Owensboro boys prepare for golf hoping for success with semistate appearance

Considering the inclement weather that caused hours-long delays and pushed the regional tournament into a second day, Owensboro head coach Pat Hume was pleased his team shot .300.

“I’m pretty happy with the 300, with the conditions and everything,” Hume said. “Our goal is always to get under 300, but because of the wind and water, I’ll take 300. I’ll win, but 300 is a pretty good score.”

The 300 gave the Red Devils their first regional golf tournament title since the 1982-83 season and was 22 strokes better than second place in Daviess County. But .300 may not be enough for a team that has its sights set on a deep run into the postseason and will face tough competition in the Semi-State next Wednesday.

“It feels great to win OSH’s long-awaited regional golf championship,” Hume said. “There have been a lot of good golfers over the years who have not won a team championship through OHS, so this is a special goal because it takes a whole team to achieve this goal.”

The event, originally scheduled for Monday, was pushed back two days due to weather conditions. The girls, who play on the same field, continue to be scheduled on Tuesday. Red Devils will take the field at 08:00 in the morning. You can access live updates here.

Play-off Goals

The Red Devils are one of eight teams from districts one through four traveling to the Hopkinsville Semistate Club on Wednesday. Each region also sends the top 10 players from teams that did not place in the top two, rounding out the 80 golfers. Four of the eight participating teams shot under .300 in their respective regional tournaments; That includes McCracken County, which shot 293.

“McCracken has been kind of a competition for us this year,” senior Nolan Warren said. “They and Taylor County were in the top three with us in the Semistate preview.”

In most of the tournaments Owensboro has entered in Western Kentucky this year, teams are grouped by season averages and almost always pit the Red Devils against McCraken. The two teams took turns beating each other, but Hume believes his team has had a head-to-head season.

Owensboro and McCracken are considered the favorites to win the tournament, with Taylor County and Marshall County behind them. Hume believes his team must shoot 295 or better to win. Individually, McCracken’s Landon Hunt is seen as the favorite and is a player the Red Devils know quite well. He’s also a player Owensboro is looking forward to beating.

“I think we put in a lot of time and effort,” junior Jax Malone said. “I think we’re in a great position to go out there and win.”

Due to last weekend’s storm and Tuesday’s girls tournament, none of the participating teams will be able to practice at the Hopkinsville field prior to Wednesday morning’s start time. Instead, the Red Devils will train locally, focusing on consistency and eliminating wasted shots.

“We can’t afford to throw away shots,” Hume said. “No punching from behind the trees or taking penalty kicks… Our guys performed extremely well but we saw some ups and downs off the tee. Improved putting strokes and putting balls into the fairway are a must. Hopkinsville is the kind of track where we don’t really need a driver.”

Despite the increased competition on Wednesday, it’s win or upset for the Red Devils.

“Our team will be disappointed if we don’t improve because it means we are not performing to our potential,” Hume said. “If they do their job as a team, they will move on and that will achieve all their goals.”