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