Woodrow Wilson head golf coach Butch Freeman said he felt like his top golfer, Zan Hill, left a couple of shots out on the course in Tuesday’s opening round of the West Virginia State High School Golf Tournament.
Freeman went on to say he felt Hill would play better in the final round of the tournament.
Clearly, the veteran coach knew his senior standout pretty well.
Trailing by one shot after an opening round 79, Hill came home with a 75 Wednesday to become the Class AAA individual state champion for 2021.
“Today was the best experience that I have had in golf,” Hill said. “It took me four years to do this, so I put today as No. 1.”
Heading into the final round, the Woodrow senior had a simple, but effective game plan for the brutal Speidel Course layout.
“I felt like pars would be good, especially on that golf course. If you look at the scores on day one, seven-over was leading the golf tournament,” Hill said. “You just have to hit fairways and greens and stay away from big numbers.”
Although the game plan was solid, Hill’s final round turned out to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride right from the start.
Two bogeys in the first three holes could have sent him spiraling, but he had been through this battle before.
“I wasn’t pressing at that point. (No. 4) is a par-3 down the hill and I just felt like I needed to hit a quality iron shot,” Hill said. “I almost made a one. The ball was less than a foot from the hole. That really charged me up.”
Hill then birdied hole No. 5 for the second day in a row and went to the final nine holes, one shot in front of first-round leader Cameron Jarvis from Cabell Midland.
Hill and Jarvis would go blow for blow over the final nine holes in a wild finish.
“At that point in the tournament I felt like the players that had the potential to win was narrowing and I was playing with one of them,” Hill said. “(Cameron) birdied 10 and the last eight holes were a dogfight.”
The tension mounted when Hill went three-over par on the next two holes. Hill was now one shot back with just five holes to play.
“I doubled 12 and bogeyed 13, but I still felt like I needed to stay patient, especially on that course,” Hill said. “Birdies are hard to come by, but it was hard to stay patient because at that point is was pretty much a two-man race to the finish.”
Hill stood at a crossroad on the par-5 14th when it looked like he might go down another shot.
“He is pretty long, and he hit it on the green and had an eagle putt. There is water in front of the green, so he hit a great shot,” Hill recalled. “I hit a 6-iron to 60-yards and stuck my third shot to like a foot. He two-putted and we both birdied.”
Dodging the bullet, Hill moved back into a tie when Jarvis hit his ball in the back bunker on the par-3 15th hole and made bogey. Hill hit his ball on the green and made par.
“The final three holes are really tough, so I just stayed in the grinding mode,” Hill said.
While Hill made par on 16 and 17, Jarvis made a double-bogey and a bogey to fall three shots back with one hole to play.
However, the excitement was far from over as Hill had to absorb one more tense moment and make a pressure putt for the win.
“I made an eight-footer for a bogey on 18, which felt nice, but he had maybe a foot-and-a half for birdie. He hit a really good shot. It was a crazy round, but one I will never forget,” Hill said.
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Overall, Region 3 continued its dominance of the state tournament, especially in Class AA.
Herbert Hoover became the fifth Region 3 team in the last six years to win the AA title. Defending state champion Shady Spring was third.
Husky senior, Bryson Beaver won the fifth individual state title over the same span, while Tanner Vest from Shady Spring finished second. Tanner Walls from Westside was third and Ben Marsh from Nicholas County was 10th.
Vest finished fourth last year as a sophomore and moved up two spots this year as a junior. Still, there was a slight bit of disappointment in his runner-up finish.
“I went into the day with the one-shot lead and trying to play some pretty conservative golf,” Vest said. “Things just went awry early, especially with the putting. I was never really able to recover from it, honestly, and it added up to a disappointing day.”
After missing the tournament last year for the first time, Walls closed out his high school career with a bang.
After a tough opening round where he ended with an 86, Walls shot 77 on day two to move up to third place overall.
“(Yesterday) was a tough day at the office,” Walls said. “I had a pretty good round on the front-nine where I was four over (par). On the back nine I was two over. I was proud of the way I played today. I am really thankful and blessed to have finished third place in my senior year.”
In Class AAA, George Washington carried the Region 3 flag to its second state championship since 2018, while Woodrow Wilson came in fourth.
Oak Hill’s senior standout Jack Hayes closed out his high school golf career in a big way by finishing third in the individual race, just three shots behind Hill.
Hayes also made the state tournament as a junior, but the two results paled in comparison to each other.
“I finished tied for 26th last year, I believe, and this year I finished third. That is a big improvement, and it feels great. It was a great experience this year.”
The final round for Hayes did not get off to an optimal start either. Four bogies and a double bogey led to a 42 on his opening nine holes.
“I started off rough and it took me a few holes to recover,” Hayes said. “I was a little shaky, not hitting the ball well and missing putts.”
After another bogey on hole No. 10, Hayes’ fortunes took a big change. Running off six straight pars, the Red Devil standout birdied the par-4, 18th hole for a final round 78.
“When I got to the back nine, I was hitting the ball better and playing smarter,” Hayes said. “My coaches were encouraging me and telling me they knew I could play better. Then something finally clicked. I started hitting better shots and holing some putts.”
Hill, Jarvis and Hayes were the only golfers to score in the 70’s in both rounds of the tournament this year.
Summers County’s young team finished seventh, but with just one senior on the roster, the Bobcats could a force in the future.
St. Mary’s brought home the team title in Class A, led by Brandon Lawhorn who also won the individual crown.
