THS’ Prieskorn leading Classic
Texas High may be out of the running to defend its title of the Tiger Fall Classic, but sophomore Matt Prieskorn is leading the field after the first round Friday at Texarkana Country Club.
Prieskorn fired a 2-under 70 to lead the 109-player field by a stroke. Denton Guyer’s Connor Ross also broke par with a 1-under 71, and Flower Mound Marcus’ Alex Clouse and Rockwall’s Adam House shot 72.
“I just hit the ball better than I could remember,” Prieskorn said. “Everything was going where I wanted it to, where I needed it to. I missed a few putts I wanted to make, but overall it was the best I’ve hit it in a long time. It’s hard to score bad when you hit it well. I’ve never really been in this spot (leading) in high school golf, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Marcus leads the team standings heading into today’s final round by nine shots. The Marauders shot 296—the only score below 300 on the day. Highland Park scored 301, Alamo Heights fired 305 and Trinity Christian Academy of Addison, Rockwall and McKinney Boyd each shot 309.
“Only two of our starters played well; a couple of those guys it’s only their second varsity tournament,” THS coach Jay Brewer said. “This is probably the hardest course we’ll play all year, and some of the best competition they’ll be paired with as well. Some of them are still feeling their way around because they haven’t played that much elite junior events, so this is a big step up for them.
“Matt’s got some momentum; he shot a 65 the last round three weeks ago. He’s a hard worker, and his ball-striking has always been awesome. His short game is starting to catch up to it. He’ll be a hard guy to beat tomorrow.”
Seven players are at 1-over 73, including Pleasant Grove’s Braxton Watkins. The Hawks shot 313 and are tied for eighth place, and the Tigers, who have won the last two Classics, are in 10th at 314. Prieskorn, Watkins and Guyer’s Ross will be in a group together today.
Other scores for the Tigers were Austin Pinkham at 77, Grayson Jones 81, Cole Prince 87 and Zayne Madden 88. PG’s other scores included Trevor Edmondson at 78, Tyler Sutherland 80, Braden Young 82 and Jaythan White 88.
“We competed pretty well, and we hit it pretty well but our ball management wasn’t where it needed to be when we hit bad shots,” Brewer said. “I was real proud of Austin; he didn’t finish well and still shot 77. That was probably Grayson’s high score for the past four years. He’ll come back tomorrow and probably shoot something pretty low.
“Our goal for the second round is to try and sneak back up there and finish in the top four or five. I think we’re too far back to do any real damage, but we’ll try to get a better tomorrow.”
Today’s round will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. The awards presentation is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
Tiger Classic Tee Assignments Saturday, Oct. 10 Shotgun Start at 8:30 a.m.
1A-Alex Clouse, Cash Carter, Levi Valadez, Justin Thompson
1B-Riley Kovach, James Thompson, Mac Meissner, Brooks Glanton
2-Bryce Osborne, Jack Kelly, John Kellum, Hogan Molthan
3A-Dawson Lewis, Turner Hosch, Parker Ray, Spencer Bennett
3B-Robert Garcia, Ty Burke, Bryce Berlint, Aaron Feldman
4-Jack Howes, Adam House, Seth Hopper, Will Peavy
5-Jake Benanti, Daniel Gibbs, Joseph Jones, Camden Suhy
6-Kai Greywall, Joe Romero, Brendan Johnson, Griffin Till
7-Zach Sudinsky, Noah Bradshaw, Brady Bell, Ross Frick
8-Alec Wilson, Trey Watkins, Dominic Hardison, Michael Bradley 9-Lowry West, Ryan Hall, Ray Norton 10A-Blake Pettle, Carson Barbe, Blake Socia, Adam Ward
10B-Braxton Watkins, Matt Prieskorn, Connor Ross, Alex Isakson
11-Braden Young, Grayson Jones, Jack Thornton, Luke Griggs
12-Trevor Edmondson, Austin Pinkham, John Garcia, Will Blake
13A-Jaythan White, Cole Prince, Hogan Gleadhill, Logan Diomede
13B-Tyler Sutherland, Zayne Madden, Dallas Allen, Tommy Parker
14-Will Hocker, Parker Scaling, Jake Reeves, Caden Honea
15-Mitchell Vetter, Andrew Lane, David Griffin, Jacob Kelber
16-Austin Kelley, Reed Rogers, Jarrod Anderson, Dylan Murray
17-Matthew Bibby, Austin Griffith, Dylan Valentine, Carter Marcontell
18-Nic Bowles, Evan Pennington, Seth Jordan, Robert Ruff