MOVJGA champs crowned at Oxbow
Final tourney stop set for Monday at Mingo BottomBy JAY W. BENNETT, jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
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BELPRE - The next to last event on the Mid-Ohio Valley Junior Golf Association tour took place Friday at the Oxbow Golf and Country Club.
While Dylan Cress captured his second consecutive MOVJGA 12-and-under crown, Jared Hammons emerged victorious in the 13-15 age group and Matt Hess ran away from the field in the 16-18 division.
Hess, a graduate of Parkersburg South, managed an even par round of 71 thanks in large part to a trio of birdies on the front nine. He scored 3s on the par 4 third, eighth and ninth holes and then carded a 38 on the back to easily finish ahead of ex-Patriot teammate Josh Webb.
Webb wasn't having his best day, as evidenced by hitting just three greens in regulation on the front nine, but he still managed to navigate the nearly 6,600-yard layout with a 5-over par 76 to garner runner-up honors.
That round of 76 is exactly what Hammons fired as the freshman-to-be at Marietta High School had 38s on both sides at Oxbow.
Hammons, who has entered four MOVJGA events and now also has a quartet of wins, finished in front of second place golfer Steve Farley by three strokes. Farley's 79 was ahead of the rest of the top five in the 13-15 age group which consisted of Brandyn Offenberger (84), Adam Lang (85) and Sam Petty (87).
The race in the 12-and-under age group for the top five was pretty tight behind Cress.
Alex Schreckengost carded a 45 to take second and Adam Keadle finished ahead of Adeena Shears, who each shot 46, by winning the hardest handicap hole tiebreaker. Such was the case for Alex Milhoan as he won the tiebreaker for fifth against Ty Dobson after they each had rounds of 48.
Warren High School senior Andrew Lang, competing in the 16-18 division, had a pretty solid afternoon but a double bogey on his final hole, No. 15, led to a round of 79 and a third place finish.
That final hole was pretty memorable for Lang's playing partner Elijah Bennett, an ex-St. Marys High School standout.
After driving his first ball out of bounds in the trees on the right, Bennett's third shot after his penalty stroke landed just short of the trees and the out of bounds area again.
With the ball in a muddy rut from cart users and little grass to work with, Bennett muscled up a 4-iron from 210 yards away and nearly holed it out for par as his ball hit just inside the bunker, bounced out and onto the green and then rolled just by and past the lip of the cup.
"That's the best bogey I've ever seen," Andrew Lang said to Bennett after he stroked in a little less than a 4-foot putt.
Playing partner Jordan McIntrye, whose round of 81 was good for sixth place, pointed out in the sand to Bennett exactly where his ball was at.
Ben Allen, also playing in the group, nearly one-upped Bennett's shot as he almost holed out from 100 yards and had an easy tap-in for par.
McIntyre was bested on the day in the 16-18 grouping by fellow Parkersburg South teammates Austin Root and Kevin Bayer. Each player carded 80s, but Root took fourth based on the tiebreaker.
Bryan Neader (81), Jansen McCloy (82), Mike Minehart (85) and Bennett (85) rounded out the top 10.
The final event for the MOVGJA will take place starting at 9 a.m. Monday at Mingo Bottom Golf Club in Elizabeth.








