It was as an ideal finish to the regular season for York High’s golf team, which beat out Jamestown by 10 (316-326) strokes at Kiln Creek on Thursday while the Falcons’ C.J. Dreyfuss led all golfers by shooting an even par 72. But the day still belonged to the Eagles, who did plenty enough to secure an 11th straight Bay Rivers District title.
The Eagles finished the regular season 70 strokes ahead of runner-up York in the final standings. The two earned automatic berths to the Region I tournament along with third-place New Kent. The district’s fourth regional bid will be decided by whichever team 4-10 finishes highest in the district tournament on September 24th.
Rather than relying on the low scoring of one individual star, Jamestown’s path to the district title this season was highlighted by the consistency of Eagles’ foursome Matt Meadows, Christina Herbert, Trevor Tremps and Emily Salamy, who each averaged either 78 or 79 strokes per 18 holes this season.
“I am honored and a bit lucky to be associated with a golf program that has managed to win 11 straight district titles,” Jamestown coach Doug Meredith said on Friday. “We have had some very talented golfers come through the program and each of them has left their legacy.
What was different about this year was that we really didn’t have a standout superstar that carried us,” Meredith added. “Rather, we had four really good players that each took turns being the superstar. It was fun to watch and is a testament their commitment and support of each other.
“We really are a team.”
While the Eagles had the team title locked up weeks ago, the individual race was as close as it had been in years coming down to Thursday’s final match.
Bruton’s Joey Monk, a senior, had paced the district nearly the entire season, but held less than a full stroke lead over York junior standout Connor Rinoski heading into Thursday’s district finale.
The two friends said they were playing under heavy pressure on Thursday, especially on the back nine, which led to both carding the highest scores of their seasons.
Monk eventually shot an 81 while Rinoski finished at 80, bringing both players’ season scoring average even at 74.82.
“It’s probably not a bad thing because we are friends,” Monk said of sharing the individual Bay Rivers crown with Rinoski. “We both struggled with the pressure towards the end. The adrenaline gets going and the ball does things you aren’t used to it doing.”
Said Rinoski, “Joey and I are good friends, we play a lot together, so it’s pretty neat to finish tied. There are a lot of good players in this district like (Lafayette’s) Zach [Weaver], (teammate) C.J. [Dreyfuss] and (Jamestown’s) Matt [Meadows], so it’s pretty cool.
“It’s quite the honor to follow in the footsteps of other golfers, especially (the late) Trevor Times.”
It’s difficult to predict which individuals will move on to the Region I tournament without knowing who the fourth team to represent the district will be, because the top six individuals from the district not on a team that has clinched a region berth will earn a spot.
Therefore, assuming Bruton finishes fourth in the district tournament, the top six individuals from teams other than Jamestown, York, New Kent and Bruton will go to regionals. Four of those spots will be decided by the regular-season finish, with the final two coming down to the tournament on September 24th at Williamsburg National.
Below are the scores from Thursday’s round at Kiskiak, followed by the final regular-season standings and averages.
Team Scores (From Thursday)
York 316
Jamestown 326
Warhill 347
Lafayette 348
Smithfield 352
New Kent 354
Tabb 355
Bruton 359
Poquoson 364
Grafton 395
Individual Leaderboard (From Thursday)
1. C.J. Dreyfuss, York, 72
2. Zach Weaver, Lafayette, 73
3. Tyler Moore, York, 77
4. Matt Meadows, Jamestown, 78
5. Patrick Ward, Lafayette, 79
5. Emily Salamy, Jamestown, 79
6. Connor Rinoski, York, 80
7. Joey Monk, Bruton 81
8. Bobby Monk, Bruton, 82
9. Trevor Tremps, Jamestown, 83
FINAL- Team Scores
Jamestown 2675
York 2745
New Kent 2821
Bruton 2834
Lafayette 2877
Tabb 2946
Warhill 2954
Smithfield 2975
Poquoson 3137
Grafton 3216
FINAL- Individual Scoring Average Leaders
1. Joey Monk, Bruton, 74.82
1. Connor Rinoski, York, 74.82
3. C.J. Dreyfuss, York, 75.06
4. Zach Weaver, Lafayette, 75.65
5. Matt Meadows, Jamestown, 78.1
6. Emily Salamy, Jamestown, 78.82
7. Christina Herbert, Jamestown, 79.06
7. Trevor Tremps, Jamestown, 79.06
8. Bobby Monk, Bruton, 79.41
9. Tyler Moore, York, 79.95
10. Travis Frazier, New Kent, 79.86
