Galax won its third team championship since 2004 after a Giles golfer is disqualified.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
HARTFIELD, Va. -- For the second day in a row, no one at the VHSL Group A state golf tournament played better than Giles' Tanner Carbaugh.
As a result, the Spartans' senior wrapped up his high school career by winning the individual title at Piankatank Golf Club.
Carbaugh followed up his 2-over-par 74 in Monday's first round with a 73 to beat runner-up Ryan Baughn of Essex by five shots.
Carbaugh and his teammates also thought that they had repeated as state champions, but a rules discretion led to the disqualification of one the Spartans, and the score adjustment gave Galax a two-stroke win and its third state championship in the past five seasons.
The Maroon Tide, which had three players shoot in the 70s, finished with a team score of 636. Giles had 638. Galax had opened the second day of the tournament in third place, trailing the Spartans by 10 shots.
"We got very fortunate," Galax coach Terry Snow said. "Our top guys played a lot better. ... This is what we expect from ourselves every time."
Giles coach W.R. Johnston said that Tyler Meredith had signed for a 79, but his score was disqualified when the other three players in his group informed tournament officials after the round that Meredith had improperly played a provisional ball on the second hole of the round.
"To say the least, this was all very disappointing," Johnston said in phone interview Tuesday night.
Leading the way for the Maroon Tide was Brock Cox, who shot a 75 and moved all the way from a tie for 21st to a tie for fifth with defending state champion Zeke Shaffer of Radford.
John Bryant (79) and Dustin Thompson (79) also broke 80 for Galax.
"We were playing better than yesterday," said Snow, whose team failed to get even one player in the 70s on Monday. "We still could have played better, but I knew we were going to have a chance to win."
No one, however, managed to catch Carbaugh, who birdied four of the first eight holes on the back nine to take control of the tournament.
"I just turned it around," said Carbaugh, who also won the Mountain Empire District tournament. "Everything was flowing."
Carbaugh and first-round co-leader Drew Arnold of Chatham were still tied after the first round, were still even after both shot 39 on the front nine.
That all changed when Carbaugh started his homestretch run. The individual title was basically decided before his group reached the 18th hole.
Carbaugh, who was 1-under for the round entering his last hole, finished with a 3-putt double-bogey.
"I'd put this course up as one of the toughest I've ever played," Carbaugh said. "And the green on the 18th hole was so difficult. It was nice to have a big lead when I got there."
Galax and Giles have not only been the dominating teams in Region C over the past several years, but they have also been as good as it gets at the state level.
Galax won the state title in 2008, but then finished second to Giles last year.
In last week's Region C meet, the Maroon Tide won by 16 strokes over the Spartans.
However, Giles was the one to get off to a quick start at state, leading Chatham by seven strokes and Galax by 10 when play began on Tuesday.
"It's been a good rivalry between our teams over the last four years," Carbaugh said.
At Piankatank River Golf Club, Par 72
Team scores
Galax 321-315--636, Giles 311-327--638, Chatham 318-324--642, Powell Valley 333-320--653, Rappahannock 336-344--680, Randolph-Henry 350-335--685, Gate City 354-351--705, Essex 347-368--715.
Top 10 scores
Tanner Carbaugh, Giles 74-73 --147
Ryan Baughn, Essex 76-76 --152
Drew Arnold, Chatham 74-79 --153
Stanley Shelton, Chatham 77-78 --155
x-Brock Cox, Galax 81-75 --156
Zeke Shaffer, Radford 80-76 --156
Luke Humphries, Riverheads 79-78 --157
John Bryant, Galax 80-79 --159
Dustin Thompson, Galax 80-79 --159
Matthew Downey, Galax 81-82 --163
x--won 5th-place playoff
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