By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Vikings led by low-medalists brothers Lucas and Matt Riggleman ransacked Valley View Golf Club in Moorefield to claim first place in the season opening golf match clipping the Trojans by two strokes, while grounding the Golden Tornado, Falcons and Yellow Jackets.
Petersburg’s Lucas Riggleman recorded a 35-stroke overall low-medalist best score on the course, while his freshman brother Matt was on his heels with a card of 36 to help the Vikings win the first match of the season with 160 points.
Hampshire came in as the runner-up with 162 strokes, followed by Keyser with 168, Frankfort with 177 and Moorefield rounded out the team scoring in fifth place with 185 points.
The Yellow Jackets were led by senior Trevor Baldwin with a card of 43, followed by senior Drake Kimble with 44, junior Kail Greenwalt with a 48 and senior Veronica Carr rounded up the quartet with a score of 50 strokes.
Kimble calculated the shots with a viewfinder and fired shots off the fairway.
Baldwin was ready to call it a day after a hook into the woods on the first hole, but made a mulligan.
Baldwin hit a wire near the Oakland Hall and was able to a free shot again and got closer on the green.
Carr landed a shot into the sand on the fourth hole, but due to heavy pesticides used on the course was allowed to retrieve the ball and place it out of the sand and landed the chip near the hole.
Moorefield Golf’s remaining players contributed the following scores paced by senior Marcus Cremann and freshman Porter Alt with 52 points apiece, followed by junior Thomas Parisi with 56, freshman Tyler Roy with 60, sophomore Kody Biser with 63, sophomore Ronan Straight with 69 and freshman Geoffrey Williams with 71.
“It was a bad day, but that’s golf. It was our first match, so there’s nowhere to go but up,” Moorefield Golf senior Veronica Carr noted.
Moorefield Golf putted for a third place finish at Polish Pines Golf Course in Keyser for the second match of the year.
“We improved a good bit from first match to second match. Six of seven played both matches had better scores the second match. We have a lot of work to do, but the kids seem determined to get better and that is 90% of the battle,”Moorefield Golf coach Kevin Reed stated.
Keyser won the match with a score of 155, followed by Petersburg with 159, Moorefield with 183 and Frankfort with 187.
Lucas Riggleman was the overall low-medalist for the Vikings at 36.
Moorefield’s low-medalists were Austin Arbaugh and Kail Greenwalt with cards of 45, followed by Veronica Carr with 46 and Marcus Cremann with 47.
The Yellow Jackets remaining scores for the Polish Pines match were guided by Trevor Baldwin with 49, followed by Thomas Parisi with 53 and Kody Biser with 56.
Moorefield JV Golf team competed in Tucker County at the Meadows course.
Tucker County won the match with a score of 183, followed by Clay-Battelle with 217 and Moorefield JV scored 218.
The Yellow Jackets were guided by Veronica Carr and Austin Arbaugh with 52 points each, followed by Tyler Roy with 55, Kody Biser with 59, Porter Alt with 62 and Geoffrey Williams with 70.
Moorefield Golf visits Elkins today and the Yellow Jackets JV team stays at home at Valley View.
The Yellow Jackets travel to the Highlands in Franklin tomorrow.
