Green Hills hosts Marion County Golf Invitational on perfect day
Aug. 21—FAIRMONT — On perhaps the best possible day to play golf, 20 of the best high school golf teams in West Virginia converged Saturday at Green Hills Country Club for the Marion County High School Golf Invitational.
With a shotgun start time of 10 a.m., teams enjoyed weather in the mid to upper 70s and clear skies as they played all 18 holes at Green Hills.
Participating schools fielded four players each at the invitational, with the best three scores contributing to the team score. The team with the lowest combined score won, and the players with the five lowest scores made the podium.
All of the players were put in groups of four, starting one team at each hole with two exceptions to accommodate the number of teams.
Before the invitational started, the teams held a moment of silence for the late Bill Malone, former head golf coach at East Fairmont High.
Malone, along with Fairmont Senior Head Coach Luke Corley and North Marion Head Coach Chance Hearn, created the invitational 12 years ago, inspired by the Winners Choice Tournament for wrestling.
"We just had a dream of getting all of the best golf teams in the state of West Virginia to come play our home course in our Marion County, Green Hills," Corley said. "We kind of got the idea from watching the Winners Choice Tournament for the wrestling team. So we thought, well, why can't we actually go and do that for golf and host it at Green Hills?"
With Malone's passing this past March, the 2023 invitational marks the first time without the longtime golf coach and respected community member.
For new East Fairmont Head Coach David Webb, he picks up where Malone left off with the Bees' golf team.
"[Malone] was my tennis coach. He was my son's golf coach," Webb said. "He was well respected in the community. I learned from watching him, and we're trying to carry on the tradition of what he started here at East Fairmont, especially on the golf team."
The 20 teams at this year's invitational set the record for the most in the history of the Marion County Invitational.
At the end of the day, the Winfield Generals finished first of the 20 teams, scoring 225 as a team.
"We use every event as a way to measure ourselves against the competition and see how we're stacking up," Winfield Head Coach Dean Bowers said. "That was genuinely the goal today. The fact we came out on top is certainly very exciting, and I'm especially happy just for the boys [who played]."
Three of Winfield's players placed in the Top 5 at the invitational. Jackson Woodburn finished second overall with a score of 73. Stephen McDavid finished third with 75, and Andrew Johnson finished fifth with 77.
Jack Michael of Cabell Midland finished first overall with a score of 70. Javier Crespo Gomez of Elkins finished fourth with 75 to round out the Top 5.
For the hosting Marion County teams, Fairmont Senior finished 10th with 255, led by Landen Barkley with a score of 80. East Fairmont finished 11th with 258, led by Trace Tucker with 84. North Marion finished 20th with 309, led by Garett Stanley with 87.
"Our scores were a little bit higher than where we should be," Corely said. "But we still have a half a season left to work on and hopefully peak towards the end of the year.
Fairmont Senior and North Marion travel to Parkersburg for the Callaway Series Aug. 21 for their next match. East Fairmont plays Bridgeport at Green Hills next, also on Aug. 21.
The team standings for the Marion County High School Golf Invitational are as follows:
1. Winfield, 225
2. Cabell Midland, 233
3. Morgantown, 240
4. Hurricane, 242
5. University, 246
6. Wheeling Park, 249
7. Parkersburg South, 250
8. St. Mary's, 251
9. Keyser, 254
10. Fairmont Senior, 255
11. East Fairmont, 258
12. Wheeling Central Catholic, 264
13. Elkins, 265
14. Petersburg, 272
15. Parkersburg, 273
T-16. Roane, 275
T-16. Grafton, 275
18. Point Pleasant, 293
19. Frankfort, 299
20. North Marion, 309
Reach Colin C. Rhodes at 304-367-2548
