FAYETTEVILLE -- From top to bottom in the lineup, Fayetteville put together a complete and balanced effort in its first dual match of the high school boys' golf season Tuesday.
Senior Matthew Cole led the way for the Purple Bulldogs with a 1-over par 37 in the dual match against Rogers Heritage. Four varsity teammates weren't too far behind as Luke Long carded a 39, followed by Palmer Hays with a 40, Jake Warner at 41 and John Gibson at 42. All together, Fayetteville's top four scores in the match totaled 157, easily topping the War Eagles' mark of 214 Tuesday at Paradise Valley Athletic Club.
Prep Golf
Fayetteville-Heritage Dual Match
At Paradise Valley, Fayetteville
9 Holes
Boys
Fayetteville^157
Rogers Heritage^214
Individual Scores
Fayetteville
Matthew Cole^37
Luke Long^39
Palmer Hays^40
Jake Warner^41
John Gibson^42
Rogers Heritage
Brian Ends^45
Jacob Winkel^53
Brandon Carnahan^53
Ryan Giesen^63
Cameron Zielke^75
"For the first home match, we're pretty pleased," Fayetteville golf coach Scott Williams said. "There's a lot of competition out there, and mainly it is against ourselves. But sometimes that's the best competition when you have each other pushing each other."
Long, the defending overall state champion, and Cole, a top scorer for Fayetteville last fall, are expected to compete for the top spots in the Purple'Dogs lineup this season. On Tuesday, the two top returners didn't disappoint.
"Anytime I look at those two guys, I tell people we have a 1A player and a 1A1 player," Williams said. "At any given time we can throw those two guys out there, and they're going to compete and be pretty consistent with their scores.
Hays, a sophomore, struggled a bit last week at the Springdale Bulldog Invitational but responded with a strong round of 4-over par Tuesday.
"I expect Palmer to be right up there competing with those other guys," Williams said. "It's good to see him get back on track today."
Fayetteville also got scores of 40 from Jake Myers and Grant Hynes, both playing in JV lineup Tuesday.
The War Eagles were led by Brian Ends, who carded a 45. Jacob Winkel and Brandon Carnahan added a pair of 53's for Heritage.
"We had some things we were happy with and some things we need to build on," Heritage coach Jay Gilstrap said. "Jacob is a strong golfer; he just had a bad day.
"Unfortunately for Heritage golf, we're not a deep team, and we can't afford that. We need three kids to post a good score and hope for something to happen. But that's what happens when you rebuild and you lose some good seniors."
Sports on 08/13/2014