‘My heart was racing.’ Clutch birdie helps send Madison Central to boys’ regional golf title.
Madison Central’s Clay Pendergrass came to the 18th tee at Gibson Bay Golf Course knowing he probably needed a birdie to try to force a playoff for the team title at the Region 9 Championship.
“I knew we were trailing,” said Pendergrass, who had birdied two of his last three holes to that point, including a tap-in birdie on the par-5 16th after a monster drive and second shot got him on the green in two. “My mind was numb on the tee shot. Nothing was going through my head. I think, honestly, that’s why I hit it so well.”
Pendergrass outdrove the three competitors in his group, all their teams’ No. 1 players and including Lexington Christian’s Grey Goff, whose Eagles held the lead.
Goff hit his fairway bunker shot to within 15 feet of the flag. Pendergrass, just 80 yards from the green and in the fairway, stuck his wedge shot inside Goff’s ball to about 10 feet on nearly the same line.
Goff’s birdie putt slid by. Pendergrass took his time lining his putt up. His whole team and a sizable crowd of parents, coaches, friends and other competitors gathered around the 18th green to see how it would end on an idyllic fall day at the Indians’ home course.
“I don’t get nervous much. … My heart was racing, and I was shaking,” Pendergrass said.
With a light tap, Pendergrass sent the ball on its way. As it crept into the hole, he emphatically pumped his fist. The crowd roared.
“It barely went in, too,” Pendergrass said. “I fixed my line two or three times. I finally settled on something, and I’m glad I did.”
Pendergrass tied the team standings — 294 strokes each for LCA and Madison Central, a 6-over combined round for the top four of each team’s five golfers. The next closest team, Clark County, finished at 28-over par. LCA and Madison Central evenly split six of the top 10 scores in the field.
Goff’s par on 18 clinched the individual region title for LCA with a 2-under 70 on the 6,792-yard layout. Pendergrass finished second, one stroke behind.
But there was still work to be done to settle the team trophy and the lone team bid to next week’s state tournament in Bowling Green.
It would come down to a sudden-death playoff involving all five members of the Madison Central’s and LCA’s teams. And the Indians still had momentum from the rally that saw them erase a three-shot deficit over the last nine holes. In the playoff, each team’s top four scores would count with the lowest thrown out.
On the first playoff hole, Gibson Bay’s No. 1, each team had a birdie and three pars. The second playoff hole, No. 18, proved more difficult. LCA counted two pars and two bogeys. Madison Central counted three pars and one bogey with an incredible up-and-down for par out of the left greenside bunker by senior Hayden Wasch helping make the difference.
Wasch doesn’t recall being in that bunker too many times in competition, but he has practiced out of there plenty in friendly contests with his teammates.
“It’s one of those shots that feels completely different when you’ve got all these people around the green watching you,” said Wasch, who calmly sank a putt of about 12 feet for the sand save. “You’ve got to do something to help you to win.”
The victory marked Madison Central’s first region title since 2017. They finished second to LCA each of the last three years. When the Kentucky High School Athletic Association altered state qualifying in 2019, it meant the Indians’ runner-up finishes left the team out of the state tournament. Stakes have been high.
“Making the turn at 3 (strokes) back, I knew it was going to be a battle,” Madison Central Coach Kyle Congleton said. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything that’s just happened. … I’ve won two regional titles and been runner-up the last three years, and this one was by far the most meaningful one, so far.”
Madison Central also captured the girls’ regional title in Lexington a day earlier. The girls’ team also edged out LCA.
“The boys have worked so hard for today that honestly it was unbelievable to see how it all came down to the end like that,” Congleton said.
While Goff expressed disappointment at LCA’s team loss, he said the individual title gives him confidence going to state next week.
“I played solid all around, and my team played solid. We gave it a really good run,” Goff said. “It sucks to come up short in the playoff, but we gave it a good run and I’m proud of my team.”
Goff and two other LCA golfers — Luke Barrett (E), who finished third, and McKean Collins (+2), who finished eighth— will advance to state along with four others as individual qualifiers.
“Down the stretch, they were just playing so good. They’re tough,” LCA Coach Eric Geldhof said of Madison Central. “I was just happy how we were holding them off all the way till the end. They made more birdies at the end and we leaked a little bit. … This is a good team. At the start of the year, you would not have put us here (in contention). I’m proud.”
The other individual state qualifiers are Jacob Settles of Clark County (E), Clifton Sully of Madison Southern (+2), Alex Bennett of Great Crossing (+3) and Charlie Spiller of Lexington Catholic (+4).
Boys’ Region 9 Championship
Gibson Bay Golf Course, par 72, 6,792 yards
Individual standings
(Top team, plus top seven individuals outside that team, qualify for state.)
1. Grey Goff, LCA, -2; 2. Clay Pendergrass, Madison Central, -1; 3. Luke Barrett, LCA, E; 4. Warren Thomis, Madison Central, E; 5. Jacob Settles, Clark County, +1; 6. Clifton Scully, Madison Southern, +2; 7. Gavin McKune, Madison Central, +2; 8. McKean Collins, LCA, +2; 9. Alex Bennett, Great Crossing, +3; 10. Charlie Spiller, Lexington Catholic, +4.
Team standings
1. Madison Central, +6 (won playoff); 2. LCA, +6; 3. Clark County, +28; T4. Great Crossing, +39; T4. Lexington Catholic, +39.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 9:15 AM.
