Mount Airy wins State Runner-up Trophy

WEST END — Mount Airy capped off a successful golf season by taking home the 1A State Runner-up trophy.

In addition to winning team hardware, Granite Bear Shockley Hiatt tied for third individually and Brandon Bowman was named a recipient of the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Award.

“These fellas put in the work this year and we had a great season,” said Mount Airy coach Mark Hiatt. “We didn’t lose a match in the regular season, won regionals then played great at states. We were disappointed being so close to the top spot and falling just short, but I told them they had absolutely nothing to hang their heads about.

“I’m very proud of all our guys.”

Mount Airy’s runner-up finish marks the program’s best performance at the state championship match since winning the 1A State Championship in 2016.

The Bears finished state runner-up with a team score of 477 strokes at 7 Lakes Golf Club in West End. Mount Airy finished just three strokes behind Mitchell, which captured its second-straight 1A State Title. Mitchell was led by senior Connor Warren, who put his name in the history books by becoming just the third golfer in NCHSAA history — and the first since 2003 — to win three individual state titles.

Mount Airy trailed by eight strokes after the first 18 holes of competition on May 13, but beat Mitchell by five on the second day.

“We pushed Mitchell hard and cut their lead down to a stroke at one point; I think they got a little nervous down the stretch,” Coach Hiatt said. “Warren is a super nice kid and an excellent golfer, and Mitchell has a talented team overall. Once we saw we could hang with them it did a lot for our confidence.

“Golf is a fickle game. You can look really good for a while and then run into a bad hole or two. We made it close, but Mitchell held on.”

Day one of competition went by without any trouble. Shockley Hiatt led Mount Airy with an 18-hole score of 76, or five-over-par. Brandon Bowman was next at 80 (+9), followed by Carson Webb at 83 (+12), Finley Baird at 84 (+13) and Mason Varney at 89 (+18).

Day two was, in Coach Hiatt’s words, “just a long, wet day.”

Mount Airy had a late start to the day as the second-place team. Bad weather loomed over the course all day before play was finally interrupted midway through the afternoon, leading to a 2.5 hour delay. It was close to 6 p.m. before play resumed.

Due to the weather, the second day of competition was cut in half to nine holes. Mount Airy’s second-day score of 154 was five strokes better than Mitchell and nine strokes better than the rest of the field.

Mitchell won the team championship with a total score of 474, followed by Mount Airy at 477 and Mountain Island Charter at 492.

Hiatt led Mount Airy with a total score of 112 (+6). He only trailed Mitchell’s Warrant at 107 (+1) and Langtree Charter’s Samuel Skoog at 110 (+4), while tying Christ the King Catholic High School’s Colin Ferrick.

Bowman had the Bears’ second-highest finish in 12th place with a score of 117 (+11), followed by Webb in 24th at 124 (+18), and Varney and Baird tied for 38th with a score of 129 (+23).

“If you told me at the beginning of the season that we would finish second in the state I would’ve been thrilled,” Coach Hiatt said. “I thought we would be pretty good from the start, but these guys surprised me with how much they dominated early in the season. As the season went on that surprise went away.

“This was a really good team overall. Everyone got along great, and if somebody had a bad day they picked him up.”

Coach Hiatt thanked his three seniors — Webb, Varney and Anderson DeVore — and said the returning players are already thinking about how to improve next season.

“My guys are really pumped about getting started again,” the coach said. “They know we’ve got the talent. They feel like we’ll have a really good shot here next year. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Team Scores

Results listed as: Place, School, Total Score (First day 18-hole score, Second day 9-hole score)

1. Mitchell 474 (315, 159)

2. Mount Airy 477 (323, 154)

3. Mountain Island Charter 492 (329, 163)

4. Cornerstone Charter Academy 499 (335, 164)

5. Cherryville 503 (335, 168)

6. Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School 520 (343, 177)

7. East Wake Academy 535 (355, 180)

T-8. Rosewood 546 (368, 178)

T-8. Northside-Pinetown 546 (362, 184)

10. Wake Preparatory Academy 548 (360, 188)

11. North East Carolina Preparatory 572 (384, 188)

12. Lejeune 608 (404, 204)

Top Individual Scores

Results listed as: Place, Name, School, Total Score (to par)

1. Connor Warren, Mitchell, 107 (+1)

2. Samuel Skoog, Langtree Charter, 110 (+4)

T-3. Shockley Hiatt, Mount Airy, 112 (+6)

T-3. Colin Ferrick, Christ the King Catholic, 112 (+6)

5. Brandon Sorrels, Cornerstone Charter Academy, 113 (+7)

T-6. Sawyer Slate, South Stokes, 114 (+8)

T-6. Hank Johnson, Avery County, 114 (+8)

T-8. Brady Hall, East Wilkes, 115 (+9)

T-8. Blake Teddler, Cherryville, 115 (+9)

T-10. Ethan Gelo, East Wake Academy, 116 (+10)

T-10. Jace Barnes, Wake Preparatory Academy, 116 (+10)