Playing in one of the biggest tournament fields in school history, the Harlan County Black Bears brought home a third-place finish Tuesday in the Farmers and Miners Invitational at Cedar Hill Country Club in Jonesville, Va.
Lee, Va., won the 18-team tournament with a score of 321, four strokes ahead of Castlewood, Va., and five ahead of Harlan County.
HCHS freshman Brayden Casolari had the best finish for the Bears in fifth with a 75. Cole Cornett was ninth with an 80, and Alex Creech was 16th with an 85. Matt Lewis placed 17th with an 86.
“As I’ve said before, these guys are starting to figure out their games. This is the best invitational finish I know of in HCHS history,” Harlan County coach Greg Lewis said. “Cedar Hill is a sneaky, tough course. You have to be on with all parts of your game to score well here. We finished five shots out of the lead and we easily left 12-15 shots out there.
“We had a few holes where guys got a little to aggressive with putts or short irons that lead to some high scores. Some of that was being too aggressive and some of that was not being familiar with the course. Today was the first time two of my guys had ever seen the course. In hindsight, I should have had them out for a practice round here, and that’s on me. But to finish where we did with the number of shots we left out there with correctable mistakes is promising going forward.bWe did schedule a return match with Lee High, and my guys are itching to get back over here for another shot at the course. But now we are going to take a few days off to rest and get ready for the rest of the season.”