Raiders open strong

By Justin Graves
jgraves@cullmantimes.com

May 13, 2008 12:02 am

— MUSCLE SHOALS — Heading into the state golf tournament, Nathan Brown said Montgomery Academy was the team to beat in Class 3A.
Judging from the results after the first round of the two-day event, the Good Hope High senior was right.
Montgomery Academy shot 285 as a team, which was the lowest score by any team in all six of the AHSAA’s classifications.
Even though Montgomery Academy has a 30-stroke lead after the first round, Good Hope’s golfers still have something to smile about. The Raiders are currently in second place in Class 3A after shooting 315 on the first day of the tournament at the Robert Trent Jones course in Muscle Shoals.
“The guys played a good round of golf,” Good Hope coach Danny Welborn said. “We’re 11 strokes ahead of the third place team (Montgomery-Catholic). That’s not a bad round at all. Montgomery Academy just has a really, really good team. But we’ve still got something to play for.”
Nathan Brown led Good Hope with a 75, putting him in seventh place after the first round. Dustin Schwaiger is in eighth place after shooting 76.
Jesse Curtis is in a tie for 12th place after shooting 80, and Caleb Neighbors shot 84 — putting him in 19th place.
“Nathan and Schwaiger both had really good rounds,” Welborn said. “And Jesse Curtis shot one of his best rounds of golf this year.
“Caleb struggled a little bit. He just had some tough luck.”
Good Hope may have an 11-stroke lead over Montgomery-Catholic, but Welborn still doesn’t want to take any chances in the final round.
“We’re not satisfied,” he said. “The guys are fired up after the first round, so they want to do better. We’re going out there and pushing ourselves. If we do that, who knows what will happen.”
In the Class 5A tournament, Cullman shot 322 as a team — putting the Bearcats in sixth place after the first round.
Blaise Wilson shot 73 in the opening round, which was good enough for fifth place.
Jake Tucker is in 14th place with a 78, while Tyler Trakel shot 82 and Dylan Skipper shot 89.
“Blaise had a good first round,” Cullman coach Mike Dean said. “Blaise and Jake both played well. The guys were disappointed that they were in sixth place. But it’s like I told them, what really matters is how many strokes we’re behind. We’re not that far out of third, and we can make up some ground on the second day.”