RHS boys golf finishes No. 2 in state
By Brannon King / For the FCT
The Russellville High School boys golf team finished the 2018 season successfully, and the Golden Tigers were runners-up in the AHSAA Class 5A State Tournament May 14-15 on the courses of Robert Trent Jones at The Shoals.
The Golden Tigers finished second place in team competition to St. Paul’s of Mobile. The first-place Saints shot a 596 as a team, and Russellville finished with a score of 624. Rounding out the field of schools was Briarwood Christian with a 627, and Scottsboro finished well behind the field of four.
Russellville qualified for the tournament by finishing second to Scottsboro at sub-state play held at Turtle Point in Killen.
Coach Patrick Odom’s team of RHS golfers were led in the state tournament by ninth-grader Eric Boutwell. He finished the first day of competition with a 68, which had him tied for the individual lead with the eventual individual champion, Justin Olive of Brooks High School.
Boutwell followed up his first round with an 18-hole total of 77 on day two. After 36 holes, he had scored a one-over-par 145 – seven strokes off Olive’s winning score.
Russellville’s Brayden Bendall followed Boutwell with a plus-6, 150 after shooting a 76 and a 74. Fellow juniors Jaceton Murray, Lucas McNutt and Carson Reeves were also members of the RHS team participating in the tournament.
Murray, who had the best score for Russellville in sub-state, shot a 74 and a 78 at RTJ for a plus-8, 152. McNutt scored a two-day total of 177, and Reeves followed that up with a 194.
The Golden Tigers were trying for their second golf state championship after winning it all in 2015.
With this year’s title, St. Paul’s Episcopal School has now won three-straight 5A state championships and seven of the past ten.
