The Daviess County boys nearly broke par, and the Owensboro Catholic girls continued a hot streak as they each jumped out to big leads after day one of the City-County golf tournament.
The first round of competition was played Monday over the front nine holes at Owensboro Country Club, and the tournament wraps up Tuesday on the back nine.
For the boys, the Panthers shot a 2-over-par 146, while Catholic (165), Owensboro (172), Apollo (191) and Trinity (208) rounded out the competition.
DC’s Chris Salamah paced the boys’ field with a 2-under-par round of 34, followed closely by teammate Daniel Love and Owensboro Catholic’s Jakob Wellman, who each shot 35.
Salamah’s round included four birdies, and he bounced back from an unusually high round of 92 on Saturday in the Bowling Green Invitational Tournament.
“Everything was working for me today honestly,” he said. “My driver wasn’t the best, but my irons and wedges made up for it. After Saturday I was really mad at myself and I said that was not happening again. It’s all I thought about for two days.”
DC boys’ head coach Lars King was overall pleased with his team, but said they still left a few shots on the course over the final few holes.
“Our goal all year has been to break 300 (on 18 holes),” he said. “We’re in the realm to do that right now. We actually didn’t finish very well. I hate to be upset about it, but we really should have shot under par as a team, which would have been unbelievable.”
For the girls, the Lady Aces posted a 174 to open up a lead over Daviess County (187) and Apollo (200).
Catholic’s Emma Payne and Apollo’s Macey Brown each shot 38 and are being chased by Daviess County’s Holly Holton with a 41.
Brown said her driving and putting wasn’t as good as usual, but she was still able to post a solid score.
“My chipping was good,” she said. “I got close with every shot and I hit a few out of the fairway close to the hole. My iron play and chipping kind of saved me.”
Payne’s focus was more on the mental aspect of the game, and she pointed out that she followed a double bogey on hole No. 9 with a birdie on hole No. 1.
“I was just working on my attitude today, just trying to stay focused and not let it bother me if I had a bad hole,” she said. “I was staying focused and trying to get through the round and not let it bug me.”
Catholic girls’ head coach Stacey Johnson said she was ecstatic with her team, and they’ve been putting in long hours trying to improve.
“I can’t complain as a coach,” she said. “I’ve got an amazing group of girls and they practice hard. We’ve been working on our short game, and it’s been paying off. They truly work for what they earn.”
FULL DAY 1 RESULTS
BOYS
Daviess County – 146
Chris Salamah – 34
Daniel Love – 35
Braden Whistle – 36
Brady Huckleberry – 41
Nick Johnson – 44
Owensboro Catholic – 165
Jakob Wellman – 35
JT Payne – 42
Reece Higdon – 43
Sam Mitchell – 45
Noah Johnson – 51
Owensboro – 172
Jack Lashbrook – 38
Andrew Chancellor – 42
Will Hume – 45
Lucas Lyons – 47
James Rhineburger – 48
Apollo – 191
Isaac Crabtree – 44
Ethan Dych – 45
Nathan Payne -48
Tanner Klee – 54
Ashton Hope – 64
Trinity – 208
Blake McBrayer – 46
Brady McBrayer – 50
Landon Huff – 51
Hunter O’Bryan – 61
Nate Hernandez – 61
GIRLS
Owensboro Catholic – 174
Emma Payne – 38
Maddi Roberts – 40
Abby Bahnick – 44
Conleigh Osborne – 52
RC Porter – 54
Daviess County – 187
Holly Holton – 41
Emilee Clark – 45
Addison Heady – 49
Kirsten Henderson – 52
Hadleigh Hunter – 58
Apollo – 200
Macey Brown – 38
Brooke Brown – 46
Mary Lyons – 50
Addison Carter – 66
Peyton Rust – 72
Owensboro – No team score
Ellie Watson – 66
Addison Callis – 72
Ann Lawton Watson – 77
