View Photo Gallery

Published: October 08, 2009

From staff reports

James River came back from a fourth-place performance in the first day of the Central Region Golf Tournament to take second in the region during the second day of play at Stonehenge Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.

The Rapids shot 323 at Lakeside Country Club on Monday but were only 14 points away from leader Deep Run heading into the second day of competition. Of the four scoring competitors, two Rapids – Sean Dougherty (72) and Dawson Hobbs (74) – scored ahead of Deep Run’s last three scorers. The finish was enough to vault James River into second and the State Championships, but not enough to overcome a stellar first day by Deep Run and a sub-par finish by Wildcat leader Chris O’Neill.

“We were looking iffy after the first day, but we’re streaky,” James River senior Sean Dougherty told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We knew we had to go low, and we were familiar with the course. We felt comfortable and knew we had a chance.”

The Rapids will head to the state championships as a team for the second straight year. They took the title one year ago and will vie for it again at Waterfront Country Club in Moneta (Smith Mountain Lake) Oct. 19-20.

James River scorers were Dougherty, Hobbs, Drew McLean (78) and Taylor Stagg (79).

District champion Monacan started the second day of competition in second and finished third. Scorers for the Chiefs were Gavin Parker (75), Ryan Pratt (78), Brian Critzer (79) and Cameron Young (81).

Cosby’s Kevin Clarke earned an individual bid to the state championships with a third-place finish. He shot 75 on day one and 74 on day two. He was also named Central Region Player of the Year.

Dougherty, Hobbs and Clarke earned All-Region honors and Clarke, Critzer, McLean, Hobbs and Dougherty were named to the Central Region All-Academic team.