Oak Ridge golf takes second in tri-match
Both of Oak Ridge High School’s golf teams enjoyed success last week.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats hosted a three-way match against Hardin Valley Academy and Kingston on Thursday at Oak Ridge Country Club.
The Wildcats finished second in a close contest against Hardin Valley’s boys, a team favored to make a deep postseason run in 2024.
Hardin Valley edged Oak Ridge by just eight strokes, posting a team score of 143 compared to Oak Ridge’s 151.
Kingston finished third with 169.
“Hardin Valley is one of the top teams in our district, and it’s good to know that we can compete with them,” OR Coach Scott Hinton said. “Our goal is to shoot under 150, and we’re getting closer.”
Senior Jack Bentz captured low medalist honors. He impressed his coach with a stellar performance on the par-36 front-9 at ORCC, finishing 4-under with a score of 32.
“Jack played really well,” Hinton said. “He was four under, and when you have four birdies in nine holes, that’s really getting after it. He was hitting it really well.”
Hunter Hinton also had a strong showing, finishing even-par with a 36. Lewis Niad struggled with a score of 39, and Kaleb Jackson rounded out the Oak Ridge scoring with a 44.
Coach Hinton was also impressed with the Oak Ridge girls, who posted a second-place finish.
“Our girls beat Kingston, and I was really pleased with that,” he said. “Hardin Valley is really good. I’m pleased because our guys are getting better, and our girls are starting to enjoy it.”
The Lady Hawks posted a team total of 75. Oak Ridge finished with a score of 105, followed by Kingston with 110.
Kaedyn Hollander led the Lady Wildcats with a round of 52. Lilli-Grace Langenberger and Kaiya Barnes each shot 53, with one of their scores counting toward the team total.