Keyser finishes first in state golf tournament, Polar Bears fifth

Oct. 6—WHEELING — The 2022 golf season came to a head Wednesday in Wheeling as teams from across West Virginia converged on the Jones Course at Oglebay Park for the WVSSAC State Tournament.

Across the three divisions, Wheeling Park won the Class-AAA title, Keyser took the Class-AA title, and Wheeling Central won the Class-A title.

With the two days of play in the books — Tuesday and Wednesday — Winfield earned the runner-up spot in Class-AA, finishing at +72 to Keyser's +69. Herbert Hoover finished third at +93, Shady Spring finished fourth at +102, Fairmont Senior finished fifth at +124, Point Pleasant finished sixth at +139, Lincoln finished seventh at +194 and Lewis County finished eighth at +198.

Individually, Wheeling Park's Gavin Goodrich topped Class-AAA competition, ending his two days with a +7. Keyser's Noah Broadwater was atop Class-AA at +8, and Wheeling Central's Justin Doerr came in first among Class-A individuals at +20.

For the Polar Bears, Caden Musgrove led the squad and finished just outside the top 10 of Class-AA, tying for 12th at +34. Musgrove had an especially impressive first day of competition, where he placed inside the Top 10 at eighth, standing at +13 after Tuesday.

Senior Logan Huffman finished at +40 for the Polar Bears, good for 16th place. Landen Barkley finished 22nd at +50, and Tristan Wolford tied for 30th at +62.

A spotty start for the Polar Bears put a lot of pressure on their Wednesday performances.

"We took it in four nine-hole matches," Fairmont Senior head coach Luke Corley said. "We played well in the front nine yesterday, but then we played bad in the back nine. So we had to play good for both nine's today and we just came up a little bit short."

A state tournament appearance was another step for a Fairmont Senior team that is growing together, as Huffman departs as their lone senior. After having an individual qualifier — Barkley — last year, the entire Polar Bears team qualified this year, giving Fairmont Senior a chance to taste state competition.

"It's a great experience," Corley said. "The key to this tournament was our younger guys got state tournament experience, they know what to expect, they know how the greens are going to be, they know how to do it now. That experience is going to give them the upper hand next year."

East Fairmont's Blake Hunt also took his talents to Wheeling the last two days, qualifying as an individual in regionals to earn a spot at state. Hunt tied for 24th place amid the field, finishing at +31 on Tuesday but rallying to finish at +23 on Wednesday.

Hunt did especially well on par 3s on Wednesday, tying for the 10th-best performance in such holes, at +4 cumulatively.

A possible reason for that was what Hunt described as his strength at Oglebay.

"It was probably getting to the fairway," Hunt said of his best shots at state. "Putting was rough for everybody, and approach shots were a bit off today."

The Bees have had to wait a while since their last state appearance, and Hunt was proud to represent his team.

"It felt great — East hasn't made it to states in awhile," Hunt said. "So it felt good as an individual to make it, but hopefully next year we can make it as a team."

"It was a great experience. I've got to keep working on my game and play with more patience, but it was a very good experience."

Hunt alluded to tough putts throughout play, something that defined the days for many golfers Tuesday and Wednesday. Unpredictable breaks and fast greens gave the playing field headaches, and added an extra obstacle in their way.

"The greens were rough," Corley said. "The kids would get frustrated with those greens and then it becomes a mental part of the game, you have to recover from the bad putts you had before.

"They grinded for two days and we did what we could do, but we could've always played better."

Top 10 finishers, Class-AA:

Noah Broadwater, Keyser, Tanner Vest, Shady Spring, Max Bowen, Herbert Hoover, Jackson Woodburn, Winfield, Stephen McDavid, Winfield, Kerri Anne Cook, Westside, Drew Matlick, Keyser, Jude Smith, Weir, Andrew Johnson, Winfield, Brennen Sang, Point Pleasant, Noah Sergent, Herbert Hoover.

Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.