Bulldogs take city championship

Published 8:53 pm Tuesday, September 11, 2018

With a win over Lakeland High School Monday afternoon, the Bulldogs golf team won the city championship for the first time in school history.

Two weeks ago, the Bulldogs defeated Nansemond River High School and followed it up with the win over Lakeland Monday afternoon, 364-466.

“It was a good win and a stepping stone for us,” Coach Robert Casteen said. “Especially for us not being as strong in this sport in years past. You want to start somewhere, and we feel like this will help with our confidence going forward.”

Email newsletter signup

Landon Martino was the medalist Monday at Nansemond River Golf Course in the Bulldogs’ win. Martino shot a score of 85. The Bulldogs feel they can hang with anybody, and Casteen believes the win gives his team more confidence.

The last few outings have been solid wins for the Bulldogs, and they hope they can carry that over into the regional playoffs. King’s Fork didn’t play any matches last week but was able to remain focused since the last win.

“We are in a better spot than where we were last year,” Casteen said. “We had some practice matches last week, but we were able to come out strong, and four of our players were able to hit their lowest scores of the season. That is exciting for us going forward.”

The school’s first city championship was a thrill, but Casteen doesn’t want the team to settle. They have bigger goals and, as it stands right now, King’s Fork has two more regular season matches left.

If King’s Fork is able to play the matches, they will continue to improve for regionals. If they aren’t able to play due to weather, the Bulldogs have already been mentally preparing to head straight to regionals and make a run.

Instead of only having one player qualify for the next day at regionals, King’s Fork is hoping to qualify the whole team for day two.

“We just want to continue to get better every day,” Casteen said. “Things will be a bit bigger when we get to regionals. There will be about 13 to 14 teams there instead of just two schools. So, I’ve been letting them know to get ready now as far as format goes. I want all of them to be comfortable in their games, so we won’t have any nerves come that day.”