On Monday, King’s Fork’s golf team barely had enough players to complete an official match while Lakeland opened its season one player short.

On Thursday at Sleepy Hole Golf Course, the roles were reversed as King’s Fork could field only three golfers and Lakeland had the needed four golfers. The Cavaliers won by forfeit in a match shortened to nine holes partially due to the forfeit being a foregone conclusion and partially due to the likelihood of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Even that Sleepy Hole was open and ready for the Cavaliers and Bulldogs was a story unto itself. Despite heavy thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon and evening in North Suffolk, the course was in excellent condition with little to no standing water or muddy spots.

King’s Fork senior Andrew Cospelich was the medalist, shooting a three-over-par 39 on Sleepy Hole’s front nine.

All three of Lakeland’s golfers who played Monday at Nansemond River Golf Club improved their scores Thursday. Ryan Sigler led Lakeland with a 41.

The third and fourth golfers, Chris Holland and Ayana Pugh, in Lakeland’s lineup drew the most praise from head coach Brandon Frye, for their play Thursday and for their improvement overall since practice started a week-and-a-half ago. Steven Blanchard shot 48, Holland shot 53 and Pugh shot 71.

“My No. 3, Chris, played a lot better than he did (Monday), and it’s the same with Ayana each day. The first five holes today were really good for her,” said Frye. Pugh, a transfer from Hampton’s Bethel High School, is new to the sport and hadn’t played a full 18-hole round before the Cavaliers started practice last week.

“Surely, we’re going to be a lot better from the first match to our last match,” said Frye, who said at this stage a match provides his golfers just as valuable an opportunity to practice as does an actual day at practice.

Lakeland (1-1, 1-1) plays Oscar Smith on Tuesday at Suffolk Golf Course while King’s Fork (0-2, 0-2) meets Deep Creek on Tuesday at Suffolk as well.