With St. Marys golf coach Catie Hamilton watching in the background, golfer Trevor Maley hits his approach shot onto the eighth green during Monday’s Class A, Region I Tournament at Mingo Bottom Golf Course. (Photos by Kerry Patrick)

ELIZABETH — In order to keep the streak alive, the St. Marys golf team had no margin for error.

And Monday during the Class A, Region I Tournament at Mingo Bottom Golf Course the only four members of the program were spot on in bringing home a seventh consecutive regional championship.

St. Marys coach Catie Hamilton is 7-for-7 on the regional title front since taking over the program in 2019.

“This regional title is really exciting for us because this was kind of a rebuilding year for us,” Hamilton said. “We lost five seniors from last year, so the kids this year have really worked hard for this one.

“We started the season with five golfers and lost one due to some school things – that always coming first, there was no room for error. There are only four of us. When you get down to regionals, its four golfers count three, so we are really fortunate to have the four we did.”

St. Marys golfer Tripp Morrison shakes hands with Ritchie County’s Carson Hall following their round at Monday’s Class A, Region I Tournament at Mingo Bottom Golf Course. (Photos by Kerry Patrick)

Behind the 1-2 finish of medalist Trevor Maley and Tripp Morrison, the Blue Devils finished with a team score of 246 – 20 strokes to the good over both Ritchie County, who required a fourth golfer’s scorer to break the tiebreaker.

The Rebels instantly went into a group hug once they found out they were joining St. Marys for next week’s state tournament Tuesday and Wednesday in Wheeling.

“This is the best team we’ve had in a while and it was our goal to get to states since, I don’t know, my freshman year,” said Ritchie County’s Carson Hall, who paced the Rebels with an 86. “So this is very exciting.”

Ritchie teammate Jacob White also broke 90 after closing out with an 89. But it was Rebels’ No. 4 golfer Johnathan Freeland’s 98 which came into play against Gilmer County’s fourth score of 114.

“I will never let Johnathan live that down,” Hall smiled. That’s amazing.”

Ritchie County Talan McBrayer chips onto the green during Monday’s Class A, Region I Tournament at Mingo Bottom Golf Course. (Photos by Kerry Patrick)

Two individuals not members of a qualifying team also advanced to the state tournament.

Clay-Battelle’s Ryan Parker finished with an 87, while Troy Woodford will carry the flag for Gilmer County after shooting a round of 81.

“Our No. 1 man really struggled – he shot a 97 and that’s not like him,” Gilmer coach Travis Woodford said. “Our three man was playing really well then just had a bad hole on his last hole. That’s just kind of how it goes.

“I’m happy for Troy, but it’s just more fun if you can go as a team. He would enjoy it more if the whole team was going like we did last year.”

Maley, one of three St. Marys golfers making their debut at the regional level, finished with a round of 6-over par 78. The freshman has successfully made the transition this season playing the back tees for the first time.

Gilmer County’s Troy Woodford hits his tee shot at the ninth hole during Monday’s Class A, Region I Tournament at Mingo Bottom Golf Course. (Photos by Kerry Patrick)

“Had a rough beginning – had a lot of three putts,” Maley said. “I was really nervous at the start. I couldn’t make a putt. As the round went on, I started making putts and started hitting fairways.”

Despite making bogey on his very first hole, the field was chasing Morrison for much of the day. The senior sat at 2-over through 12 holes before getting bit by a triple-bogey on the very next hole. He managed to play the final six holes at 6-over with a birdie squeezed in between at the par 5, 14th hole.

“My irons were working early and I would leave my first putt a couple of inches away for a tap-in usually,” Morrison said. “Today we were just looking for two scores near the 70s then having our third and fourth golfers coming in with decent scores.”

The back-end of the St. Marys roster included Carter Edwards (88) and cross country runner Desmond Parks (93). This season, Edwards finally got his turn to be in the starting lineup.

“This is the first time Carter has come out and played in a high-pressure situation like this, and he really came through for us today with his best round of the year,” Williams said. “We were so proud of him. He had the biggest smile painted on his face.”

Class AA, Region IV

Mingo Bottom Golf Course pulled off a doubleheader on Monday. In addition to hosting the Class A, Region I Tournament, the venue also welcomed six schools for the Class AA, Region IV Tournament.

Roane County (277) gave it a good ride before placing third in the team standings behind regional champ Logan (260) and runner-up Sissonville (273).

The Raiders, however, did not leave empty-handed. In somewhat of an upset, their No. 4 golfer Wattson Nichols shaved seven strokes off his previous personal best 18-hole total and placed third as an individual after shooting an 87. The sophomore earned one of the two individual qualifying spots for golfers not members of a qualifying team.

“Honestly, this is the best I have ever played,” Nichols said. “I don’t know why. I just showed up with a clear mind, hoping we could qualify as a team.”

And to think, the first time he picked up a club was less than three months ago. He is a wrestler by trade.

“I just bought a set of golf clubs off eBay and thought I would join the team,” Nichols said. “When I started playing, it was bad. I learned by watching YouTube. A lot of YouTube.”

Class A, Region IV

Wirt County missed qualifying as a team, yet legitimately had three individuals qualified. Problem being, only two could advance.

During the Class A, Region IV Tournament at Riverside Golf Course in Mason, juniors JJ Smith and Wyatt Boice earned the two spots as individual qualifiers for next week’s state tournament in Wheeling who were not members of a qualifying team.

Smith turned in the sixth-lowest score with an 80, while Boice tied teammate Kate Dotson with a 92. Unfortunately, Boice and Dotson went to a playoff with Boice winning on the first extra hole.

Charleston Catholic (22) and Wahama (233) finished 1-2 in the team standings, while Wirt County took third at 264.

“Kate did not disappoint, she did really well to be put in that position,” Wirt County coach Daneen Shears said. “Kate blew me away with how she played today.

“JJ was up and down a good bit, while Wyatt was in and out of trouble.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com.