Boys Golf: Fayetteville captures third consecutive Class 7A Boys' Golf title

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Luke Long (right) of Fayetteville watches his tee shot Wednesday on No. 9 as Mitchell Ford of Little Rock Catholic watches while participating in the boys Class 7A State Golf Championship at Fayetteville Country Club. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more from the championship match.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Luke Long (right) of Fayetteville watches his tee shot Wednesday on No. 9 as Mitchell Ford of Little Rock Catholic watches while participating in the boys Class 7A State Golf Championship at Fayetteville Country Club. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more from the championship match.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Top to bottom, Fayetteville is again the top boys' golf program in Class 7A.

The Bulldogs got a medalist performance from senior Luke Long, and used its depth across the rest of the lineup to capture the Class 7A state tournament crown Wednesday at Fayetteville Country Club with a two-day total of 595.

At A Glance

7A State Boys Golf Tournament

Where: Fayetteville Country Club

Final Results

Team

Fayetteville^300-295—595

Little Rock Catholic^306-302—608

Conway^307-310—617

Rogers High^309-312—621

Cabot^316-314—630

Bentonville^314-317—631

North Little Rock^322-317—639

Springdale Har-Ber^336-350—686

Individual

Luke Long, Fayetteville^71-70—141

Mitchell Ford, LR Catholic^72-73—145

Jacob Winkel, Rogers Heritage^73-72—145

Blaine Calhoon, Cabot^71-75—146

Whit Parker, Conway^74-73—147

Miles Smith, LR Catholic^74-74—148

Carter Cloe, Conway^75-74—149

Jackson Cole, Fayetteville^75-74—149

Spence Eiserman, Rogers High^79-70—149

Trevor Brunson, Rogers High^75-75—150

Conner Gaunt, Cabot^73-78—151

Chase Rogers, Rogers High^74-78—152

Jake Warner, Fayetteville^75-77—152

John Gibson, Fayetteville^79-74—153

Scott Tabor, LR Catholic^79-74—153

Will Gibson, FS Southside^75-82—157

Cain Gunnett, North Little Rock^79-78—157

Mickey Zeher, Bentonville^78-79—157

Parker Jennings, West Memphis^79-79—158

Will Remerscheid, Bentonville^81-77—158

Logan Bradley, Springdale Har-Ber^75-84—159

Bruno Marscotti, Bentonville^82-77—159

Nate Morey, Bentonville^76-84—160

Jack Goodwin, Conway^79-81—160

Payton Wahman, Van Buren^78-82—160

Nate Jolly, North Little Rock^80-81—161

Kade Keith, Springdale Har-Ber^81-80—161

Gray McEowen, Conway^79-82—161

Matt Brown, North Little Rock^79-83—162

Nick Meyers, LR Catholic^81-81—162

Blake Johnson, North Little Rock^86-77—163

Hunter Walker, North Little Rock^84-81—165

Tanner Caton, Bryant^81-85—166

Justin McKinster, FS Southside^85-81—166

Tyler Jones, West Memphis^82-84—166

Andrew Elsass, Fayetteville^88-80—168

Clay Bradshaw, Conway^85-85—170

Drake Henry, Rogers High^81-89—170

Noah Pracht, Bentonville^79-91—170

Chamberlain, Rogers High^81-91—172

Tucker Andrews, LR Catholic^91-85—176

Drew Darbonne, Bryant^82-95—177

Hunter McNeel, Springdale Har-Ber^85-93—178

Isaac Hannon, Springdale Har-Ber^97-93—190

Eric Ogle, Springdale Har-Ber^95-98—193

For Fayetteville, the victory is a third consecutive state championship in boys golf.

"It's special to win at anytime and it's difficult to win at anytime," Fayetteville golf coach Scott Williams said. "I know there were times we made it look closer than it needed to be, but we stuck to our guns and the kids went out there and proved it on the course and brought another state championship to Fayetteville."

The Bulldogs built a six-stroke lead after Tuesday's first round, but believed they could improve on their four-player total of 300 from the opening round. They were correct, as Long, Jake Warner, Jackson Cole and John Gibson combined for a 295 score Wednesday to build on their lead over runner-up Little Rock Catholic, who finished with a final tally of 608.

Long won medalist honors at the Class 7A tournament for a second time in three years. He entered the final round tied for the lead, but pulled away from the pack with an even-par 70 Wednesday for his final score of 1-over 141.

"This was very important because I wanted to go out on a good note, this being my senior year," said Long, who has committed to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. "I wanted to play well and help get one last championship for the team.

"I just played very defensively and conservatively and went for the middle of the greens and tried to make sure not to put up any big numbers."

Long is one of three golfers -- along with Jacob Winkel of Rogers Heritage and Mitchell Ford of Little Rock Catholic -- to advance from the Class 7A Tournament to the overall state tournament, to be held Oct. 15 at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.

Long won the overall tournament as a sophomore in 2013.

"That course is tough and you never know what you're going to get," Long said. "It's going to be the best players in the state down there."

Conway finished third with a 617 total and Rogers High took fourth at 621, getting an even par 70 from Spencer Eiserman in Wednesday's final round.

"The depth of our team is what you felt like was going to give us a shot at winning," Williams said. "That proved to be the difference.

"And truly this was a tournament filled with some great golfers this year. So that makes it even more special, knowing you beat some really good teams."

Sports on 10/08/2015

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