Eastern Region golf: Paolini has individual lead; Kellam atop team race

WILLIAMSBURG

The birdie opportunities vanished on the greens and with them so did Brinson Paolini’s bid to be the only golfer to shoot under par Monday during the first round of the Eastern Region tournament.

But the Cox senior wasn’t too disappointed with his performance at Marsh Hawk — a tricky 6,650-yard course at Ford’s Colony resort. After all, he finds himself in a familiar position: He is atop the leaderboard.

Paolini produced a 1-over 73 and is one shot ahead of three South Hampton Roads golfers- Kellam’s Wade Wawner, Hickory’s John Dawson and Princess Anne’s Chris Greenfield. However, Paolini’s low score wasn’t enough to carry the Falcons into the lead. Kellam is in first after shooting a 303. Cox is 11 strokes behind the Knights

“I hit the ball as good as I have recently,” Paolini said. “But I couldn’t get a putt to fall.”

A majority of the other participants had more severe problems, as they battled to keep the ball in the narrow fairways. On a beautiful day, when nary a breeze could be felt, Marsh Hawk punished golfers who were inaccurate off the tee. A bad drive could spell disaster and for many it did.

“The main thing you had to do was keep the ball in play,” said Dawson, who won the Southeastern District tournament. “I tried to play safe.”

Wawner also took a conservative approach, choosing to avoid shots that could potentially net big gains but also incur considerable losses.

“It’s really tight here, so if you hit the fairways here you’re golden,” Wawner said.

Less than a week ago, Wawner was in a dogfight with Paolini on the back nine at Red Wing, the site of the Beach District tournament. When the dust had cleared, Paolini and Wawner were tied. It appears that the Kellam senior could be headed toward another duel with Paolini, who was the Eastern Region champion last year. But even with Paolini in his sights Wawner said the Cox senior won’t be on his mind.

“I can’t really worry about what others are doing,” Wawner said. “I just have to play smart, post a good score and see what happens.”

On this course, that might be a good enough strategy to claim victory.

  Team Scores

Kellam 303, Cox 314, Hickory 317, Grassfield 333, Princess Anne 333, Western Branch 337, Menchville 340, Gloucester 346, Maury 360, Churchland 365, Kecoughtan 389, Granby 394

Individual Scores

Brinson Paolini, Cox 73

Wade Wawner, Kellam 74

John Dawson, Hickory 74

Chris Greenfield, Princess Anne 74

Chase Duffy, Kellam 74

Hunter Spencer, Hickory 75

Jonathan Harris, Cox 75

Ryan Kilmon, Kellam 76

Ben Hunterm Lakeland 76

Stuart Sloat, King’s Fork 76

Hunter Lewis, Menchville 77

Bryce Cope, Kellam 78

Alex Gylfason, First Colonial 78

James Baldwin, Western Branch 78

James Fanshaw, Grassfield 79