Borrelli’s best tops field
- Updated: April 14, 2017
Oxford senior shoots the round of his life in opening round of the Calhoun County Tournament, pushes Jackets into first-round lead.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Whether it’s kicking field goals or feathering a wedge into the green, Oxford senior Keaton Borrelli knows what a good shot feels like.
On Friday, the Oxford senior shot the round of his young golfing life, posting an even-par 72 with six birdies to grab the first-round individual lead in the Calhoun County Boys Championship at Pine Hill Country Club.
He leads White Plains junior Cameron McCareeth by two shots. Oxford teammate Will Turley and White Plains’ Nathan Griffin are another shot back at 75.
His career round helped the Yellow Jackets move atop a tight three-way race for the team title. Oxford posted 313 as a team, two ahead of defending champion White Plains and five ahead of third-place Donoho.
Borrelli, the kicker on Oxford’s football team who has been playing competitive high school golf only two years, hit 13 of 14 fairways, 10 greens in regulation and had 28 putts. He had eight one-putt greens. His lowest round prior to Friday was a 77.
“It was something else; it surprised me big time,” he said. “I made good contact all day long, hit good shots, made good putts. Everything was going well for me, I’d have to say. It was just on. There are just days certain things are on and certain things aren’t.
“Last week dad and I were in the backyard hitting and he told me to keep my left arm more into my chest. I always get to flying out and I’m never consistent, but today I really tried to keep it inside and keeping it inside made me hit a solid ball. I was walking around saying, ‘there’s no way this is real.'”
The key to the round was not letting a bad hole get him down. It’s often been said the secret to being a good player is not what you do after making birdie, but what you do after bogey and other. Borrelli went double-bogey on 14 and 15, then birdied 16 and 17. Then he doubled 18 with a ball in the water, but bounced back with a birdie at No. 1 to get back to even par.
In addition to Borrelli and Turley, the Jackets counted 83s from Jeremy Allen and Jake Munroe.
“We’re just glad to be in the conversation and have a chance on the second day,” Oxford coach Cale Wright said. “I just always ask them to play their best golf on three days — the county tournament and sectionals. I was very proud of the way they played and handled the situation today. We will see what we are made of tomorrow.”
White Plains might have held the overnight team lead had some of its players not stumbled coming home. The Wildcats were led by Cameron McCareeth’s competitive career-best 74 and Nathan Griffin’s 75. Colman Hayes was poised to join them, standing even par through 12 holes, but had everything from birdie to quintuple par in final six holes to finish with an 82.
McCareeth’s round featured three birdies, including a pitch-in on the par-3 14th, while Griffin had two birdies and an eagle at the par-4 17th.
“Tomorrow is going to be a shootout, we hope we’re going to be in the middle of it,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “I’m really proud of Cameron, best round of the year, but we’ve got to do a better job of grinding out every single shot as a team. We’ve got to grind out every single shot and finish better. We limped to the finish line and it’s going to come down to the last three or four holes tomorrow. We’ve got to be at our best every single shot.”
Donoho could three rounds in the 70s to stay within sight of the lead. Jacob LeCroy shot a 76 that featured three birdies in a four-hole stretch starting at 9, Harrison Hughston had 78 and Jack Svensen had 79. Holden Abernathy and Buddy Ray both shot 85.
“I’m just glad we’re close enough that we can possibly make something happen,” Falcons coach Garrett Burgess said. “We’re not out of it. We just need a couple shots from each player and we’re right there … I’m hoping we’re going to have a really good day tomorrow.”
CALHOUN COUNTY BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP
At Pine Hill CC
First-round scores
Team scores
Oxford 313
White Plains 315
Donoho 318
Alexandria 365
Pleasant Valley 382
Wellborn 399
Piedmont 413
Ohatchee 430
Jacksonville 447
Weaver 450
Individuals
Keaton Borrelli, Ox 35-37—72
Cameron McCareeth, WP 38-36—74
Will Turley, Ox 38-37—75
Nathan Griffin, WP 38-37—75
Jacob LeCroy, Don 37-39—76
Ethan Johnson, PV 39-38—77
Harrison Hughston, Don 40-38—78
Jack Svensen, Don 41-38—79
Wesley Jenkins, WP 42-38—80
Gavin Burrage, WP 40-41—81
Gage Miller, WP 39-42—81
Coleman Hayes, WP 37-45—82
Jake Munroe, Ox 42-41—83
P.J. Sotelo, WP 43-40—83
Jeremy Allen, Ox 42-41—83
Andrew Miller, WP 42-42—84
Josh Davis, WP 42-42—84
Jason Howard, Don 44-41—85
Ethan Floyd, Pied 41-44—85
Holden Abernathy, Don 42-43—85
Buddy Ray, Don 46-39—85
Will Bedwell, Pied 41-45—86
Tucker Pearson, WP 42-44—86
John Hutto, Don 41-45—86
Houston Conger, WP 45-42—87
Peyton Bradley, WP 42-45—87
Jackson Filligim, Ox 48-40—88
Hunter Watts, Alex 44-44—88
Kenny Okins, WP 46-42—88
Logan Gable, Alex 41-48—89
Braxton McFall, Jax 45-45—90
Austin Roberts, WP 48-43—91
Zach Nichols, Alex 46-48—94
Andrew Kilgore, Alex 46-48—94
Logan Lewis, WP 48-45—95
Zach Chandler, Well 47-48—95
Malakhi Gilbert, WP 46-50—96
Brooks Davis, PV 49-47—96
Tanner Alverez, WP 55-42—97
Gabe Tonogan, Wea 42-56—98
Taylor Harris, Ox 48-50—98
Sage Snow, Alex 45-43—98
Dylan Roberts, Wea 57-42—99
Dalton Epps, Well 48-52—100
Will Bowden, Alex 48-53—101
Brody Smith, Well 53-50—103
Daniel Norred, WP 52-51—103
Dennis Carr, Jax 51-53—104
JT Barthel, PV 53-51—104
Hunter Wert, Ox 51-53—104
Eddie Ferguson, Ohat 48-56—104
Luke Waugh, Well 50-54—104
Colby Gaines, PV 54-51—105
Chandler Cupp, Well 52-55—107
Colby Knight, WP 54-53—107
Blake Noah, Ohat 50-58—108
Parker Alexander, Ohat 54-54—108
Braden Knight, WP 51-58—109
Nick Silvy, Ohat 52-58—110
Will McFry, Ohat 53-57—110
Brock McSheridan, PV 53-58—111
Austin Barnes, Ohat 57-55—112
Hayden Eaton, WP 51-62—113
Logan Smith, WP 50-63—113
Carter Paris, Jax 58-57—115
Nick Coheley, Pied 56-59—115
Porter Stokes, WP 61-58—119
Tyler Cain, Jax 59-60—119
Logan Nelms, Alex 61-59—120
Ryan Thacker, Ohat 59-63—122
Jackson Burell, Jax 64-59—123
Brock Murphy, Wea 60-65—125
Conner Raulerson, Jax 63-63—126
Dreven Lipscomb, Pied 63-64—127
Nolan Howle, WP 65-63—128
Evan Marshall, PV 66-63—129
Joey Bolan, Wea 64-66—130
Samuel Cupp, Saks 67-72—139
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