Depth was the difference for the Lord Botetourt golfers as they captured the Blue Ridge District regular season golf championship by 61 strokes last week.

Botetourt had five golfers in the top 11 in the final regular season standings. The BRD regular season consisted of five rounds of 18 holes with each team hosting a match. Botetourt won all five rounds, winning by 20 strokes at the Botetourt Golf & Swim Club, 11 strokes at Ole Monterey, one stroke at Hanging Rock, six strokes at Westlake and 11 strokes last Tuesday at Blue Hills to win going away.

Brett Pennington led the Cavaliers both last week and for the season. He shot an even par 71 at Blue Hills to finish second in the district to William Byrd sophomore Bryce Corkery, who scorched the course with a six-under 65. Pennington was the only golfer with a chance to catch Corkery for season medalist heading into the match at Blue Hills, but when the Byrd golfer shot a 65 all Brett could do was congratulate him.

Other scores for LB last week were 79 by Joe Crump, 80 by Kaitlyn Mosdell and 85 for Tucker Grimshaw for a score of 315. William Byrd was second on its home course at 326 and Staunton River, who finished second for the season, shot 338.

Botetourt’s final season team score was 1,601 to 1,662 for Staunton River. Byrd was third at 1,733, followed by Northside at 1,758 and William Fleming at 2,154.

While Byrd had the individual champ, Botetourt had five of the next 10 season scores and that was the big difference in the team championship. LB golfers finished seventh, eighth and ninth with Crump, Mosdell and Kyle Lograsso. Grimshaw was 11th.

“If someone had a bad round there was always someone there to pick up the slack,” said LB coach Todd Smith.

The BRD championship was Botetourt’s first since 2012. The Cavaliers had won five straight from 2008 to 2012.

Now, the golfers will try to stay focused until the important post-season tournaments. To keep it fun, Smith has split the team into two groups this week for the annual “Cavalier Cup” three-day tournament. There’s a trophy that goes to the winner in an adjusted “Stableford” point system.

“It’s just something to keep them interested,” said Smith. “We’ve done it before and the kids really enjoy it.”