Aug. 24—WALKERSVILLE — With the hot sun beating down on the fairways and greens of Glade Valley Golf Club, a sense of normalcy returned to the Frederick County sports landscape Monday.
The high school golf season, which has been contending with heat and late-afternoon thunderstorms since practice officially started Aug. 11, nonetheless began around the date and time it normally would, becoming the first sport in the county in nearly two years to be able to stake such a claim.
“This is just wonderful to be out here again,” longtime Thomas Johnson golf coach Clint Henderson said. “The kids have all been talking about just being out and playing.”
Henderson made his remark prior to knowing how the scoring would shake out in the Patriots’ 193-208 victory over host Walkersville.
TJ, led by a pair of 46s over the nine holes at Glade Valley by Garrett Twenty and Guy Thrasher, would like to bring its team score below 180 by the end of the season.
The Patriots were scoring around 176 as a team when the last high school golf season ended in the spring. They have a young team this fall with only one senior, Jackson Smith, on the roster and two sophomores, Garrett Twenty and Smith’s younger brother, Carter, playing in their top pairing.
“They have a good thought process. They mentally think things through, and, often times, they execute,” Henderson said of Twenty and Carter Smith.
Twenty said he is more comfortable hitting his shots after enduring a rocky freshman season in the spring. He shaved a few strokes off his nine-hole scoring average by playing extensively over the summer.
“Really just the stress of playing with the other team, it can be nerve-racking,” Twenty said. “But once you get out here and get used to it, you can get rolling. I am more comfortable.”
On Monday, Twenty relied upon his strong chipping and putting skills to recover from some wayward shots off the tee.
He was one of three TJ golfers to shoot in the 40s over the nine holes, joining Thrasher and Jackson Day, who posted a 49.
Meanwhile, Walkersville was led by its top two golfers, senior Easton Shankle and freshman David Nuckolls. Both finished with a 51.
Lions coach Bruce Zimmerman said he has a young and inexperienced team this season. Shankle is the only senior on the team.
“Just try and shoot better than they did the last match and just become more consistent,” Zimmerman said of his team’s outlook. “That’s what we are looking for, a little consistency throughout the lineup and a little less up and down.”
Tuscarora 179, South Hagerstown 181, Catoctin 204The victorious Titans were paced by Griffin Cansler’s 43 at Worthington Manor.
The Rebels’ Joe Leisinger was the medalist, shooting a 37.
Catoctin’s Kyle Cantwell shot a 47.
Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek