8 birdies send Henry Clay golfer to his 3rd straight boys state finals tourney
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- Carson Nicholas led with a 7-under 65 to qualify for his third state tourney.
- Madison Central posted a team score of +8 to lead all eight teams advancing.
- Top 15 individuals and top 3 teams from each site will play in Bowling Green.
Henry Clay junior Carson Nicholas torched the Winchester Country Club course and the KHSAA Boys State First Round Golf Tournament field with a 7-under round of 65 Tuesday to top the list of individual qualifiers for next week’s state championship final rounds in Bowling Green.
Nicholas, making his third straight state tournament appearance, shook off a first-hole bogey to card eight birdies the rest of the way on WCC’s 6,220-yard, par 72 layout.
He was the only competitor under par and will move on with 14 other individual qualifiers and three teams in action Tuesday to the Leachman Buick-GMC-Cadillac/KHSAA Boys State Championship at Bowling Green Country Club on Oct. 10-11. Tuesday’s scores do not carry forward to next week’s two-day event.
Joining Nicholas from Lexington will be Anderson Lang (+1) and Ashton Gordon (+3) of Frederick Douglass, Clay Noble (+2) of Lafayette and Winston Zhuang (+4) of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association State First Round boys events are being held at three sites this week with Central Kentucky’s top 9th Region golfers competing with those from the 11th and 12th regions in Winchester. Each region sent a team champion and runner-up along with 10 individual qualifiers to their respective State First Round sites.
The top three teams and top 15 individual qualifiers at each site advance to next week’s final rounds.
Three-time defending state team champion Madison Central’s total of 8-over par easily topped the rest of the eight-team field Tuesday to advance.
The Indians were led by Brayden Carlisle’s even-par round that tied him for second in the individual standings. Seth Barker (+1), Boo Crawley (+2) and Tucker Jones (+5) rounded out the team total with the score of Jake Feldhaus (+7) tossed out.
Rockcastle County (+21) and Pulaski County (+22) will also advance to Bowling Green. Frederick Douglass (+27) missed the team cut but will have Lang and Gordon among next week’s hopefuls.
Nicholas finished in a tie for sixth at last week’s 9th Region Championship. Region champion Andrew Perry of George Rogers Clark missed the state final round cut by one stroke.
State First Round boys results
State final round qualifiers and their scores to par from Tuesday’s State First Round Tournament at Winchester Country Club in Winchester.
Individual standings: 1. Carson Nicholas, Henry Clay, -7; T2. Luke Ousley, Pulaski County, E; T2. Noah Baldridge, Shelby Valley, E; T2. Brayden Carlisle, Madison Central, E; T5. Brooks Bonfield, Montgomery County, +1; T5. Brady Parker, Scott County, +1; T5. Josh Tandy, Frankfort, +1; T5. Seth Barker, Madison Central, +1; T5. Anderson Lang, Frederick Douglass, +1; T10. Clay Noble, Lafayette, +2; T10. Cooper Blair, Johnson Central, +2; T10. Boo Crawley, Madison Central, +2; T13. Blake Fraley, Pulaski County, +3; T13. Conner Ford, Rockcastle County, +3; T13. Brody Hodges, Rockcastle County, +3; T13. Eli Johnson, Hazard, +3; T13. Waylon Clutts, Hazard, +3; T13. Ashton Gordon, Frederick Douglass, +3; T19. Samuel Collins, Barbourville, +4; T19. Carter Denton, Frankfort, +4; T19. Winston Zhuang, Paul Laurence Dunbar, +4; T19. Ben Rickey, Fleming County, +4.
Team standings (top three advance): 1. Madison Central, +8; 2. Rockcastle County, +21; 3. Pulaski County, +22; 4. Hazard High School, +25; 5. Mason County, +26; 6. Frederick Douglass, +27; 7. Johnson Central, +33; 8. Rowan County, +41.
