PNG sweeps 22-5A golf titles

Published 5:06 pm Thursday, April 5, 2018

Timothy Feemster took up Thursday at Babe Zaharias Golf Course where he left off Wednesday at Brentwood Country Club, carving out a second consecutive one-under-par 71 to win District 22-5A medalist honors by nine shots with a 142 and pace Port Neches-Groves to its ninth consecutive title.

Feemster’s stellar play, and a 73 from Bryce Parlsey, helped PNG Purple to a second-day total of 302. Their 36 hole score of 618 was 76 strokes better than the 694 posted by the PNG junior varsity which also claimed a spot at the April 25-26 Region III championships at La Torretta.

The PNG White team, which included four freshmen, posted 351 to finish with 694. That was 11 strokes better than Nederland and 12 clear of Vidor.

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Keeping with the theme of PNG domination, the girls team claimed its fourth straight district title behind the medalist work of Kensey Dukes. She followed her 84 at Brentwood with a 93 for a 177 that was seven shots better than teammate Kassidei Hemler.

Hemler, whose sister Karlei left last year after winning three consecutive medalist awards, shot the low round of the day on the girls side with a 90 that moved her into second place overall.

A 770 total for the PNG girls was 107 shots better than runner-up Nederland’s 877. Weslyn Smalley shot 95-187 for PNG to finish fourth overall and Cheyenne Tant contributed a 114 for a 36-hole total of 212.

Feemster, whose brother Tyler won 22-5A medalist honors two years ago, was never threatened on the way to what was also PNG’s ninth consecutive medal victory. That streak was started by Trent Budwine in 2010. Lonnie LaBove followed in 2011, then Braden Bailey claimed four in a row.

After that it was Tyler Feemster, then Josh Elmore.

Elmore, a senior was the odds-on favorite to repeat, but some bad breaks and putting misfortune led to a fifth-place finish at 159 (80-79). The other score that counted Thursday for the PNG Purple was Chase Selman’s 79 for 161. He placed sixth.

Feemster felt coming in that he was going to be a factor, no matter how well Elmore played.

“I shot 68 in my practice round here and 69 at Brentwood,” he said. “I was confident I was going to do well. My ball striking was probably better on Wednesday than it was today, but I made putts and kept my head together.”

Feemster rolled in six birdies, his most ever in a tournament. Three of them came on Zaharias par 5s — the ninth, 10th and 13th. He also knocked a shot off par on three of the par 4s — the first, fifth and 16th.

Only once did it look like Feemster might be threatened. A double bogey at 8 allowed runner-up Brendan Marley of Nederland to get within five shots of the lead. But back-to-back birdies at 9 and 10 pretty well slammed the door.

Marley went on to shoot 73 to take second place at 151. It gets him into the regional.

“I got angry after the double bogey, but kept my head together,” said Feemster. “I hit a good drive on 9 and made birdie and I was fine.”

Ricky Keyes, who has been the PNG coach for the past eight district championships, said he’s been liking what he’s seen of Feemster’s game but did not expect him to win a district championship this year.

“You could see him improving,” said Keyes. “He has made great progress with his game since last summer. I’ve had three Feemsters on my teams and I thought he was going to be the best of the three when all was said and done. The future for him really looks bright.”

Despite Feemster’s play, and another district title, Keyes said the highlight for him was seeing his freshman-laden White team hold on to claim the second spot at regional. That, of course, bodes well in terms of more championships.

“There was a lot of pressure on them, then we had three players make 9 on the first hole,” he said. “It didn’t look good at that point but they hung in there. Going to regional will be a great experience for them.”

Dalton Shields led the way for the PNG White with an 83-167. Paul Muse shot 88-172, Jake Gauthier carded 91-180 and Jason Adams was in at 89-185.

Braden Broussard, who had helped with an 86 on Wednesday, struggled to 113 on Thursday.

Also headed to La Torretta will be the Nederland girls team of Kiara Rodgers (104 Thurday for a 196 total), Emma Bruney (102-211), Taryn Meaux (115-234) and Mara Norris (129-236). Rodgers was fifth overall in girls medal competition.