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Jul 03, 2023

Five Keyser golfers set career best marks at Polish Pines

Keyser’s Drew Matlick follows his putt on the first hole during the Golden Tornado’s home-opening match Wednesday afternoon. Matlick shot a tournament-low 71 to help Keyser to a 33-stroke victory.

Keyser’s Drew Matlick follows his putt on the first hole during the Golden Tornado’s home-opening match Wednesday afternoon. Matlick shot a tournament-low 71 to help Keyser to a 33-stroke victory.

KEYSER, W.Va. — Five of Keyser’s six golfers recorded career lows as the Golden Tornado won Tuesday’s home-opening match at Polish Pines Golf Course.

Keyser hosted East Hardy, Frankfort, Hampshire, Petersburg and Pendleton County. The Golden Tornado won with a combined score of 313.

Noah Broadwater, the reigning state champion, was unavailable.

“Missing one of our top scorers and one of the best golfers in the state, to come out and have five out of six career bests for Keyser was outstanding,” Keyser head coach Josh Blowe said. “We couldn’t have picked a better time to do it.”

The Vikings finished second with a 346, the Cougars placed third with a 353. The Falcons finished fourth with a 369 and the Trojans finished fifth with a 374.

The Wildcats only had two golfers compete who combined for a 199.

The low medalist was Keyser’s Drew Matlick who scored a career-best 71.

“I was really happy with the front nine,” Matlick said. “Back nine could’ve been a little better, but still overall a good day. I made a lot of putts, got up and down when I needed to. Hit some quality iron shots.”

Owen Sweitzer’s 79 was also a career-best who placed second for the Tornado.

“I started out really bad,” Sweitzer said. “Five over through six and then I just kind of put it together like I did on the third day in Texas. I’ve played this course a thousand times and just started hitting shots. I made four or five birdies on the day so that helped.”

Evan Ack’s 81, Trey Kitzmiller’s 82 and Blake Mullins’ 97 were also career lows.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team today,” Blowe said. “Just competing really hard today.”

Brianna O’Reilly carded a 123, finishing fifth for Keyser.

“To play quality golf today was awesome to watch,” Blowe said. “It helps when you’re at your home course, but you still gotta execute shots. I thought we did a very nice job today of managing the course and not having those blowup holes like we did in the past.”

Keyser recently competed in the national championship held at the PGA Frisco Resort in Frisco, Texas.

“It was next level, there was nothing like it,” Blowe said. “It was an all out great experience, one that we’ll never forget as a team, as a school.”

The Golden Tornado made its debut at the national championship and represented West Virginia along with Wheeling Central and Wheeling Park.

“The amount of competition down there was amazing,” Matlick said. “Everybody’s a state champion, you know it’s gonna be tough. The courses were hard but they got us prepared for the season.”

For Petersburg, John Minnich finished with an 81. Lucas Riggleman had 83 while Payton Berg scored 85. Bryson Riggleman shot a 90 while Colton Taylor and Sam Colaw each shot a 96.

JW Teets led East Hardy with a 77. Jordan Teets shot an 81 while Nate Smith had 89. Levi Mongold finished with a 106.

Ashton Moorehead led Frankfort with a 77. Bryson Moorehead shot 84 while Landon Catt shot a 93. Ethan Gattens finished with a 115 and Gavin Corwell had a 132.

“He’s been doing a lot of practice in the offseason,” Frankfort head coach Wayne Rice said of Ashton Moorehead. “We have a simulator, they hit balls into a screen. It gives them a lot of feedback on how they hit the ball. He spent a lot of time on the simulator back in January and February.”

For Hampshire, Brady Stump led the Trojans with an 87. Peyton Vanmeter scored a 90 while Brayden Hott shot a 95. Cyrus Chaney scored a 102, JJ Charlton shot 107 and Brody Travis finished with 108.

Cameron Beachler shot a 91 and Dylan Eye 108 for Pendleton County.

Several teams will play on Thursday at the Highlands at Fisher Mountain in Franklin, West Virginia, at 4 p.m. as Pendleton County will host Keyser, East Hardy, Frankfort and Moorefield.

“It’s a very nice course,” Blowe said. “It’s one of West Virginia’s hidden gems. We played there last year for nine holes and we’re gonna get 18 holes tomorrow. We’re looking forward to a great trip and a great day tomorrow.”

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.

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