Madison Central tops Central Kentucky contingent headed to boys state golf finals
Two-time defending state champion Madison Central moved a step closer to a possible third straight KHSAA crown by sweeping team and individual honors at the State First Round Boys Golf Tournament at Eagles Nest Country Club in Somerset on Wednesday.
Madison Central junior Seth Barker fired a 2-under par 69 on the 6,409-yard, par-71 layout to top the field of qualifiers for next week’s two-day final round tournament. Scores do not carry over, however.
As a team, Madison Central finished at even par, 23 strokes ahead of Frederick Douglass and 29 strokes better than Pulaski County. All three teams advance to next week’s competition.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s State First Round boys event is being held at three sites this week with Central Kentucky’s top Region 9 golfers competing with those from Regions 11 and 12 in Somerset. Each region sent a team champion and runner-up along with 10 individual qualifiers to their respective State First Round sites — Hopkinsville for Regions 1-3 and Shelbyville for Regions 5-8.
The top three teams and top 15 individual qualifiers at each site advance to next week’s Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA Boys Golf State Championship at Bowling Green Country Club. This will be Douglass’ first appearance at a State Final Round.
Just behind Barker in the individual standings, Henry Clay sophomore Carson Nicholas was among four golfers tied for second at 1-under par. Nicholas started the day with a double bogey on the 393-yard, par-4 first hole, but rallied with birdies on three of the next four holes and another on No. 17.
Last week’s Region 9 champion Charlie Spiller of Lexington Catholic survived a quadruple bogey on the 400-yard, par-four 10th hole to advance. He rallied with birdies on 16 and 18 to finish at 5-over and make the cut as the last golfer in.
Lexington golfers joining Nicholas and Spiller are Lafayette’s Clay Noble (+1) and Lexington Christian’s Parker Geldhof (+1).
Four other golfers from Central Kentucky’s Region 9 advanced — Woodford County’s Bradford Lacefield (+1), George Rogers Clark’s Evan Taylor (+2), Scott County’s Wyatt Merkins (+3) and Great Crossing’s Brady Parker (+4).
Madison Central’s even par team score included Barker (-2), Reece Keeton (-1), Jake Feldhaus (+1) and Radney Bales (+2) with the high score of Tucker Jones (+5) thrown out. Douglass’ team score of 23-over included Drew Edwards (+4), Ashton Gordon (+4), Luke Watson (+7) and Anderson Lang (+8) with the high score of Cooper Mullins (+9) thrown out.
State First Round boys results
State final round qualifiers and their scores to par from Wednesday’s State First Round tournament at Eagles Nest Country Club in Somerset.
Individual standings: 1. Seth Barker, Madison Central, -2; T2. Carson Nicholas, Henry Clay, -1; T2. Reece Keeton, Madison Central, -1; T2. Brady Hensley, North Laurel, -1; T5. Cam Roberts, Pikeville, +1; T5. Clay Noble, Lafayette, +1; T5. Parker Geldhof, Lexington Christian, +1; T5. Bradford Lacefield, Woodford County, +1; T5. Waylon Clutts, Hazard, +1; T5. Jake Feldhaus, Madison Central, +1; T11. Will Jones, Rowan County, +2; T11. Christian Parker, Rowan County, +2; T11. Evan Taylor, George Rogers Clark, +2; T11. Brayden Casolari, Harlan County, +2; T11. Radney Bales, Madison Central, +2; T11. Mack King, Pulaski County, +2; 17. Wyatt Merkins, Scott County, +3; T18. Ashton Gordon, Frederick Douglass, +4; T18. Drew Edwards, Frederick Douglass, +4; T18. Brady Parker, Great Crossing, +4; T18. Seth Hickerson, Fleming County, +4; T22. Charlie Spiller, Lexington Catholic, +5; T22. Tucker Jones, Madison Central, +5.
Team standings (top three advance): 1. Madison Central, E; 2. Frederick Douglass, +23; 3. Pulaski County, +29; T4. North Laurel, +30; T4. Rowan County, +30; 6. Johnson Central, +40; 7. Fleming County, +43; 8. Pikeville, +46.
Complete results: khsaa.org/sports-sport-activities/fall/golf/
Boys state championship
Oct. 7-9: Final round at Bowling Green Country Club
