The Hornets golf team sealed the deal Saturday. Led by seniors Brent Baker and Ryan Bennett, the Huntsville golfers turned in another superb round and claimed the top prizes at the Dodson-Evans Memorial Golf Tournament, which was played at Pine Forest Golf Club.
With team scores of 307 and 310, the Hornets ran away from the other nine teams, including Lake Travis which finished second, 23 strokes behind Huntsville.
Baker followed his first-round 74 with a 1-over-par 73 on Saturday to claim the first-place medalist trophy. Bennett rallied with a 2-over 74 after opening with a 81 to place third in the individual standings.
“Our guys had an excellent tournament,” Hornets coach Marcus Evans said after returning triumphantly from his old hometown. “Those two (team) scores on that golf course are very impressive.”
Baker and Bennett turned into par-making machines Saturday. Each of the Hornets only carded one birdie, but Evans said they worked their ball around the deceptively tough course magnificently.
“Brent made 15 pars, two bogeys and only one birdie,” Evans noted. “That’s some really, really outstanding and consistent play.
“Ryan has been playing pretty well in recent weeks, but he’s been making some mistakes that have ended up costing him. On the range today we talked about him being more aggressive. He got off to a good start and his confidence started going up. Ryan really played the kind of golf I knew he could play today, which is being in play, being very accurate and hitting lots of greens.
“He and Brent both made a ton of pars today.”
The Hornets also got two steady rounds from senior Tyler Belovsky and junior Cody Sammons. Belovsky finished fourth individually with rounds of 77 and 81, while Cody Sammons shot 81 and 82.
Freshman Cory Sammons ran into trouble late in his round Saturday and turned in an 89. That after he shot a sizzling 75 on Friday.
“Cory was playing pretty well. He was 2 over through his first 10 holes, but then his round got away from him,” Evans explained. “He had a double bogey on his 11th hole and that got to him a little bit.
“Once you get out of your game, Pine Forest has some holes that can really, really punish you, and Cory found that out today.”
Belovsky and Cody Sammons, Evans said, were not at their best this weekend, but they helped the Hornets anyway by posting solid scores throughout the tournament.
“Tyler got out of his swing a little, but he hung in there,” Evans said. “Shooting 81 today was the right thing to do for the team. He held his round together nicely. The same thing can be said for Cody. He’s not quite on his ‘A’ game yet, but he’s hanging in there.
“Both of those guys are working hard and both of them are close.”
The Hornets have a little break before heading over to College Station to play at a tournament hosted by Brenham High School on Feb. 22. The one-day, 18-hole tournament will be played at Pebble Creek, the site of this spring’s District 18-4A tournament.
“We’ve got to play that course before district, so we’re looking forward to that tournament,” Evans said.
