Golfers still in contention after first round of district

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions golf team put itself in contention for a return to regional competition Monday, April 4, sitting in second place after the first round of the District 10-2A tournament at Shady Oaks Golf Course.

Albany shot 346 as a team with four scores in the 80s to trail Hawley by eight strokes. Haskell was third, three strokes back of the Lions.

“It will be to our advantage to play two rounds,”  coach Tate Thompson said. “I think our kids will come back and put together a good second day.”

The second round was played Wednesday, April 6. Final district results will be reported next week.

The top two teams and top two individuals not on a qualifying team advance to the Region II-2A tournament, scheduled for April 18-19 at Old Brickyard Golf Course in Ferris.

In Monday’s round, Houston Heatly led the Lions with an 84. Lute Wheeler and Luke Marshall both shot 87 with Ty Richards rounding out the team score with an 88. Ayden Balliew shot 94 to complete the lineup.

“We left a lot of putts out there, with quite a few three-putts” Thompson said, “Everybody could have shaved four or five strokes off if they’d had two-putts instead of three-putts.”

Playing as medalist entries, Koy Cauble shot 107 and Brody Brown 120.

In the girls division, Myleigh Leveridge shot 134 in her third tournament outing.

The Albany players had tuned up for district on Wednesday, March 30 by winning the David Middleton Memorial Golf Tournament at Haskell. The event was rescheduled from February because of weather issues.

The Lions finished with a team score of 371 in cold, windy conditions. Marshall shot 88 to finish second individually. Wheeler followed with a 91, while Balliew shot 95 and Heatly carded a 96. Richards rounded out the lineup with a 98.

Cauble played as medalists in the boys division, and Leveridge shot as a medalist in the girls competition.