Comeback complete
- Updated: April 16, 2016
White Plains overcomes three-shot overnight deficit to win second straight county boys title; Bussey medalist, Sotelo ‘clutch’
Sophomore P.J. Sotelo was called “Mr. Clutch” by his coach after giving White Plains a 78 from the fifth spot in its lineup during Saturday’s final of the Calhoun County Boys Championship. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
The margin may have been only three shots going into the round, but it wasn’t as slim or easy to overcome as you might have thought.
The White Plains golf team, with four sophomores in the lineup, overcame that overnight deficit Saturday to win its second straight Calhoun County boys championship Saturday at Pine Hill Country Club.
The Wildcats posted a final round of 304 as a team – 12 shots better than the day before – and edged first-round leader Donoho by six shots. All four of their final-round counters finished in the top 10 overall with senior Layton Bussey winning low medalist with a 7-under-par 137 that won by 11.
Bussey shot a bogey-free 68. The Wildcats also counted 77 from Nathan Griffin, 78 from P.J. Sotelo and 81 from Cameron McCareeth. Coleman Hayes shot 85.
“It’s a big comeback because of the fact Donoho played well again,” Wildcats coach Marcus Harrell said. “Donoho definitely didn’t give it away; our boys went out there and earned that trophy today. We had to go out and take advantage of some holes and take advantage of a few opportunities, and they did that.
“The way we won it is going to be huge for our team. We have four starters only in 10th grade and the way they had to come back and battle today shows the competitive spirit they have and the competitive spirit we preach around here all the time. Hopefully it will springboard us into the future this year and years to come.”
Donoho posted the same score Saturday it did in the opening round — 313. The Falcons counted a 71 from runnerup Jacob Lecroy, 78 from Jack Svenson and 82s from Robert Clausen and Ross Svensen. They all finished in the top six individually.
“We just didn’t play our best today,” Falcons coach Madison Williams said. “We lost a lot of shots on putts.”
While Bussey had the most dominating performance of the tournament, the key to the Wildcats’ victory was the final round delivered by No. 5 man Sotelo.
Harrell called him “Mr. Clutch” for coming in 10 shots better than he did the day before when the sophomore admitted being nervous about playing in the county tournament for the first time. Harrell said the round “changed the whole entire tournament.”
“I knew my score would probably have to count so I just kept on grinding like coach (Justin) Mallicoat told me,” Sotelo said. “I thought I’d be able to play well because yesterday I obviously played really bad, so there’s always room for improvement. I stayed after and worked on my stroke because I was struggling with putting and it turned out well today.”
With his team entering the day at a deficit, Griffin thought he’d have to shoot 74 or better for the Wildcats to climb the leaderboard. As it turned out, all he had to do was stay consistent and just beat his man.
He was 6-over with four holes to play, but made a six-foot putt for par on 16, and birdied 17 and 18 before closing with a bogey on 1. He had done all he could and trusted his teammates were doing the same.
“I knew coming in I just have to trust my teammates they can beat their guy and I knew I would have to play my game so I could beat the guy I was playing with,” Griffin said. “If we all do that then I knew we were going to win.
“P.J., after what he did yesterday, that was an absolutely amazing comeback. He manned up. He knew he had to just keep grinding through a tough day and did what he was supposed to do and I’m proud of him.”
CALHOUN COUNTY BOYS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
At Pine Hill CC
Final results
TEAM SCORES
White Plains 316-304—620
Donoho 313-313—626
Oxford 342-335—677
Alexandria 368-363—731
Piedmont 373-361—734
Pleasant Valley 373-366—739
Jacksonville 387-367—754
Wellborn 408-395—803
INDIVIDUAL SCORES
x-Layton Bussey, White Plains 69-68—137
x-Jacob Lecroy, Donoho 77-71—148
x-Nathan Griffin, White Plains 77-77—154
x-Jack Svensen, Donoho 77-78—155
x-Robert Clausen, Donoho 78-82—160
x-Ross Svensen, Donoho 81-82—163
x-Cameron McCareeth, White Plains 83-81—164
x-Trevor McCarley, Piedmont 84-82—166
x-P.J. Sotelo, White Plains 88-78—166
x-Jake Moore, Jacksonville 87-80—167
x-Will Bedwell, Piedmont 82-85—167
x-Jeremy Allen, Oxford 83-84—167
x-Will Turley, Oxford 85-83—168
x-Coleman Hayes, White Plains 87-85—172
x-Josh Davis, White Plains 86-86—172
x-Ethan Johnson, Pleasant Valley 87-86—173
x-Jacob Vaughn, Oxford 84-89—173
x-Andrew Miller, White Plains 89-85—174
x-Austin Smith, Alexandria 85-89—174
Jake Munroe, Oxford 90-85—175
Keaton Borrelli, Oxford 93-83—176
Harrison Hughston, Donoho 91-86—177
Hunter Sanford, Jacksonville 89-89—178
Hunter Watts, Alexandria 91-88—179
Wesley Jenkins, White Plains 93-86—179
Britton Proper, Pleasant Valley 93-88—181
Buddy Ray, Donoho 92-90—182
Zack Austin, Alexandria 93-89—182
Adam Pritchett, Pleasant Valley 93-91—184
Gavin Burrage, White Plains 93-91—184
Ethan Floyd, Piedmont 95-90—185
Gage Miller, White Plains 94-92—186
Holden Abernathy, Donoho 97-91—188
Charlie Smith, Donoho 98-96—194
Andrew Kilgore, Alexandria 100-97—197
Jaxson Chaffin, Alexandria 99-100—199
Dalton Epps, Wellborn 99-102—201
Brooks Davis, Pleasant Valley 100-101—201
Jake Thrasher, Wellborn 105-96—201
Spencer Screws, Wellborn 104-88—202
Casey Trull, Jacksonville 106-98—204
Braxton McFall, Jacksonville 105-100—205
Luke Waugh, Wellborn 100-109—209
Zach Nichols, Alexandria 106-104—210
Cole Proper, Pleasant Valley 106-106—212
Will Bowden, Alexandria 110-102—212
Jackson Fillingins, Oxford 115-97—212
Brett Akin, Piedmont 112-104—216
Logan Goble, Alexandria 107-109—216
Eddie Ferguson, Ohatchee 107-112—219
Noah Causey, Weaver 103-117—220
Terence Sizemore, Anniston 115-106—221
Chandler Cupp, Wellborn 113-109—222
Hunter Wert, Oxford 119-106—225
Colby Gaines, Pleasant Valley 111-115—226
J.T. Barthel, Pleasant Valley 112-117—229
John Riley Miller, Sacred Heart 121-111—232
Chase Craven, Pleasant Valley 107-129—236
Grayson Ingram, Piedmont 124-113—237
Sage Snow, Alexandria 114-125—239
Brock McSheridan, Pleasant Valley 125-118—243
Gabe Tonagon, Weaver 123-123—246
Austin Goodwin, Jacksonville 123-125—248
Logan Nelms, Alexandria 129-122—251
Lawrence Arenth, Saks 126-127—253
Will McFry, Ohatchee 131-121—262
Logan Mayne, Saks 114-DNS
Austin Hobbs, Saks 110-DNS
x-All-Tournament
LEADERS SCORECARDS
Player 453 345 444 36 444 435 345 36 72
Bussey 443 344 444 34 444 435 334 34 68 – 137
Lecroy 354 245 444 35 444 535 245 36 71 – 148
Griffin 564 255 544 40 545 526 334 37 77 – 154
Cameron McCareeth is another White Plains sophomore who applied pressure to Donoho’s lead early in the round Saturday. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
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