Wood's Rockwell places 12th at Class 4 state golf tournament

On a tough course in difficult weather conditions, James Wood senior Brayden Rockwell persevered to tie for 12th at Monday’s Virginia High School League Class 4 golf tournament, seven spots higher than last year.

It was windy with temperatures in the 50s on Monday at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg, and Rockwell shot a 9-over 79 on the 6,251-yard course.

In a phone interview, James Wood coach David Oates noted that there were 14 scores under par in 2023 when the state tournament was played at Williamsburg National Golf Club, when Rockwell tied for 19th with a 4-over 76. On Monday, only two golfers broke par in the field of 60 golfers.

One of them was 2022 state champion Kathryn Ha of Salem, who won with a 2-under 68 to beat fellow senior and 2021 state champion Jake Albert of Blacksburg by one stroke. Both players are from Region 4D.

Rockwell would have preferred a lower stroke score, but he’ll definitely take a better state finish.

“With the factors of how cold it is and all the wind, [this year’s tournament was] definitely much tougher, and you’re seeing a lot higher scores than what there were last year,” said Rockwell in a phone interview. “That means a lot to me to finish higher at states than last year. It’s definitely cooler being more towards the top of the leaderboard. I’m really happy with ending up in that spot.”

Senior teammate Ian Longo tied for 29th with a 12-over 82.

Blacksburg won its fourth consecutive state title with a 20-over four-player score of 300, 12 strokes better than Monacan (312).

In the Class 2 tournament at the Great Oaks Country Club in Floyd, Clarke County placed eighth out of eight teams in the program’s first-ever appearance as a team in state competition.

The Region 2B champion Eagles shot a four-player score of 367, three strokes behind seventh-place Poquoson (364). Floyd County shot a 315 to win by four strokes over Graham (319). Region 2B runner-up Stonewall Jackson took fifth with a 352. Graham’s McCartney Hinkle won by one shot with a 1-over 73 to beat Gate City’s Carter Wolfe in the field of 60 golfers.

Outside of Sunday’s practice round, Monday marked the first time that either Rockwell or Longo had played at Heritage Oaks.

“It’s a beautiful course,” Rockwell said. “There are definitely some harder holes the further out you get into it. But there’s lots of tall grass that makes it very scenic. I enjoyed playing it.”

In addition to being mindful of the weather, Longo said in a phone interview that green play required a lot of focus.

“The greens were a lot faster than what I was used to,” Longo said. “They were pretty firm. And there were a lot of holes that were tighter and shorter than I anticipated.”

Rockwell said he was a little worried after he recorded a double bogey on the second hole, but he parred each of the next eight holes to leave him 2-over after 10 holes. Rockwell was pleased with how he scrambled on the 358-yard, par-4 fourth hole.

“I just kind of kept grinding it out, made some good pars, and it ended up being a good front nine,” Rockwell said. “On hole No. 4, I took kind of a bad tee shot, and I was in the trees. I ended up hitting out of the trees and onto the green to leave me with 30 feet, and I ended up two-putting and making par.”

Most of Monday’s competitors had higher scores on the back nine, and that was the case for Rockwell and Longo. Rockwell had splits of 36 (2-over) on the front and 43 (7-over) on the back, while Longo had a 38 (4-over) on his front nine and 44 (8-over) on the back.

Rockwell was 7-over par on holes 10-16, with two pars in that stretch. Rockwell said he noticed after he hit his tee shot on 18 that a weight on his driver had come loose and slid into a different position from when he had started his round. He doesn’t know how long his driver was in that condition.

“Off the tee on the back nine was putting me into some trouble,” Rockwell said.

By parring his last two holes — including that 18th when the driver situation could have messed with his head — Rockwell finished his high school career on a good note.

“I’m really happy with how my season went,” said Rockwell, who earned his spot in the state tournament by beating teammate Jake Bursey in a playoff at the Region 4D tournament (four of the top nine finishers on Monday were from Region 4D). “I feel like I played really well. Obviously, I made it tough to get back into the state tournament, but I was happy to have another go. I didn’t play how I wanted to, but I’m just happy I’m here.”

Longo had a birdie on the 186-yard, par-3 fifth, sticking his tee shot to within five feet.

“That definitely helped me, because I was sitting 3-over beforehand,” Longo said.

Longo’s toughest stretch was the 12th through 16th holes, which he played 10-over par.

“That was 100 percent my tee shots,” Longo said. “I went [out of bounds] a couple of times.”

Longo did rebound to birdie each of the last two holes. On the par-3, 156-yard 17th, he hit his tee shot to 6 feet. Then on 18, he knocked his third shot to within two feet from 138 yards away.

Longo wasn’t too excited about the birdies at the time, but he’s glad he finished up strong and got to experience the state tournament for the first time.

“It was awesome to come here,” Longo said. “The first couple of holes, it was a very different atmosphere. My name got announced on the first tee, so there were a bunch of nerves with everybody watching. But it was fun to play.”

Oates praised both of his golfers for managing the courses and conditions as best they could.

“Ian and Brayden did a great job of just hanging in there all day in very tough situations,” Oates said. “I was really proud with them for finishing strong. A lot of kids, when they’re not playing their best, they’re just mentally done, and it can get out of control in a hurry for them.

“I had these two for four years, and they’re just really good kids. I’m really happy for them for making it here.”

Clarke County’s scoring golfers were junior Caleb Erickson (88, 35th), junior Dylan Hoggatt (91, 40th), junior Jonah Ziercher (93, tied for 42nd) and sophomore Grace Trent (95, tied for 46th). Senior Emmet Morris (95, 48th) and freshman Cambrie Ferre (106, 56th) also competed.

In a phone interview, Eagles coach Phillip Facemire said his players felt they could have played better, but he praised how his team battled in difficult conditions. Facemire said the Eagles practiced on Sunday in Floyd when it was 60 degrees with occasional wind. Monday featured temperatures 10 degrees colder and wind that even affected balls on the ground.

“I was very proud of them for what they did,” he said. “I thought all of them handled the conditions very well mentally. They didn’t let bad shots really impact their game as much as I would have expected. On one of the holes, one of my players put his ball down and picked up his ball mark, and then the wind is blowing his ball across the green.”

The Eagles lose only one senior in Morris from a 12-player roster, so the future is bright.

“The kids are like, ‘Yeah, we can get back here next year,’” Facemire said. “They’re already motivated.”

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

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