Region 4C golf tournament

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI The Winchester Star

Sherando’s top three golfers were a combined 3-over par through their first six holes, but the Warriors were unable to sustain their strong start and they took sixth out of six teams at the Region 4C tournament on Wednesday at Fauquier Springs Country Club in Warrenton.

Only the top two teams and the top three individuals outside of those teams qualified for the Class 4 state tournament at Williamsburg National Golf Club on Oct. 9.

Dulles District schools Riverside (309) and Heritage (310) qualified for the state tournament as teams. Individual champion Alex Price of Woodgrove (3-under 68), Loudoun County’s Matthew Monastero (71) and Michael Thomas of Woodgrove (72) placed first through third overall and grabbed all three individual state-qualifying spots.

Sherando senior Brandon Nice (80) had the lowest score among the 12 local golfers who competed on Wednesday.

Sherando interim coach Joe Knight said that through six or seven holes, Nice was 2-over, junior Caleb Dotson was 1-over, and junior Parker Gregg was even. Dotson finished with an 82 and Gregg an 88, and junior Ian Adams shot a 91 to round out the Warriors’ four-player score of 341.

The Warriors were playing in their first region tournament since 2016 and their third in four years.

“I was glad to see the top three get off to the start they did,” Knight said in a phone interview. “But slowly but surely, they started to give away strokes on the course, and you got the result. It wasn’t the result that we were looking for.

“As a team, we were all a little bit disappointed. They could have shot better. But it was real tough competition, especially coming out of the Dulles District. We were happy to get out of the district, but when you progress through the postseason, the tournaments don’t get any easier. We had to play our top game, and we didn’t get that result today.”

Class 4 Northwestern District school Kettle Run took third with a 313. Woodgrove was fourth with a 323 and Fauquier was fifth with a 329.

Sherando’s score was 15 strokes better than it shot during the Class 4 Northwestern District mini at Fauquier Springs on Aug. 13.

“There was a good bit of water on the course today, probably more than when we played it earlier in the season,” Knight said. “But with as much rain as they’ve had, and as much rain as we had, the superintendent and the golf professional at Fauquier Springs Country Club should be commended. I thought they did a good job of getting the course ready for everybody to play.

“It’s a demanding golf course. You have to really be careful with your tee shots. If you are, then there’s an opportunity to score. We scrambled a little bit on the front nine and were able to make some clutch putts when we really needed them to fall in, but it’s hard to keep that kind of play up for 18 holes. Sooner or later it’s going to catch up to you. We had a lot of approach shots come up short.”

James Wood (four) and Handley (two) each had golfers compete in the individual competition on Wednesday. James Wood senior Jacob Karen shot an 81, Colonels senior John Greene recorded an 86, and Handley sophomore Braxton Duvall fired an 89 among that contingent.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.