Locals hold their own at West Virginia Open
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DANIELS -- Bridgeport native and PGA Tour Americas member Mason Williams finished in the red during all three of his rounds at the 93rd West Virginia Open contested at The Resort at Glade Springs to secure the championship by three strokes over runner-up Ryan Bilby.
Bilby, who led Williams by a stroke entering Friday’s final round, shot even par while Williams finished 4-under en route to a three-day total of 206 (-10).
David Bradshaw was five strokes off the pace and finished third while Cam Roam’s 3-under par total of 213 placed him in solo fourth.
Rounding out the top 10 were Davey Jude (T5th, -1), Carson Higginbotham (T5th, -1), Todd Duncan (T7th, E), Argyle Downes (T7th, E), Logan Lagodich (T9th, +1) and Lucas Cromeenes (T9th, +1). Roam, Jude, Higginbotham and Downes are all amateurs.
The best area finish came from pro Kenny Hess. The Parkersburg South graduate and 2020 Open champion had rounds of 72, 75 and 72 to finish with a 3-over par 219, which put him in solo 11th place.
Former Ravenswood and West Liberty standout Alex Easthom had his best round of the tournament on Friday at the Stonehaven Course where the pro fired a 1-under par 71.
“I actually felt pretty good going into the Open because I was hitting it well and I was putting OK,” admitted Easthom. “I just had a lot of bad holes I usually don’t have. I think I played three holes at 9-over par and 51 holes at 4-under par.
“It was really like three holes that got me. I still wouldn’t have had a chance to win. I played good golf. There was like three holes I had a complete meltdown on.”
Easthom, who is the superintendent of Route 56 Golf Course (formerly Greenhills), recorded an ace on the 179-yard, par-3, No. 12 hole and finished with a 5-over par total of 221, which put him in a tie for 17th.
“They put the hole in kind of like a bowl almost so you could hit behind it,” Easthom said of his second career ace. “I probably hit like 10 feet behind the hole and it started rolling back like toward the hole and I guess it went into like the shadow of the flagstick and we thought it went in and we started cheering.
“Then the ball came out of the shadow of the flagstick and we could see the golf ball again, and we were like ‘man, ahh, it lipped out’ and we were like ‘ahh, we celebrated to soon’, and then it disappeared again. That’s when Sarah (Cole of the WVGA) was up by the green and she stood up and threw her arms up and we’re like ‘holy crap, it went in.’ It was a roller coaster of emotions. My scorecard was a roller coaster, also.”
Parkersburg South graduate Ben Palmer and Wirt County freshman Jude Walker finished the tournament at 13-over par and tied for 33rd.
Walker, who is set to make his prep debut for the Tigers next week, qualified for the Open last year, but failed to make the cut.
“It was really fun. The course was tough,” admitted Walker, who is 14. “It was just fun competing against this strong of a field. Probably one of the strongest fields I’ve ever been in. The course was ridiculous.
“It was so hard, but it was just fun to play that course. I definitely felt like my game was in a better place this year than it was last year and I just tried to avoid big numbers as well as I could. I threw a few on there.”
Having a solid week (75-76-78=229) like he did is something the Tiger hopes will be of help in the future.
“It definitely gives me some confidence, especially like playing on that difficulty of a course and knowing I can go out there and shoot those kind of scores, and I mean there’s only like two people I think that are going to be in high school next year that beat me down there, and they were both older kids,” Walker said. “That gives me some confidence going into the high school season, too. This week I’ve struggled a little bit off the tee, but round one I kept it pretty steady.
“I did make a few great par saves. I scrambled well in round one and then round two I rolled in several 6 to 8 footers for par and the putter definitely kept me in the round. I could’ve turned that round into an 82 real quick. Today, the putter was pretty good considering how difficult the greens were. They had some pins in some really difficult spots. The greens are quick. I felt like I played pretty steady. I didn’t hit it the best off the tee, but I kept it in play for the most part.”
Also competing on Friday after making the 36-hole cut were ex-Patriots Cameron Fallon (T48th, +19) and Parker Vannoy (T54th, +21) as well as former St. Marys Blue Devil Coleman Lamp (T52nd, +20).
Final results from the 93rd W.Va. Open
at The Resort at Glade Springs
1. Mason Williams* 70-68-68=206 (-10)
2. Ryan Bilby* 71-66-72=209 (-7)
3. David Bradshaw* 72-69-70=211 (-5)
4. Cam Roam 73-69-71-213 (-3)
T5. Davey Jude 74-70-71=215 (-1)
T5. Carson Higginbotham 73-70-72=215 (-1)
T7. Todd Duncan* 74-71-71=216 (E)
T7. Argyle Downes 72-74-70=216 (E)
T9. Logan Lagodich* 71-74-72=217 (+1)
T9. Lucas Cromeenes* 70-73-74=217 (+1)
11. Kenny Hess* 72-75-72=219 (+3)
T12. Tanner Vest 73-76-71=220 (+4)
T12 Jackson Woodburn 73-74-73=220 (+4)
T12. Cole Moore* 74-73-73=220 (+4)
T12. Christian Brand 71-75-74=220 (+4)
T12. Bryson Beaver 72-73-75=220 (+4)
T17. Alex Easthom* 76-74-71=221 (+5)
T17. Jess Ferrell 78-69-74=221 (+5)
T17. David Scragg* 70-76-75=221 (+5)
20. Chris Williams 68-79-75=222 (+6)
T21. Brian Anania 75-76-72=223 (+7)
T21. Joseph Kalaskey 73-76-74=223 (+7)
T21. Tommy Evans 77-70-76=223 (+7)
T24. Trevor Hedges* 77-75-72=224 (+8)
T24. Pat Carter 68-75-81=224 (+8)
T26. Noah Mullens 80-72-73=225 (+9)
T26. Landon Perry* 73-78-74=225 (+9)
T26. Ian Patrick 76-75-74=225 (+9)
T26. Rocky Frye 79-69-77=225 (+9)
30. Campbell Koegler 78-73-76=227 (+11)
T31. Stephen McDavid 77-76-75=228 (+12)
T31. Bryan Myers 73-73-82=228 (+12)
T33. Alex Randolph 77-76-76=229 (+13)
T33. Jude Walker 75-76-78=229 (+13)
T33. Ben Palmer 76-75-78=229 (+13)
T33. John Ross* 76-73-80=229 (+13)
T37. Grant Roush 80-75-75=230 (+14)
T37. Owen Elliott 71-83-76=230 (+14)
T37. Matthew Aman 79-75-76=230 (+14)
T37. Isaac Hutchison 75-75-80=230 (+14)
T41. Jace Lancaster 78-77-76=231 (+15)
T41. Thadd Obecny II* 76-78-77=231 (+15)
T41. Justin Estep* 76-77-78=231 (+15)
T41. Christian Casingal 80-73-78=231 (+15)
45. Zach Chapman 77-75-80=232 (+16)
T46. Jackson Williams 82-73-78=233 (+17)
T46. Cameron Jarvis 80-76-77=233 (+17)
T48. Cameron Fallon 78-78-79=235 (+19)
T48. Drew Green 81-72-82=235 (+19)
T48. Adam Gill 79-75-81=235 (+19)
T48. Trenton Roush 80-74-81=235 (+19)
T52. Coleman Lamp 76-80-80=236 (+20)
T52. Jeff McGraw 77-75-84=236 (+20)
T54. Nikolas Tomblin 78-73-86=237 (+21)
T54. Parker Vannoy 75-80-82=237 (+21)
56. Justin Doerr 76-78-84=238 (+22)
57. Duncan Waugaman 78-78-83=239 (+23)
T58. William Biddington 74-82-84=240 (+24)
T58. William Wentz 74-82-84=240 (+24)
T60. John Kingora 80-76-85=241 (+25)
T60. Andrew Pennybacker 79-77-85=241 (+25)
*Denotes pro