HS Golf: Shady Spring edges Greenbrier East in AAA Region 3 showdown

Cooper Ward led the Tigers with a 33 (3-under par), while Sam Roshau was one-shot back for the Spartans

Shady Spring and Greenbrier East are ranked No. 2 and No. 6, respectively in the most recent Class AAA West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission golf poll.

Monday evening the two powerhouses collided on the Cobb Course at Glade Spring in a regular season showdown.

As expected, the match went down to the final putt.

Counting three out of four scores similar to the postseason, the Tigers edged the Spartans by just one shot, 109-110.

Cooper Ward paced Shady Spring with a 3-under par 33, followed by Malachi Flohr with a 37 and Grant Winkler with a 39.

Sam Roshau nearly matched Ward's low round by firing a 34 for Greenbrier East, while Nate Dolin carded a 36 and Isaac Hutchison finished with 40.

Ward, who has been playing solid golf as the postseason draws near, had a feeling he was going to play well, even before the round started.

"I played pretty solid today," Ward said. " I felt like it was going to be a good round when I was making putts on the practice green and hitting the range balls pretty good."

Following a par on the first hole, Ward crushed his drive on the par-5 second hole, leaving him just 153 yards into the pin.

An approach to the center of the green and two putts gave Ward the first of four birdies on the day.

"I am smashing the driver right now," Ward said. "It is definitely the best club in the bag."

The only blemish of the round for the Shady Spring senior came on the third hole. A solid approach shot found a firm spot on the green, rolling to the upper shelf. The ensuing three-putt yielded a bogey to move Ward back to even par.

"I hit a good 7-iron and I thought it would stop because it was a little into the wind," Ward explained. "It land and bounced up, so I had a 20-foot slider down a hill. It didn't turn as much as I thought."

Following a par on the next hole, Ward made two straight birdies on holes five and six, before capping the round with a birdie on the final hole.

"It's always good to play the par-5's, 2-under (par)," Ward said. "I hit my drive to like 20 yards from the green on six, so if I didn't get a birdie there, I would have been pretty disappointed. I hit it to like two-feet and birdied nine."

Roshau admitted he didn't see his impressive round coming, especially after making a double-bogey at No. 1 to start his day.

Missing a scoring chance on the par-5 and recording two straight pars, further darkened the idea of a low round.

Everything changed on the par-5, 5th-hole when Roshau hit his second shot on the green for a short eagle-putt which he rolled in to quickly go back to even-par.

"I thought my round wasn't going to go so well, then I got the eagle and that turned things around for me," Roshau said. "The next hole I hit a drive pretty close to the green and made birdie."

Riding the momentum, Roshau hit another leaner on No. 6 for a birdie to go under par. Similar to Ward, Roshau bombed a drive on No. 9 for another short birdie putt to close out his round.

"I had about 75-yards into the hole," Roshau said about his approach on No.9. "I had a downhill, 6-footer and made the birdie."

After a tough start to the season, Roshau is now playing his best golf at just the right time of year.

"I wasn't playing so great at the start of the season," Roshau said. "I'm starting to lock in my swing and starting to find it. Hopefully that carries on to regionals.

The AAA regional golf tournament will be held Oct. 6 at Grandview Country Club.