Suffolk News-Herald

As Greg Hunt made his way past his ninth hole at the Riverfront Golf Course on Wednesday afternoon, he couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. On the last day of the Southeastern District tournament, the Nansemond River junior had started his day by bogeying the first hole, parring the next four, and birdying six and seven. But he’d double-bogeyed the ninth hole, placing him at a one-over-par 37 halfway through the day.

&uot;The first eight I’d played, I was fine,&uot; Hunt said. &uot;After the ninth one, I got a little heated, and had to regain myself.&uot; Hunt, who had shot a 73 on Tuesday to end the day in second place in the district, was playing for his first trip to regional competition.

Starting the back nine, Hunt parred the 10th hole. But then he went into a zone that no Nansemond River golfer had ever before experienced on the North Suffolk course. He birdied five of the next eight holes to end the round with a 30, the day with a school-record 67, and the tournament with a 140, good enough to make him the first River golfer to win the individual district title.

&uot;I started thinking about winning the tournament and setting the school record over the last few holes,&uot; he said. &uot;I just didn’t talk about it much.&uot; That is, except with his clubs.

Great Bridge took first place and Western Branch second to convincingly qualify for the regionals. But then things got tight, as Hickory came in with a 350, River with a 351, and Lakeland (helped along by Aaron Stacy’s 74, Bryan Ashburn’s 78, and Jonathan Pinchbeck’s 83) ended with a 353. Because only the top three schools qualify for regional competition, the Warriors missed a berth by two stroke, the Cavaliers by four.

However, all of the top five individual scorers (who do not attend the top three schools) are from Suffolk. Stacy, Ashburn, and Pinchbeck all qualified, as did Hunt and Jonathan Faw from River, who ended the day with a 77 for an overall score of 151, making his second consecutive trips to regionals. Stacy and Pinchbeck are also going for the second time.