Bulls refuse to let history repeat in winning championship
Published
Sunday, April 13, 2008
By
Robert Morgan
Last year served as a reality check for the Bridgeport High School boys' golf team. The group was beaten soundly by Argyle for the District 8-3A title which was the first time this decade the locals did not win the championship.
The Bulls did not let Argyle have its way this year. They played their best round of golf of the season in the final 18 holes of the district tournament at Oakmont in Corinth to rally for the title.
Argyle took a one stroke lead into the last round Monday afternoon where it held a 328 to 329 lead. That's where the tournament started as far as the Bulls were concerned.
Four Bridgeport putters carded under 80 for the day and two others played their best round of the season to allow the Bulls to reclaim the league title with a two-day score of 645, eight strokes ahead of Argyle at 653.
"They beat us soundly last year, so it did not take much to get our boys excited about this tournament," said BHS coach Jim Caldwell. "I told them going in that this was not going to be easy, and it wasn't. However, we also knew our boys were good enough to do and they did. All five of them played well."
The top two teams and first two individuals who are not on one of the first two teams advance to regionals April 22-23 in Midland. Decatur was third overall with 712.
The Bridgeport group, which is all seniors, was led by Brock Rose and Jacob Caldwell who tied for second with a two-day total of 155, just four strokes behind individual winner Kyle Boliver of Argyle at 151.
Rose had his best tournament of the year as he carded an 80 in the opening round and closed with a 75, the second-lowest score of the district finals. Caldwell was steady both days as he putted a 78 and 77.
Bryce delivered in a big way as well after he tallied an 85 on a windy opening round and closed with a 79 for a 164. Kenneth Weaver made it all happen with a career-low performance on the first 18 holes.
He fired an 86 to allow BHS to stay within a stroke of Argyle. He followed that with a 95 for a total of 181.
"I think the real key to the whole tournament was Kenneth," said his coach. "If he doesn't have a career day then we trailed Argyle by 10 or something and that is a pretty big hole to make up on the final day. He was great."
Matt Wood was fifth among the Bridgeport putters and three strokes behind Weaver at 184. He recorded a 99 and closed with an 85.
Decatur was led by Andrew Gage who posted a tournament score of 169. He carded an 88 before trimming seven strokes off in the final round with an 81.
Drake Harper was second among the Eagles and was steady as he fired an 88 and 85 for a district score of 173. Justin Tompkins was third at 183 which included a 98 and an 85.
Casey Duncum and Hunter Hargrave scored a 189. Duncum putted a 97 and 92, while Hargrave posted a 96 and 93.
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