The Trojans marched through the dry spell at Valley View Golf Club scorching the competition by 15 strokes in the season opener besting Keyser, Frankfort and Moorefield Tuesday.
Despite the dry and crunchy conditions, Hampshire dominated the course even with obstacles in the path.
Hampshire secured the victory with 160 strokes, followed by Keyser at 175, Frankfort at 193 and Moorefield rounded out the quad-match with 200 points.
The Trojans were led by overall low-medalists seniors Peyton Vanmeter and Landin Ludwick with cards of 39 apiece.
Hampshire junior Briar Rickman and sophomore Nate Adams tied for fourth place with 41 strokes each.
Ludwick landed a shot near the edge of the fifth fairway on the lip of a bunker and told a photographer and fellow golfer to move behind a tree for his next shot.
Ludwick’s advice was taken moments before his shot careened off that tree just ten paces away and off the front of a golf cart.
Ludwick wasn’t fazed by the incident, remained calm and launched the ball to the green.
A few golfers would slice their fifth hole tee shot near the same area beyond the golf cart path towards the cart garage and parking area.
Ryan Pratt guided the Golden Tornado with a card of 40 for third place individually.
Frankfort was paced by Chase Pyles with a card of 46 to earn an individual 8th place finish.
Pyles had a unique shot having to split the uprights of two trees to get through to the fairway again on the fifth hole.
The Yellow Jackets were guided by Kody Biser with an eighth-place individual score of 46, followed by senior Thomas Parisi with 47 in 12th place, senior Kail Greenwalt took 17th place with a card of 50.
Sophomore Tyler Roy rounded out the scoring in 25th place with 57 strokes.
Greenwalt was near a tall row of grass on the ninth hole fairway and lobbed the ball and clumps of dirt into the air.
The ball got lost along the pond and Greenwalt opted for a drop with club distance from the edge.
Greenwalt was able to land on the green with the next shot.
The historic Oakland Hall, built in 1850 with Greek Revival architecture, loomed above the final putt of the day.
Moorefield junior Ronan Straight and sophomore Geoffrey Williams shot 60 strokes apiece for the remaining seeded spots.
“We have a good group and I think they will work hard to get better. They all seemed to enjoy playing. If you enjoy something, you are going to want to do it more often. We will get better as they get experience,” Moorefield Golf coach Kevin Reed remarked.
The Yellow Jackets remaining scores for the match were as follows: Will Martin (9) 51, Jacob Dolan (9) 61, Jake Lofton (9) 62 and Mason Liggett (11) 65.
Liggett found the tall grass on the edge of the sixth hole, but that was better than landing in the sand pit, which he avoided after chopping back to the green.
The dryness wreaked havoc for the Yellow Jackets.
However, this young Moorefield squad showed a lot of promise and getting the first match under their belt will help in growing throughout the season.
Moorefield took eighth place with a score of 395 at the Highlands Invitational at Fisher Mountain in Pendleton County.
Moorefield’s Kail Greenwalt took 15th place overall with a card of 87, followed by Thomas Parisi in 24th place at 95, Tyler Roy was 38th at 106, Kody Biser was 39th at 107 and Will Martin was 45th with 123 strokes.
Keyser hosted a tri-match at Polish Pines Golf Course with Frankfort and Moorefield.
The Golden Tornado won with a score of 174, followed by the Falcons at 182 and the Yellow Jackets were third overall at 193.
Keyser was led by Ryan Pratt with 41 strokes.
Frankfort’s Chase Pyles was the overall low-medalist with a card of 40.
Moorefield’s Kail Greenwalt was back on track as the top seed finishing with a team-best 46, followed by Kody Biser and Thomas Parisi at 48 and Tyler Roy notched a card of 62.
Moorefield Golf returns to Keyser [date] and heads to Franklin [date].
