Monday, Mar. 08, 2010

Germann's 68 leads way at Keith Hills

Clayton sophomore David Germann shot a four-under-par 68 to lead all golfers at the annual Keith Hills High School Kickoff on Friday.

The annual event, held at the Keith Hills Country Club near Campbell University, was played under sunny skies, but the windy, cold, and somewhat damp conditions made Germann's score all the more remarkable.

Clayton (301 strokes) finished just three strokes behind champion Leesville Road (298). The second-place Comets came in ahead of regional powers Broughton (302), Pinecrest (306) and Ravenscroft (307).

"I hit all the greens today, and was just trying to stay focused on each shot and not get ahead of myself," said Germann, who birdied his first three holes on the way to posting a career-best score.

Germann shot a 34 on each of the two nines, the Black and the Orange. Both courses play relatively short according to most of the golfers, but they feature some challenging water hazards, especially the Black course.

Germann said he was aware of the hazards, and despite limited practice recently due to the weather, he found a way to play some of his personal-best golf.

Clayton coach J.C. Triplett was proud of all his Comets, who finished in eighth place last season in the state championships. In addition to Germann, Justin Runyon carded a 76, followed by Andrew Furr (78) and Tyler Matthews (79). Marc Floriani posted a 38 on the front nine but finished with an 84.

"Our kids played a marvelous round," Triplett said. "We've played this tournament the last eight or nine years, and we knew we were good enough to compete."

Triplett added that he expected Germann to be able to golf at that level based on his performance last year as a freshman and his dedication to the game.

Smithfield-Selma shot 393 in the event as a team.

Spartans' standout Patrick Sawrey, a UNC-W signee, (75) shot a solid 75 and tied for eighth place. He turned in a 36 on the front side and shot 39 on the back. The other Spartans posted scores in the triple figures. Ben Barnes (100), Jordan Piper (109), Brandon Andrew (111) and Justin Braswell (115) all struggled with the difficult conditions.