Uniontown golfers struggle in season opener

ERIE -- With a young, inexperienced squad, Uniontown head golf coach Jason Tourtillott knew it wasn't going to be an easy day for his Eagles.

"Knowing that going in, our main focus was to get them some experience and really find out as individuals what they need to work on to get better," he said.

The Eagles finished ninth at the season-opening Erie Invitational with a four-man score of 485. Jayhawk-Linn was the team champion at 356 followed by Caney Valley at 374 and Erie at 384.

Uniontown's leader was freshman Nick Reynolds who shot 55 on the front nine and the back for a total of 110. Brenton Esslinger, the Eagles' only golfer with previous varsity experience, was next at 66-57--123. Austin Jefferis came in at 62-63--125, Jay Hierholzer at 67-60--127 and Dakota Wiley rounded out the squad at 69-74--143.

"The weather was about 40 degrees with a 15-mph wind and sleeted on them for about the last hour," Tourtillott said. "I was really pleased with how they handled themselves and the way they competed never giving up."

The individual champion was Erie's Hunter Mildfelt, who shot 42-36--78 on his home course. Jayhawk-Linn's Rece Dawson followed at 42-37--79 and Caney's Troy Watson was third with 43-37--80.

Uniontown's next outing will be at the Marmaton Valley Tournament Monday.