THOMASVILLE- Thomas County Central golf bested rival Thomasville in the teams’ first matches of the season at Country Oaks Golf Course on Thursday.
Central’s boys won 177-182, while the Lady Jackets won 155-178.
Central’s Harrison Johnson and Thomasville’s Brandt Herndon were the low scorers on the boys side, each shooting a 41.
Central golf coach Kevin Esch liked his team’s performance but knows there is room for improvement.
“We both would like to see our team scores a little bit lower, but it’s not bad for the first one,” Esch said. “It was the first match, so I’m sure they were nervous. I had four first-time boys, whether that being freshmen or first time playing high school golf, so I’m sure there were some jitters out there. It was a pretty day weather wise, but it was windy. The wind swirls there at Country Oaks.
“There was a lot of first-day jitters and I’m sure my top three or four would like to shoot three or four strokes better than they all did, and they’re all capable of doing that.”
The match was nine holes, with each team counting the lowest four scores.
On the girls side, Central’s Ashley Price was the low scorer with a 44, while Elle McCollum was Thomasville’s low scorer with a 57. Each team counted the lowest three scores.
“Ashley’s our only returning player. She was the only girl we had last year on the team,” Esch said. “She made state last year as a freshman, so she’s very talented. We have four new girls that joined her this year; one senior, two other sophomores came out for the first time, and then a freshman that had been playing middle school golf with us came out for the team as well.
“There’s a lot of newcomers on the girls side of things. They pitched in and helped Ashley. One of them shot a 53, and one shot a 58. It was pretty good for the girls’ first time playing in any sort of golf match.”
Central’s next match is scheduled for Tuesday at Tired Creek Golf Course against Cairo. Thomasville will play Berrien on Tuesday at Circlestone Golf Club in Adel.