Belpre’s Carson Moore holds his own on Callaway Junior Tour | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by Kerry Patrick
Belpre golfer Carson Moore tries to coax his chip shot closer to the hole on the 18th green at Greenhills County Club during Wednesday’s Callaway Junior Tour. Moore shared medalist honors with two other golfers in the 15-16 age division after turning in a round of 3-over 75.

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — Carson Moore stood his ground with some of the finest young golfers from West Virginia during Wednesday’s Callaway Junior Tour stop Greenhills Country Club.

Playing in the 15-18 age division, Moore turned in a round of 3-over 75 and landed in a three-way tie for first place with a pair of Winfield High School golfers who competed in the West Virginia Open. Joining Moore in a sudden death playoff were Stephen McDavid and Jackson Woodburn, both from Scott Depot.

The trio each made bogey on the par 3, 18th hole on the first hole of sudden death. On their second attempt on the same hole, McDavid and Moore both found the green on their tee shots. McDavid would make par, but Moore three-putted to match Woodburn’s bogey.

In the quest for runner-up honors, Moore and Woodburn had a chip-off. Both surrounded the hole, but Moore’s effort edged out Woodburn by a mere four inches after the tournament director measured the distance using the flagstick.

“There were some good shots and bad shots, but after a couple of holes I figured out my driver and started sinking birdie putts,” Moore said. “Everything came together. Nothing worse than a bogey.”

On his chip shot on No. 18, Parkersburg Catholic golfer Blake Lewis grabs a clump of grass with his club during Wednesday’s Callaway Junior Tour stop at Greenhills Country Club in Ravenswood. Lewis placed sixth in the 15-16 age group after shooting 87.
Photo by
Kerry Patrick

No one hole stood out among the others for Moore, other than the fact he could get off the tee without much issue.

“As far as anything memorable out there, I could hit my driver straight,” said the 15-year-old Moore, who enters his sophomore year at Belpre in the fall. “I haven’t been able to do that recently.”

A total of two local golfers placed runner-up in their respective age groups — Moore and Ravenswood High School golfer Kelan Lucas. For the 15-year-old Lucas, his birthday in terms of the Callaway Junior Tour cutoff date placed him in the 13-14 age division. Playing on his home course, Lucas turned in a round of 80 and four strokes back of medalist McCartney Hinkle from Bluefield, Va.

“I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out,” Lucas said. “I three-putted twice, but I struck the ball pretty good. Other than a couple of bad wedge shots it was pretty much routine.”

The stop at Greenhills marked only the second Callaway Junior Tour event this year for Lucas. in June, he placed eighth at Guyan Golf and Country Club.

“I arrived at Guyan about 20 minutes before the meeting and hit like 10 balls, but today I got to warm up.”

The past several years, Lucas has made the progression through the Callaway Junior Tour’s Rookie League and the Mid-Ohio Valley Junior Golf program. With his sophomore year approaching, he is looking to carve his own niche for the same Ravenswood High School golf program that his older brother, Alex Easthom, enjoyed great success and blazed his own trail as a Red Devil.

“I will probably be the only player for Ravenswood this year,” Lucas said. “Alex is coaching me and helps me when he can. I was going through a swing change last week at same time he was going through one for the West Virginia Open.

“I think he would be happy with how I am doing. He gives me a hard time because I am his younger brother, but I’m sure he is excited and happy for me.”

In the 17-18 age division, Summersville’s Ben Marsh turned in the low round on the boys side with a 73. Also taking home first place on the boys side was Barboursville’s Wyatt Maynard posting a 76 in the 12-under division.

Low round for the girls belonged to Westside High School golfer Kerri-Anne Cook, who won the 15-18 age category by four strokes after shooting 74. The golfer from Oceana recorded four birdies and one eagle during her round.

“The past few days my swing has felt really good — it felt really good warming up,” Cook said. “I’m getting to that point where I set my goals at the beginning of the summer and where I want my game to be for high school.”

Also receiving hardware for a first-place age division finish was Bridgeport’s McKenna Knotts, who posted a 102.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

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