&uot;The good news about all this is most of these guys will be back next year,&uot; said King’s Fork head coach Tim Goetz at the end of play Wednesday at the Eastern Region golf tournament at Sleepy Hole Golf Course.

The tournament marked the closure of the Suffolk high school golf season for the fall, as Lakeland’s Ben Hunter, a freshman, came the closest to making the cut for an individual spot to states with a 158 total (78-80) over 36 holes.

River’s Rashad Hunt, a sophomore, carded the low round of day two among the Suffolk competitors, shooting 77 after a Monday 84 put him too far out of contention.

Fork’s David Brown, a junior, improved on his first day round by three shots, firing 78 on Wednesday.

River’s Nolan Butler (79-81=160) and Fork’s Shane Doherty (86-88=174) were the other two Suffolk golfers who made it to regionals.

The top two schools, moving on as teams to next week’s state tournament in Haymarket, were Cox and Southeastern District champions, Hickory.

Cox claimed the region title with a second day team score of two-over par 290.

Cox’s Seth Norman won medalist honors for the tourney with a three-under par total of 141; Norman came from three shots off the Monday lead, which had been set by Kellam’s Wade Wawner.

As a team, Lakeland finished seventh overall, with a team score of 660.

On Wednesday, Augie Camacho (79), Hunter (80), Charles Sari (87) and Nick Howell (89) made up the Cavalier total.

andrew.giermak@suffolknewsherald.com