August 21, 2012
By Greg Brill
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Sherando got the consistent scores it had hoped for during Monday’s third Northwestern District mini golf meet at Winchester Country Club.

The Warriors had four counting scores between 82-88 and defeated rival James Wood by 16 strokes.

Still, Sherando did not celebrate too much despite winning its second straight district mini. James Wood had to finish up the day without No. 1 Will Holmes, who aggravated a lingering injury (tendinitis) to his right foot by stepping on a mound while playing the ninth hole — forcing him to withdraw after playing just 11 holes. Holmes was coming off a round of 78 at WCC to finish sixth overall Friday during the second day of the Bryan Gunter Memorial Tournament. The senior also had scored rounds of 74 (top medalist) and 82 in the first two Northwestern minis.

“It’s a shame, because he’s a real good player,” said Sherando senior No. 1 Chris Slater, who shot an 82 Monday while playing in Holmes’ group. “Playing with a good player like that just makes me play better. It’s just a shame he couldn’t finish.”

Without the solid score they have grown to count on from Holmes, the Colonels fell out of contention and settled for second with a 358.

James Wood got sub-90 rounds from Roger Repasky (82), Thomas Papastavrou (83), and Russell Repasky (88), but its fourth counting score was a 105.

“Obviously, any team is going to miss their No. 1 player,” James Wood coach Al Smith said. “And [Holmes] has the lowest scoring average in the district at this time. Even with that, we still had an opportunity. Our fourth guy had to come in with an 89, which is doable. But it just wasn’t happening [Monday].”

The Warriors were determined to make up for the 366 they shot on Friday and make more holes count on Monday. And Sherando did just that, cutting its strokes by 24 and winning with a 342.

Besides Slater, Savannah Ford shot an 85, Mason Scott had an 87, and Anthony Pierro came in with an 88.

“We’ve got to be pleased with that,” Sherando coach Rob Wright said. “They’ve been playing a lot of golf, and I told them ‘Don’t play golf [on] Saturday.’ They seemed a little more focused today. We told them Friday to use that as a practice round to get more ready for today.

“I give my hat off to James Wood because they hung in there tough. You always hate to see [another team lose a top player], but it's happened to me a time or two [as well]. The thing of it is it’s a team, and that’s what you rely on. That’s what we did today."

Skyline’s Rob Willard became the third different top medalist for a district mini, shooting a 9-over par 81. Holmes and Slater won the first two, respectively.

The Hawks also got an 85 from Joe Dawkins and edged Handley, 375-376, for third. Millbrook came in fifth with a 388.

Everyone for the Warriors was on their game a lot better three days after a tough round on the challenging greens of WCC. Ford matched her total from Friday, Pierro was better by two strokes, Slater took seven off his total, and Scott cut his round by 15.

For Slater, it was a matter of trying to focus on each hole and try to at least shoot for par. Slater had five straight pars to close out the front nine, birdied the par-4 11th, and added two more pars on 13 and 14 to put himself in position for a better round.

“Last Friday, I didn’t play near as well as I did [Monday],” Slater said. “You just try and play smart golf and make every shot count. I just try and take my time with each shot and think everything through. If you don’t, you end up being pretty far off the hole.

“Halfway through the front nine, I was getting in a pretty decent flow. It wasn’t so much me hitting the greens in regulation, but I was getting up and down a good bit. I was feeling real confident with my short game today. I did have a couple three-putts, but my chip-ins and my sand shots, all of that was pretty good and I ended up getting a lot of pars.”

The Colonels knew they could count on competitive scores from the Repasky brothers. Russell Repasky’s 79 last Thursday represented James Wood’s top score on the first day of the Gunter, and Roger Repasky tried to keep the Colonels steady on Monday with his team-best 82.

Staying consistent with seven pars and a birdie on No. 10, Roger Repasky had just one really bad hole (a triple-bogey on No. 14) and improved by 10 shots from Friday.

The 84 from Papastavrou placed him in fourth overall Monday.

The Colonels will get at least two more shots at the Warriors. The teams will play their district duel on Sept. 17 at Rock Harbor and again in the Northwestern District tournament, also at Rock Harbor.

“We still have an opportunity to tie for the regular season [title] and we have the district tournament at our place,” Smith said. “So even though today was tough, we still have a lot going for us.”

Handley was again led by senior Jessie Nolan, who carded an 87. Millbrook, likewise, got a team-best 85 from freshman Brian McGuire. No one else scored below 100 for the young Pioneers.