Brayden Casolari made it four for four to open the golf season and the Harlan County Black Bears continued their blazing start with a victory in a Pine Mountain Golf Conference match Monday at the Harlan Country Club.

Harlan County finished with 158 points to defeat Middlesboro and Bell County by 21 strokes each. Knox Central finished at 203, with J. Frank White Academy at 22. Harlan also competed but did not have enough golfers to qualify for a team score.
Casolari, a freshman, finished with a 34 to defeat teammate Cole Cornett by five strokes for medalist honors. Harlan’s Aiden Johnson and Knox Central’s Grant Miller tied for third as each shot a 40. Harlan County’s Alex Creech was fifth with a 41.
Matt Lewis, with a 44, and Evan Simpson, with a 56, rounded out the scoring for HCHS. Kevin Thomas Lee shot a 57 for Harlan.
“I’m proud of my guys tonight. They played hard and put together a great round. They are hitting the ball much better and playing a lot smarter golf,” Harlan County coach Grew Lewis said. “Bell and Middlesboro played great rounds as well. All of these kids in this conference are getting better every time out. We still left some shots on the course. The exciting part of this group is seeing the improvement every time we play. We have a few goals we’ve set that we are working hard towards. These kids are focused and putting the work in. I’m glad to see the positive results coming for them.”