Harris edges Casolari in Pine Mountain Golf Conference tourney

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Harlan County’s Brayden Casolari placed second in a tournament on Tuesday in Pineville.

Middlesboro and senior Tyler Harris were winners Tuesday in a Pine Mountain Golf Conference meet at the Wasioto Winds course in Pineville.
The Yellow Jackets won the team title with a 178, two strokes ahead of Harlan County. Knox Central was third with a 194 and Bell County was fourth at 205.
“Tonight definitely wasn’t our best outing of the year. My guys just didn’t have it tonight,” Harlan County coach Greg Lewis said. “It seemed like every time we missed a shot we hit it to the worst possible position with the worst possible outcome. But even with that we were second by only two shots. The ceiling for this team is sky high. With such young players I have to expect days like today.”
Harris shot a 37, one stroke ahead of Harlan County’s Brayden Casolari. Alex Creech was next for the Bears, finishing fifth with a 44. Matt Lewis was eighth with a 48, followed by Cole Cornett with a 50 and Evan Simpson with a 56.
“Brayden battled to a good second place finish. After a tough weekend playing and winning in Tennessee he was definitely running on empty. He left a few shots on the course but his play is just getting better every week out. Matt hit the ball very well but just missed the wrong shots in the worst possible places that cost him pretty hard. He putted well and drove the ball very well with the exception of one hole. He just missed a couple shots where you can’t miss,” Lewis said. “Cole had a tough day. He has played so well it was just a matter of time before he had one of those days where things just didn’t go well. Like Matt, when he missed he missed in places that were impossible to recover from.. Alex was out for his first event of the season and after a shaky start played really well. He hit the ball very well and putted very well. As he gets a few events in and gets used to the competitive events his scores will get better and better. Evan played well. Again, he’s a newcomer to competitive golf. Every time he tees it up he’s getting better and better. He’s gotten better scores each time out. He’s definitely putting in the work, and I really look for his scores to improve more and more. I have to remind myself that he’s only been playing competitive golf for about two months.”
Aiden Johnson shot a 44 and Kevin Thomas Lee shot a 60 in representing Harlan.
Both county teams return to action on Sept. 3 at the Harlan Country Club.
“I’m very excited about the progress of these boys,” Lewis said. “They play hard, but more importantly they play the game the right way with the proper etiquette for the game. I like the improvements we’ve been making, and I’m very confident about our chances in the conference tournament coming up in a couple weeks.”