Meadowcreek Golf Course, home of the Black Knights Golf Team, has been getting a lot of play recently with low scores and intense matches. With new Head Coach Joseph Fisher, a science teacher at Buford Middle School, the team is starting to heat up and with each passing week scoring lower than the prior. Coach Fisher said, “The team had been improving all season, slowing taking down strokes, and to see the practice and patients contribute to a win was very encouraging” Led by freshman Charlie Wise, who shoots typically in the high 30s (only a few over the ideal score or par), alongside the current top 6: freshman Charlie Wise, sophomore Leo Cafferillo, sophomore Harry Shullaw, sophomore Henry Ottinger, junior Andrew Cullinan, and senior Henry Burnett. Thus far, the team has played in various large tournaments, one at Lake Monticello held by Fluvanna, and the other at Old Trail held by Western Albemarle. As the season is over its halfway point, the golf squad is looking to make a deep run into playoffs, beginning with the district tournament at Old Trail.
While the season has started with some close calls, the team is within the competitive range of placing high in districts. The team recently played at Glenmore, the home course of Monticello High School, where they matched up against MHS and Staunton. The team took home a win over Staunton, and lost to Monticello at their course only by 4 strokes. Andrew Cullinan says “freshman Charlie Wise has been leading the team, along with sophomore Leo Cafferillo.” Recently, the team had a match against Albemarle at Meadowcreek, and set their team best score with a 167, beating their previous best by 6 strokes. Coming up next, the golf team is getting ready for a week with three matches. The week of September 11th featured a tournament at Farmington Country Club against AHS, WAHS, and MHS. On the 13th, the team played at home against Orange County, where they gained a victory of one stroke. Then, they wrapped up the regular season at Old Trail on Thursday the 14th against Western Albemarle.
Despite a slow start to the season, the team has improved immensely. With the postseason nearing, the squad looks forward to making big strides and placing highly. Districts happened on the 18th and the team pulled out some gritty scores but fell short of their goal of a top placement. With sub-regionals drawing near on September 27th at Shenandoah Valley Golf Club in Front Royal held by James Wood, the team has a week to prepare in practice. Regionals are then on October 4th at home. The group is anticipating high results: “The team’s postseason aspirations are to win sub-regionals and individual golfers on the team to qualify for regionals as well,” Coach Fisher said. However, with such a young team, the future is bright for the CHS Golf Team.
