The Laurel Oaks Invitational top trophy may be leaving Maysville, but there’s still a piece tied to it.
Sayre golf coach David White is a Maysville native and a Mason County grad and his Spartan team took home the team trophy with a team score of 310 in a loaded field on a windy day at Laurel Oaks Golf Course.
“It’s a very special victory to come back home and have the team play as good as they did. Very, very special,” White said.
White’s been a golf pro for 25 years and is the Director of Golf at Athens Golf Center in Lexington. Laurel Oaks wasn’t around when he grew up, playing at Kenton Station and Maysville Country Club during his upbringing.
“Puts a little sentimental touch to it,” White said.
The course won’t be the hardest the field of 133 players play on this year, but the windy conditions on an otherwise beautiful day made things tough. The top score on the day was a tie between four golfers at 70, good for two-under par. Cooper’s Rylan Witherspoon, Sayre’s Ian Thornberry and Hayden Adams along with St. Henry’s Evan Schwarz all shot the low rounds of the day, needing a four-way playoff to determine the winner.
It was Witherspoon taking home medalist honors after three playoff holes, declared the winner after Thornberry’s par- putt lipped out on No. 12, giving Witherspoon his fifth win of the season.
“I was just trying to stay patient today. The first couple holes no putts were falling at all and I noticed that the putter wasn’t really cooperating today, so I just knew I had to stay patient and take it shot by shot and eventually they will fall. In the end, it was enough,” Witherspoon said.
Finishing behind Sayre in the team standings was St. Henry with a 311, followed by a tie for third between Mason County and Montgomery County with 314’s. A total of 25 teams were in the field for the event.
The Royals got 76’s from Kaden Grooms and Spencer Magee, a 78 from Mason Butler, followed by a 84 from Evan Schumacher and Logan Shepherd following with a 90. It may not have been their best round of the year, but coach Chad Mefford was pleased with the performance in a field that featured three of the top 10 teams in the current all-state standings.
“It was a great field. We had some good individuals and when you have four teams play under 315 you know it’s a great field. It played tough today, it was windy and the course was dry and hard. Our kids battled and got through it. Really proud of them, this was a really good third place,” Mefford said.
In nine tournaments this year, this is Mason County’s eighth top three finish with two firsts, two seconds and four thirds, according to Mefford.
Grooms and Magee paced the Royals.
“Those guys were patient today. Spencer is a senior, mature, knows his game and he’s not going to rush. Kaden is just one of those kids that’s talented and just has the natural ability,” Mefford said.
Montgomery County’s Logan McCormick finished fifth with an even par 72, followed in a three-way tie for sixth with Lewis County’s Logan Liles, St. Henry’s Ryan Butler and Bourbon County’s Korey Blake all shooting 73’s.
Mason County’s “B” team placed 18th with a team score of 368. They were led by Grant Owens (87), followed by Quin Grooms (89), Zack Ring (90), Joseph Hazlett (96), Tre Cracraft (102) and Carson Adams 104.
Fleming County finished a stroke behind them in 19th with a team score of 369. The Panthers were led by Jordan Hughes (80), followed by Hunter High (90), Seth Hickerson (94), Adam Hargett (105) and Owen Manning (114).
Lewis County finished 25th led by Liles’ 73. The sophomore was followed by Avery Sartin (94), Nathaniel Sweeney (117), Kaysen Roberts (125).
SCORING
Laurel Oaks Invitational
Par 72
PLACE; SCHOOL; SCORE; (INDIVIDUALS)
1. Sayre — 310 (Hayden Adams 70, Ian Thornberry 70, Jackson Grau 84, Woods Freeman 86, Seth Rubin 94)
2. St. Henry — 311 (Evan Schwarz 70, Ryan Butler 73, Kevin Tobergate 83, Mason Butler 85, Brennan Eilers 85)
t-3. Mason County — 314 (Kaden Grooms 76, Spencer Magee 76, Mason Butler 78, Evan Schumacher 84, Logan Shepherd 90)
t-3. Montgomery County — 314 (Logan McCormick 72, Jeff Foster 78, Chandler McCoy 79, Jarrett Stidam 85, Alex Nesmith 92)
5. Greenup County — 315 (Drew Stultz 78, Brett Bentley 78, Jadon Gordon 79, Dylan Stultz 80, Griffin Keeton 85)
6. Ryle — 318 (Chris Harpum 75, Tanner Lorms 79, Parker McKinney 81, Ben McDaniel 83, Drew Press 83)
t-7. Highlands — 322 (Luke Muller 74, Justin Gabbard 75, Joel Craft 79, Ryan Toole 94, Mac Valentine 95)
t-7. Pikeville — 322 (Jon Bryant 76, Jordan Ratliff 81, Colin Street 81, Cam Roberts 84, Daniel Ratliff 92)
9. Scott County — 327 (Ethan Flanders 77, Alex Bennett 78, Blake Ford 83, Liam Spurlock 89, Caden Less 100)
10. Grant County — 334 (Tyler Mitts 74, Kyle Lewis 82, Lucas Allnutt 86, Bryce Spencer 92, Cedric Hoehn 93)
11. Bourbon County — 348 (Korey Blake 73, Jake Wells 79, Landon Martin 91, Parker Arnold 105, Devin Jones 118)
12. East Carter — 349 (Isaac Walker 80, Titus McGlone 87, Price Harris 90, Matthew Tomelonis 92, Cody Fouts 93)
13. Bishop Brossart — 351 (Adam Owens 86, Michael Geiman 86, Griffin Schnetz 89, Ethan Eilerman 90, Blayke Kremer 90)
t-14. Cooper — 354 (Rylan Witherspoon 70 (medalist), Toji Mariushi 86, Caleb Waldrup 98, Josh Fickler 100, Ethan Hallroth 117)
t-14. West Carter — 354 (Nick James 80, Tyson Webb 83, Trevor Callahan 91, Brayden Deltart 100, Cole Bond 130)
t-16. Franklin County — 355 (Sawyer Hulette 84, Abe VanHouten 86, Camden Good 90, Will Dowler 95, Will Logan 102)
t-16. Great Crossing — 355 (Grant Cambron 82, Landon Bergman 86, Jacob Caudill 91, Ian VanSteenbergh 96, Ashton Cochran 97)
18. Mason County “B” — 368 (Grant Owens 87, Quin Grooms 89, Zack Ring 90, Joseph Hazlett 96, Tre Cracraft 102, Carson Adams 104)
19. Fleming County — 369 (Logan Hughes 80, Hunter High 90, Seth Hickerson 94, Adam Hargett 105, Owen Manning 114)
20. Russell — 372 (Gunner Cassity 85, Max Waddell 92, CJ Bartram 97, Brody Kilburn 98, Torin Kirk 115)
21. Villa Madonna — 375 (Matthew Marlette 87, Adam Brandstetter 94, James Thole 95, Caz Schaefer 99, Joey Case 101)
22. Harrison County — 388 (Jacob Vascotto 90, Tristan Mitchell 93, Ian Boland 101, DJ Wilson 104, David Korona 108)
23. Elliott County — 393 (Gatlin Griffith 96, Aaron Adams 96, Eli Griffith 100, Cameron Adams 101)
24. Ashland Blazer — 394 (Connor Calhoun 75, Hunter Musser 90, Liam Ferguson 111, Kyle McComis 118)
25. Lewis County — 409 (Logan Liles 73, Avery Sartin 94, Nathaniel Sweeney 117, Kaysen Roberts 125)
Individuals: Gabe Ryan 77, Clay Monroe 77, Ben Epplen 80, Will Stamm 81, Benjamin Wood 84, Demovellan 88, Blake Justice 90, Dylan Street 92, Christian Parker 94, Ashton Watson 122
