Cloverdale golf team nearing sectional

CLOVERDALE -- On Thursday the Cloverdale golf team saw its recent great play come to a halt when it came up against Martinsville. They took a loss 159-195.

The scores of the golfers were relatively low but they couldn't compete with the low scores of the Artesians' Baylor Payne and Clayton Winders. They had 35 and 37 respectively.

Rylan Mattocks and Freddie Fislar were the two low men with 45 and 46.

"Any progress we have made over the last two weeks was absent in this round," Clover coach Doug Wokoun said. "Although we did some good things and had some good holes, generally speaking this was a strong setback for us. We were flat and, I felt, mentally we were not in a competitive mode."

Aaron Whitlock and Chase Snyder came in with scores of 52 and Zach Nichols shot a 54.

"Aaron has an injury that has adversely affected his swing, and we don't have any depth to compensate for his loss. All of our guys had some bad luck and some course management issues. We have no time to seek a fix, as we play again tomorrow. Hopefully we will come out with a better mental attitude and can have a few bounces go our way," Wokoun said.

The Clovers are still sporting a 10-6 record and will look to get back into the swing of things before the sectional rounds begin on June 6 where they will be in the Martinsville bracket.

On Friday an injury-ridden Clover team still came out with a win at Clover Meadows despite one of its heavy hitters being out, Cloverdale still beat Clay City 195-207.

"We were short-handed, with Rylan out and Aaron fighting through his hand issues," Wokoun said. "Chase played pretty well, with only one bad hole. Aaron has two holes that went badly, but considering the injury, he played well."

Stringing the holes into a complete match is the big problem, according to the coach, but the issues being dealt with now will hopefully put them in better mental shape for the postseason.

"Freddie had seven pretty good holes, but two holes that just destroyed his round. Zach has some good holes and made some very good shots, but consistency continues to be a challenge," Wokoun said. "This was our fourth match in five nights, and I think the last two nights we were not mentally sharp. It was pretty grueling, but hopefully it will make us a little better in the longer view. I know our guys are working hard, and we will see a payoff down the road."

At Clovermeadows Thursday

Cloverdale 195

Martinsville - Baylor Payne 35, Clayton Winders 37, Griffin Brinkley 42, Mason Ferguson 45, James Tackett 46, Carey Craig 52

Cloverdale - Rylan Mattocks 45, Freddie Fislar 46, Aaron Whitlock 52, Chase Snyder 52, Zach Nichols 54

At Clover Meadows Friday

Cloverdale - Chase Snyder 43, Aaron Whitlock 47, Zach Nichols 52, Freddie Fislar 53

Clay City - Nathan Farmer 48, Paiden Myers 51, Justin Buell 54, Bailey Smith 54, Griffith Donner 58, Travis Strough 64