Pleasant Grove dominates tourney

Brandon Young of Pleasant Grove High School gets on the green after driving into the rough during the District 15-4A golf tournament Thursday, Mar. 24, 2016 at Northridge Country Club in Texarkana, Texas. High, unpredictable winds brought a unique challenge to Thursday's play.
Brandon Young of Pleasant Grove High School gets on the green after driving into the rough during the District 15-4A golf tournament Thursday, Mar. 24, 2016 at Northridge Country Club in Texarkana, Texas. High, unpredictable winds brought a unique challenge to Thursday's play.

Bone-chilling winds played havoc with morning play, but by the time afternoon sunshine warmed things up, Pleasant Grove was in firm control of the first round of the District 15-4A golf tournament Thursday at Northridge Country Club.

The Hawks ended the day in the first two team spots and the first four individual places of the tournament, which will finish in Paris in two weeks. In girls' play, Atlanta is in first, North Lamar second and PG third.

Pleasant Grove's Braxton Watkins leads the field with a 3-over-par 74, despite a quadruple bogey on the third hole.

"It was a little windy first thing this morning," he said in an understatement.

"He said his hands were cold, so I told him to use his hand-warmer. He said, 'I am, it's not working.' He couldn't feel his hands," Pleasant Grove coach Rick Rogers said. "I went and found him some gloves, and that helped."

The lanky sophomore followed the disaster on three with three straight birdies.

"He just hung in there and eventually got it close to par," Rogers said. "I'm really proud of my kids, especially on a day like today. The persistence they showed, especially for what the weather was when they teed off, was something. Some people would just give up under those conditions."

PG's black team shot a 307, the gold 345. North Lamar and Pittsburg tied for third at 361, and Atlanta is fourth at 374, followed by Paris at 383, Atlanta's junior varsity at 461 and Liberty-Eylau at 493.

Braxton was followed by teammates Trevor Edmondson at 75 and Tyler Sutherland at 78. Braden Young was tied for fourth at 80 with the gold team's Ray Norton.

Pleasant Grove's Madison Haltom leads the girls with an 84, followed by Pittsburg's Shelbi Hill at 84, North Lamar's Jaycie McEwin at 90, and Atlanta's Kaylea Moro at 91 and Ashton Guillory 92.

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District 15-4A Tournament

Round 1 Thursday

Northridge Country Club

Boys

Pleasant Grove Black (307): Braxton Watkins 74, Braden Young 80, Tyler Sutherland 78, Trevor Edmondson 75, Jathan White 84.

Pleasant Grove Gold (345): Jackson Giles 86, Ray Norton 80, Parker Matthews 102, Nick LeGrand 88, Ben LeGrand 91.

North Lamar (361): Blaine Hill 89, Nick Campbell 85, Ty Rast 91, Matt Wirges 96, Jake Brisco 102.

Pittsburg (361): Garrett Spearman 81, Cody Hill 100, Jackson Yantis 90, Grady Townsend 90.

Atlanta (374): Adam Ward 86, Austin Samples 88, Taylor Carrell 92, Dylan Peace 118, Caleb Helfrick 108.

Atlanta junior varsity (461): Brett Cruson 134, Brett Piazza 99, Blake Lummus 149, Kameron hailey 89, Ryker Oden 139.

Liberty-Eylau (493): Peaire Bustillo 106, Christian Thibodeau 107, DaQuon Daniels 132, Kolby Cupps 148, Raphael Veliz DQ.

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Girls

Atlanta (383): Kaylea Moro 91, Ashton Guillory 92, Devin Smith 99, Jennifer Bridges 101, Rebecca Rinehart 136.

North Lamar (403): Jaycie McEwin 90, Briles Sanders 93, Morgan Ross 108, Kristen Hodges 112, Madelyn Clark 118.

Pleasant Grove (479) : Madison Haltom 84, Tori Bean 120, Allison Jones 121, Sarah Wiltshire 154.

Medalist competition only: Shelbi Hill (Pittsburg) 85, Torrey Jones (L-E) 99, Ella Brax, Atlanta, 112.

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