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Magnolia Wins Second Straight OVAC Golf Title

By Staff | Sep 21, 2016

Photo provided From left is Magnolia Head Coach Dave Tallman, William Nice, Peyton Moore, Drew Herrick, Trey Blain and Olivia Mensore — the 2016 OVAC Class-3A Champions.

It was an ominous start for Magnolia’s Peyton Moore in the OVAC Class 3A Golf Championship.

The Blue Eagles senior, who came in as the defending champion, went bogey, bogey to open the tournament, which was played under ideal conditions, at Oglebay Park’s Crispin Center.

Like most good golfers, Moore didn’t let it bother him.

“I started rough, but I knew I just had to power through it because there are 16 holes left,” Moore said.

With the first few holes behind him, Moore shot the final 16 holes in 5-under-par and finished with an impressive round of 68 to repeat as the medalist and fuel the Blue Eagles to their second consecutive team title.

“It feels good to repeat and it’s really exciting to see the young kids on our team be able to get a title,” Moore said.

“It’s nice for our school. I am really happy for everyone on our team.”

Moore credited his final score, which included a 3-under performance on the four Par 5s, to his ball striking.

“I was hitting the ball well off the tee,” Moore said. “This kind of performance helps my confidence moving forward. I know I can go low, but I also think I might have left some shots out there, too.”

The Blue Eagles used Moore’s score to catapult themselves to the school’s second conference golf title in school history.

They finished with a 316, which was 12 shots clear of runner-up Linsly. Barnesville finished third with a 333.

“Peyton Moore is a special golfer and when you’re able to get on the board with a number like he posted, it really helps you out,” Magnolia coach Dave Tallman said. “We’ve had some ups and downs from some of our kids this year, but all of them put together pretty good rounds (Thursday).”

Along with Moore’s score, he was joined on the All-OVAC Team by Trey Blain, who posted a round of 77. Drew Herrick (82) and Olivia Mensore (89) rounded out the scoring for the Eagles. William Nice also shot a 91 for the Eagles, but the team only took the top four scores to get the win.

“Our kids have continued to get better,” Tallman said. “I give Drew Herrick a lot of credit for shooting that 82 because he had broken arms this summer and came back to in August to play.”

The runner-up Cadets placed Charles Machiko and Corey Smith on the All-OVAC team with rounds of 78.

Barnesville produced the tournament’s overall runner-up in Davey Wells. He shot a 1-over, 72. Included on his card was a 1-under 34 on the backside of the course.

Next up, Magnolia will participate in their last regular season match today at 4 p.m. at Sistersville Country Club, along with Tyler Consolidated and Paden City. Then, Eagles will try to make a repeat again Thursday at Crispin Golf Course in Wheeling, in the annual OVGL Championships at 9 a.m.

The Eagles, along with Tyler Consolidated and Paden City will have only regional and – hopefully – state left before the season ends.