The Botetourt County golf teams will tee it up for the first time in a high school match next Monday, August 5. Both Lord Botetourt and James River will be competing in the John Scott Invitational at London Downs.
The tournament, hosted by Heritage High, will include 24 teams. LB finished third last year, their best finish ever in what was then called the Heritage Invitational. It might be tough to match that finish this year.
“We lost some good golfers from last year and it will be a very tough field,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “Mills Godwin and some good teams from the Richmond area will be in the field, along with Blacksburg and some other real good teams.”
The Cavaliers lost three seniors from last year’s starting lineup, including number one player Brett Pennington, but they return some quality golfers. Senior Kyle Lograsso and junior Kaitlyn Mosdell were both first team all-district players last year and Samir Davidov, a sophomore, was first team All-Region 3D. Newcomer Ashton Harper, a freshman, is expected to make an immediate impact and Smith is looking for improved play from senior Logan Hollandsworth and junior Jacob Vance. Both figure to compete for a spot in the top six.
At River, returning players from last year’s varsity team are Silas Miller and Joey Schroeder. Both have played a number of tournaments during the off-season so they should ease right into the season.
Ryan Steger and Landon Barger will be moving up from JV to varsity this year and coach Donna Cox expects both of them to be strong players. Owen Marshall will also be returning.
After the John Scott Invitational both local teams will be competing in the annual Bob McLelland Metro Tournament on August 7 and 8. The first day will be held at Blue Hills and the second day is at the Blacksburg Country Club.