SCD's Hartley and SVA's Sheffield win Savannah City High School Golf titles
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Savannah Country Day's Caden Hartley stood on the tee at Bacon Park Golf Course's 11th hole and sized up the situation as he got ready to play the 326-yard par-4.
The other three players in his foursome had laid up and walked down the fairway to their balls as the group in front of them cleared the green. Hartley waited alone on the tee, with a driver in his hands initially, before he put it back in his bag and grabbed his 3-wood.
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One onlooker thought that meant Hartley was going to lay up, but the long-hitting senior wasn't thinking defensively. He let it fly with an enormous tee shot that found the green and left him a 25-footer for eagle. Hartley two-putted for his birdie, one of seven he had on the day, as he carded a 3-under par 68 to win medalist honors at the Savannah City High School Golf Championship.
Hartley helped lead the Hornets to the team title as SCD posted a team scored of 284 (the scores of the team's top four golfers are counted in the team score).
Benedictine, which played with its 'B' team, finished second in the team standings with a 292. Cadet freshman Carson Hayes finished in a tie for second with a one-under par 70. Savannah Country Day's Miles Vaught had a 70 and SCD's Kohki Maeda shot 72.
Adler Saxton of Veritas Academy shot 71 and Morris Lane of St. Andrew's carded a 73.
"I've been near the top in this tournament a couple times so it was pretty cool to win it," Hartley said. "My chipping was good today, and I wasn't missing any putts within eight feet and that helped a lot."
SCD coach Matt Fitzgerald said he enjoys watching Hartley on the course.
"His length off the tee is incredible," Fitzgerald said. "And he'll sometimes get into trouble, but he's an escape artist who can get up and down from anywhere. He's got a great attitude and always stays optimistic on the golf course."
In the girls tournament, St. Vincent's senior Ainsley Sheffield shot an even-par 35 on the front nine to win the individual title by a stroke over Maya Lilja-Vazquez, the defending champion from Savannah Arts and Savannah Lane of St. Andrew's.
The highlight of Sheffield's round came on the par-5 eighth hole, where she drained a 25-footer for an eagle, her first in competition. Sheffield was ecstatic when the putt found the bottom of the cup as she glided across the green with a broad smile to retrieve her ball.
She said that her mom had promised to pay her $50 for her first eagle in tournament play. Sheffield pockets $5 for each birdie, so she added a five-spot to her purse with a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole.
"I'm a senior, so I'm just very grateful to win today and be able to represent St. Vincent's well," said Sheffield, who led SVA to the team title. "My putting was the key, and I have to thank Maya (Lilja-Vazquez) for that, because she gave me a tip about checking my club face with the putter and it has helped me."
Boys
Savannah Country Day (284)
Caden Hartley 68
Kohki Maeda 72
Thomas Claiborne 74
Noah Goldstein 80
Sahaj Patel 77
Miles Vaught 70
Benenedictine (B team) (292)
Carson Hayes 70
Finn Nixon 74
Elliot Moody WD
Heath Kulp 75
Christopher Butler 74
Anthony Demott 74
Trace Ward 78
Will Routhier 83
Savannah Christian (307)
Drew Allred 79
Chris Park 74
Steven Lee 99
Nichlas Gaines 79
Daniel Grassi 91
Levi Henson 75
Veritas Academy (342)
Adler Saxton 71
Luke Jenkins 91
Nathan Smalley 91
Eli Jenkins 89
Leo Sturges 92
Max Pennington 95
St. Andrew's (367)
Morris Lane 73
Thomas Kirk 86
Wilson Cowart 103
Landon Hanak 105
Calvary Day
Aiden Harrison 87
Ethan Long 95
Girls
Savannah Arts
Maya Lilja-Vazquez 36
Savannah Country Day (107)
Jillian Schmid 43
Tennyson Fitzgerald 64
Vivienne Carter 71
St. Vincent's 81
Ainsley Sheffield 35
Sarah Alpert 46
Eden Stanley 48
Kate Whitaker 58
Savannah Christian (103)
Aylee Hirata 50
Emalyn Coleman 58
St. Andrew's (91)
Savannah Lane 36
Sydney Linfoot 55
Ella Anderson 58
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Hartley and Sheffield win Savannah High School Golf Tournament medalist honors