Lady Jets came close to completing the sweep for Cumberland County.
Keira Kelly led the way with a nine-hole total of 46 for CCHS. Aviree Stewart was not far back. She posted a score of 54.
“To be honest, the girls played about like how I thought they would,” Herring said. “Keira struggled with her approach shots, but her short game has gotten better, and she’s getting it off the tee. I mean the girls are coming around. And, you know, they’re slowly getting better.”
As happy as he was with the way his teams played, Herring was quick to announce there is still a lot of work to do before the postseason.
“I talked to the team about this yesterday. Our three, four and five guys hole our fate in their hands,” Herring said. “Two of those three scores are going to have to count. All three of them must play a little bit smarter and turn some eights into sixes because of bad course management. We have to save a stroke here or there. That’s going to be the real key for us, if we want to possibly qualify for the region.”
He said Stone and Upperman are probably the favorites to win the district. However, CCHS should be able to fit in the top 3, which would get it into the region.