Region 4D North Sub-Region Tournament

FRONT ROYAL — After recording its lowest score of the year, the Handley golf team hopes it has set itself up for an even more unique achievement.

Led by senior Sam Thome’s winning score of 1-under-par 70, the Judges recorded a four-player total of 306 to dominate the Region 4D North sub-region tournament on the White and Blue nines of the Shenandoah Valley Golf Club on Wednesday.

Handley and second-place James Wood (325) will each compete as teams in the Region 4D tournament on Monday at Meadowcreek Golf Course in Charlottesville, where the top two teams will earn Class 4 state tournament berths. The South teams will provide a huge test — two-time defending Class 4 champion Blacksburg shot a 277 and Halifax County recorded a 302 at Monday’s sub-region tournament at Kinderton Golf Course in Clarksville — but the Judges in particular are pushing themselves to compete at the state’s highest stage.

“It’s a big confidence boost,” said Thome, who beat James Wood junior Brayden Rockwell (72) by two shots for the individual title. “A 306 can contend with the schools like Halifax and Blacksburg. I know some of our players wanted better scores, but I think the goal today was just move on, and we did that. I’m just glad we made it through.”

Led by Region 4D qualifier Rich Pell (76), Millbrook placed third with a 345. The Pioneers were followed by Liberty (359), Orange County (363), Charlottesville (372) and Sherando (386). Pell, who tied for third overall, earned one of four individual qualifying spots.

Other scoring golfers for the Judges were Jag Fitzsimmons (76, tied for third overall), Jackson Bouder (79, tied for fifth) and Dash Fitzsimmons (81).

Handley coach Troy Mezzatesta liked what he saw from his team in between last Thursday’s Class 4 Northwestern District tournament, where the Judges shot a 310 to win at the Rockland Farm Course, and Wednesday. All of Handley’s scoring golfers and five of its six competing golfers on Wednesday are seniors.

“They had a great week of practice,” Mezzatesta said. “They’re really jelling well, doing fun little things like going out to eat, doing little putting games, chipping games, and just having a blast. I like to see them do that, because that means they’re in it together.

“That kind of showed today. They were all using their past experience to battle through a tough little hole, or tough shot, or get past those things. An experienced group like that, that’s what you want to see.”

Thome was coming off a rough district tournament with his driver, when he said he cost himself eight strokes by hitting balls out of bounds and finished with an 80.

But, Thome got himself back on track this weekend on a Hurricane Junior Golf Tour event at Stonewall Golf Club in Gainesville. With Tropical Storm Ophelia creating anything but ideal conditions on a longer course, Thome shot a 80 on Saturday before experiencing better weather and recording a 75 on Sunday.

“Saturday was horrible conditions. It was 20-, 30-mile per hour winds,” Thome said. “The weather calmed down on Sunday, but it’s a tough course. I knew if I played half the golf I played out there, I’d be fine today.”

On Wednesday, Thome was on from the start, but his performance improved as the round went on. Thome had a 1-over par-35 on the White Nine to start and finished on the par-36 Blue by shooting 2-under with three birdies.

“Today, I hit it well all day,” Thome said. “I drove the ball pretty well, my approach shots were good. My putting was ‘eh’ on the front nine, not too good, but not too bad. I was definitely fortunate to come out here and be hitting it well, and I was able to get the putter working on the back nine.”

Thome said his birdie on Blue No. 1 got him going with his putter. He made putts from 15 feet on No. 6 and 10 feet on No. 7 for birdies.

Thome’s drive on No. 7 went into the left rough and was 30 yards behind Rockwell, who was in the middle of the fairway. But Thome hooked an 8 iron from 157 yards to the right and below the pin, and he made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 hole from there to put him two strokes up on Rockwell, who parred the hole. Both players parred the last two holes.

Mezzatesta was pleased to see how Thome responded after the district tournament.

“He does a good job of having that short memory and moving forward,” Mezzatesta said. “I think playing like he did this weekend gave him another shot of energy and confidence.”

James Wood’s entire lineup on Wednesday was made up of juniors, and the Colonels qualified for their first region tournament since 2019. Other scoring golfers for James Wood were Jake Bursey (79, tied for fifth), Laney Stiles (86) and Ian Longo (88).

“We’re just happy to move on,” Colonels coach David Oates said. “Since we’re all juniors, this will be a good experience for them leading into their senior year.”

Oates said he’s excited to see in particular what Rockwell, Thome and Pell can do next week against some challenging competition.

Like Thome, Rockwell improved as his day went on, shooting a 2-over 37 on the White and 1-under 35 on his back Blue Nine. Rockwell was pleased with his approach shot on Blue No. 6 after hitting his tee shot on the par-4, 355-yard hole underneath a tree. After changing his mind on using a 4 iron, he hit an 8 iron to within two feet of the hole and finished with a birdie, one of his two on the day. The par-3, White No. 3 was the other.

“I was making a lot of those six-to-eight footers that I needed to make, so that was helping to lower my score,” Rockwell said. “Our team could be playing better, but I think we’re at a good point right now. We’re going to have to play well to get past regionals.”

Other Millbrook scoring golfers were Travis Hambrick (89), freshman Tyler Learn (89) and freshman Trenton Conley (91). Hambrick and Learn, who got under 90 in a tournament for the first time by making a 10-foot putt to close, are first alternates for regionals.

“We have a tendency to put ourselves a little bit behind [early in rounds], but we always battle back,” Millbrook coach Tim Deegan said. “I’m very impressed with how everybody has battled this year. The freshmen have stepped up, I’m very excited for Rich qualifying, and to have the two alternates coming out of Millbrook for next week, I couldn’t be any happier. This season was a little up and down, but I’m very happy with the team because they have a good mentality.”

Sherando’s scoring golfers were Jackson Hepner (91), Sam Brooks (93), Kieran Lindbergh (99) and TJ Selznick (103).

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