Langford, LaFayette boys take area golf titles

For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, the LaFayette Ramblers are area champions in golf.

The Ramblers bested 14 other teams on their own home course last Wednesday afternoon and finished with a team score of 327 for a 16-shot victory over Franklin County. Oconee County (348) was third, followed by Rockmart (349) and Hart County (353).

It was the second straight area crown for and the Orange-and-Black, who punched its ticket to state for a ninth consecutive season. LaFayette also had the individual champion in Grant Langford, but it took him one extra hole to secure the title.

Langford shot a 4-overpar 76 on the day, but found himself in a three-way playoff with Franklin County’s Hunter Mosley and Rockmart’s Parker Smith. However, the LaFayette junior sank a long birdie putt on the par-5 first hole to win the sudden-death playoff.

Mosley will be in the state tournament with the rest of his Franklin County team, while Smith will get in as the lowest-scoring individual golfer from a non-qualifying team. Only the top three teams earned berths in the state tournament field.

The rest of the team standings included Sonoraville (356) in sixth place, followed by Coahulla Creek (369), North Murray (375), Stephens County (381), Ringgold (382), Monroe Area (400), Adairsville (403), East Jackson (451), Murray County (461) and LFO (468).

Mason Thompson fired an 80 for the Ramblers, followed by Brady Mullaly with an 85 and Jackson Brewster with an 86. Junior Barber (89) and Shane Johnston (92) also played for the Ramblers.

Ringgold was led by an 87 from Christian Griffith, while Cohen Shattuck carded a 94. Coulter Porter had a 95 and Noah Maretti fired a 106, while the rest of the lineup included Aaron Elswick (109) and Camryn Kesckes (123).

As for LFO, Ashton Hinnard paced the Warriors with a 97 and Jake Seay had a 114. Levi Harwell (128) and Nate Carter (129) rounded out the team score, while Jonathan Parkhill (141) and Nolan Janvrin (143) also played for LFO.

The Class AAA boys’ state golf tournament will be held at Bartram Trail Golf Club in Evans, just outside of Augusta, on May 16-17.

Contributed The LaFayette High School boys’ golf team of Grant Langford, Mason Thompson, Brady Mullaly, Jackson Brewster, Junior Barber and Shane Johnston won their second straight Area 4-AAA tournament at the LaFayette Golf Course last Wednesday to qualify for the state tournament later this month. The team is coached by Tom Langford (right).