The Clinton Dark Horses stole the show at Monday’s Mid-East Regional Golf Tournament, winning the event with a team score of 304. They also had the medalist and runner-up, in Reid Darden and Chandler Perry.
Darden fired an impressive, 3-under par, 69 to knock off his teammate in the individual race by a couple of shots. Perry also played an outstanding round, shooting 71, 1-under par.
Clinton was aided by a strong round of 76 from their steady golfer, Amy Wooten, as she continued to play good golf and help her team advance to next week’s state championship rounds at Foxfire Golf and Country Club next Monday and Tuesday.
Spell Carr added an 88 for the Dark Horses, and Hampton Brock shot 91.
“It is something that we are proud of, a goal that we set at the beginning of the year, and we wanted to get this done,” said Clinton’s head golf coach, Eddie Grey. “Our guys just went out there and got the job done. A 69 and 71, that’s strong. Amy played good too, and Hampton and Spell did what we needed them to do. I’m definitely proud of the guys.”
Darden was pleased to have played well and have taken both the individual and team honors home.
“It is about time we win one,” he said. “We lost in a playoff last year, so to get it done, it feels good. The key for me today was that I hit a ton of greens. I hit 14, I think, and that made things a lot easier for me out there.”
During the Clinton triumph, the Midway Raiders had some good news of their own. After 4 individuals qualified for the regional, including Trey Pope, Blake Norris, Ben Edwards and Jordan Sullivan, they would have one advance to the state finals next week.
Trey Pope used his best score ever in competitive play to claim a spot and punch his ticket to Foxfire. He shot 76, in a steady round that included 3 birdies in crucial stretches.
“I hit the ball really solid today,” said Pope. “I was confident with the putter too. Although I didn’t really make a lot of putts, I was leaving myself with a lot of tap-ins for par, which made a lot of the round pretty stress-free.”
Norris, Sullivan and Edwards shot 91, 93, and 87, respectively.
The Dark Horses and Pope of Midway will represent the 2A portion of Sampson County golf next Monday and Tuesday at Foxfire in Pinehurst. For more information on tee-times and the final rounds of the high school golf season, visit nchsaa.org.
