Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
RHS’s Fakult claims medalist honors at Red’Dog Invitational
Bentonville rolls to team title
SPRINGDALE — Rogers High’s Andrew Fakult didn’t get off to a great start Monday at the Chambers Bank Red Dog Invitational boys’ golf tournament, but he sizzled late just like the afternoon sun to claim medalist honors.
The junior sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to shoot a 1-under 71, which was good enough for the one-shot victory at Springdale Country Club.
Fakult was one stroke better than Fayetteville’s Palmer McSpadden and two shots better than a Bentonville trio, which all shot 73.
It initially looked like Fakult and McSpadden would be in a playoff for medalist honors when the Rogers golfer’s score was also posted as a 72. But the math error was quickly corrected and he was declared the winner.
The threesome of Phisher Phillips, Michael Senn and Alexander Apolskis each shot a 1-over-par to lead the Tigers to the team title. Bentonville’s 294 edged Fayetteville by four shots, while Rogers High was a distant third with a 320 in the play-five, count-four format.
Fakult said after taking a few days away from golf to take a family trip, his shots seemed a little off early on. But that all changed when he made the turn.
“A rough start at the beginning after taking a few days off,” Fakult said. “Shots weren’t looking like they normally do. Putting seemed to be good and then we made the turn and came to hole number one and last year I played really well on the front nine and I felt really comfortable and my shot kinda came back.
“I started hitting pins and knocking down putts.”
He was hurt by three double-bogeys and shot 39 on the opening nine holes. But he turned hotter than the upper 90s temperature with five birdies, including the last one on No. 9 to close with a 4-under 32.
The final putt sat on the lip for a second before dropping into the cup, which turned out to be the difference for Fakult.
He wasn’t bothered at all by the scorching temperatures.
“Personally, I love playing
in the heat,” Fakult said. “The harder the conditions, the more I enjoy it.”
Bentonville coach Kent Early said lots of hard work is paying off for his team. The weather was not an issue either, which is a testament to their focus, Early said.
“They are very talented and they put in a lot of work,” Early said. “They kinda jelled together last year. They are all juniors except (Jake) Bartlett is a sophomore. They all played in the state tournament last year.
“They’ve put in time on their own and they came out today and they proved it. They found a way to dial it in today.”