Three seniors celebrated ahead of Richmond’s 4th place finish at Whispering Pines

WHISPERING PINES — Another one of Richmond Senior High School’s fall sports teams celebrated its senior players Monday.

The Lady Raider golf team, as well as the other member schools of the Sandhills Athletic Conference, took time before teeing off at the Country Club of Whispering Pines to recognize golfers who were nearing the end of their high school careers.

Richmond had three senior players this season — Tess Bryant, Jacey McRae and Ella Munn.

Munn has been a four-year member of the program, with McRae playing since her sophomore season. Bryant joined the Lady Raiders as a senior.

Family members and friends were on hand to celebrate, as each Lady Raider was given a gift basket, balloons and flowers.

“We had a great time before the round recognizing our three seniors, Ella, Jacey and Tess,” head coach Keith Parsons shared. “It’s hard to put into words what Ella meant to our program over the past four years. In her sophomore year, she began the season as our only player and helped recruit Jacey to join us, and Ella has provided leadership ever since.

“And Jacey has gotten better each year and seems more comfortable than ever on the course. Tess decided to come out as a senior and quickly showed her talent in one of our early practices, and she has been very solid for us. We appreciate all the support we received from parents and family and friends at Whispering Pines.”

The pre-round excitement didn’t carry over as much as the teams would have liked, as Whispering Pines proved to be a difficult challenge across the board.

Richmond’s top three golfers on the day — freshman Talley Webb, Munn and Bryant — combined to post a final score of 333. That total was 25 strokes more as a unit than the Lady Raiders’ outing at Deercroft last week.

Webb, already a 4A regional qualifier, continued to pace Richmond on the scorecard. She opened the day with a 48 on the front nine, while improving to shoot a 47 on the back nine for a score of 95.

Munn and Bryant shot matching scores of 119. On the front, Munn posted a 60 and shot a 59 on the back. Bryant’s scorecard was a 61 on the first nine holes and a 58 after the turn.

“Whispering Pines played infinitely more difficult than Deercroft a week earlier,” Parsons said. “The course was about a thousand yards longer overall, and the undulations made the walk even harder. For example, Pinecrest finished with a score of 18-under at Deercroft and finished 16-over at Whispering Pines, a swing of 34 strokes.

“That makes Talley’s round even more impressive, since was only one shot better at Deercroft. She battled so hard to keep it on the rails, because she didn’t quite have her A-game. It was one of those days which could have gotten away from her and she didn’t let it.”

McRae and freshman Bayden Bendell also battled the course and were just a few shots off from being one of the team’s top-three finishers.

On her senior night, McRae shot a 123 (61, 62), while Bendell was one stroke behind McRae with a 124 (61, 63).

As a team, Richmond finished fourth overall out of six teams, the second time the Lady Raiders have done that this season.

Pinecrest led the field with a 232, followed by Lee County (282) and Union Pines (319) high schools. Scotland High School was fifth behind Richmond with a score of 334, while Southern Lee High School’s score was incomplete at the time of publication.

“I also want to mention Bayden, who consistently has improved on the course and kept her great attitude,” Parsons concluded. “I get a kick out of watching her play and interact with her playing partners, and I’m sure everyone who has played with her feels as if she made a friend for life. That’s our Bayden.”

The regular season will conclude next Monday at Pinehurst No. 6, the final chance for golfers to try and qualify for the postseason. Golfers will begin a shotgun start at 2 p.m.