by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
A freshman golfer shot a 2-over-par 73 at Quinton Oaks Golf Course in Callao Monday as the individual medalist in the Northern Neck District golf tournament.
Lancaster High’s Colby Sullivan shot a 34 on the front nine and a 39 on the back to beat out 23 other golfers for the championship. Sullivan was also chosen by coaches as the Northern Neck District’s player of the year.
All four of Lancaster’s low scorers were freshmen and all four were among the top 12 to be named to the all-tournament team.
“These were the lowest scores I’ve seen from the team all season,” said Sullivan. “We’re just getting better as the season goes on.”
Only three golfers shot in the 70s on the narrow Quinton Oaks course.
“I had a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys, I know that,” said Sullivan, who wasn’t exactly sure how his scorecard looked. “It’s the first time I’d played the back nine and it was very exciting, way more challenging than the front.”
Patrick Lewis of Northumberland was the individual runner-up with a 77 and led Northumberland to the district tournament team championship. The Indians were two strokes better than the Red Devils with a 330. Chase Fisher shot a 70, Corey Palubinski an 84 and Bailey Lewis a 90 as the four scorers for the Indians. Matthew Jett also played for NHS.
Lancaster, as the district runner-up with a 332, was led by Sullivan and Ben Pittman, who shot an 84. Eli Pittman shot an 86 and DJ Zeiler an 89. All four are freshmen. Sophomores Carter McGee and Tristan McDaniels also played.
Rappahannock was fourth with a 356 and was led by Josh White with an 81 and Essex was fourth with a 370.
Also scoring for the Raiders were Sydney DeShazo with an 82, Bryce Self with a 92 and Lewis Ginn with a 101.
Scoring for Essex were Montaevious White with an 88, Cliff Whitlock with a 92, Matt Broache with a 93 and Holden Ambrose with a 97.
The all-tournament team included the 12 low golfers and included Lancaster’s Sullivan, B. Pittman, Zeiler and E. Pittman; Northumberland’s B. Lewis, Fisher, Palubinski and P. Lewis; Rappahannock’s DeShazo, White and Self, and Essex High’s White.
The all-district team, chosen by coaches, included Rappahannock’s DeShazo and White, Essex High’s Whitlock and Logan Cooke, Northumberland’s Fisher and P. Lewis and Lancaster’s Sullivan. Jim Thorpe of Rappahannock was chosen as the coach of the year.
All four teams advance to the Region 1A tournament Monday, September 30, at Hobbs Hole Golf Course in Tappahannock.
Sullivan is one of the favorites in that tournament.
“It’s pretty open,” he said. “I like it. I’ve played it many, many times. I’ve just got to play it one hole at a time.”