Coming out of a fog

Long shakes slow start, tied for lead

Fayetteville senior Luke Long shot a 1-over par 71 during the first round of the Class 7A boys state championship golf tournament Tuesday in Fayetteville.
Fayetteville senior Luke Long shot a 1-over par 71 during the first round of the Class 7A boys state championship golf tournament Tuesday in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- A two-hour fog delay Tuesday temporarily halted play at the Class 7A boys golf state tournament, but it didn't do much to slow Fayetteville's pursuit of a third consecutive title.

Class 7A

At Fayetteville Country Club

TOP 5 TEAM RESULTS AFTER FIRST ROUND 1. Fayetteville 300, 2. LR Catholic 306, 3. Conway 307, 4. Rogers 309, 5. Bentonville 314.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Blaine Calhoon, Cabot;71

Luke Long, Fayetteville;71

Mitchell Ford, LR Catholic;72

Conner Gaunt, Cabot;73

Jacob Winkel, Rogers Heritage;73

The Bulldogs shot 300 as a team in the opening round to build a six-stroke lead over Little Rock Catholic heading into today's final round at Fayetteville Country Club. Conway is another stroke back in third at 307.

"It was kind of like a rain delay in baseball," Fayetteville Coach Scott Williams said. "You're warmed up and ready to go, then we have to sit and wait for two hours. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with how we played or not."

Fayetteville senior Luke Long is tied with Cabot freshman Blaine Calhoon for the individual lead at 1-over 71 going into the final round.

Long, the state's overall champion as a sophomore in 2013, began his round with bogies on two of his first three holes before settling in. Birdies at Nos. 4, 7 and 8 got Long back to 1 under on the front nine. He fell back to 1 over with bogies at Nos. 10 and 12 and after a birdie at the par-5 16th and another bogey at the par-4 18th closed out with a 71.

"This is what people have come to expect from Luke," Williams said. "He struggled early, but he's been in so many tournaments like this and he made some adjustments and he was able to put a good score on the board. That's what you expect from your top guys."

Jackson Cole and Jake Warner added 75s for Fayetteville and John Gibson shot a 79 to round out Fayetteville's first-round total.

Williams said several if not all of those scores could improve today.

"What we talked about when we were finished today is that we can all agree that we didn't play our best, but we still put ourselves in a position to be the leader of this thing," Williams said. "So let's go out [today] and hang onto the lead and win the whole thing."

Calhoon's 71 and Conner Gaunt's 73 helped Cabot move into sixth with a 316 total.

"When we came out here for the practice round [Monday] I felt like I could see the course really good," Calhoon said. "I thought it fit my game, and I figured I could shoot a pretty good round and I came out here and executed my shots."

Calhoon started 2 over through his first four holes, but birdies at Nos. 8 and 9 got him back to even-par 36 on the front nine. He added birdies at No. 15 and No. 18 for a strong finish.

The top eight teams from Tuesday's round advanced to today's final round. An addition, eight individuals outside the top eight teams also advanced to the final 18 holes.

Sports on 10/07/2015

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