Myrtle Beach boys golf wins Lower State title
Michael Leftis and the Myrtle Beach golf team are beaming with confidence.
It couldn’t come at a better time.
Leftis and John David Gooden each shot 73 to lead the Myrtle Beach boys golf team to a win in the Class AAA Lower State tournament at Golden Bear Golf Course.
The Seahawks finished at 303, eight strokes ahead of runner-up Aiken and 10 better than third-place Gilbert. It was Myrtle Beach’s second straight tournament win after taking the Region VII title a week ago.
“After last week when we really put up a good score in region I thought we had a good shot at it,” Leftis said of winning Lower State. “We’ve found a way to put it together. We possibly have a chance next week [at states] if we can keep things rolling.”
Holden Grigg (76) and Ethan Hood (80) rounded out Myrtle Beach’s scorers.
“It was a pretty tough little golf course with tricky holes,” said Leftis, who said he was playing the course for the first time. “We all handled it pretty well. We had four scores under 80.
“It’s tight and there was a couple holes where they decided to move the tees back a little bit. They were tight driving holes. If you could put the ball in play, you could get yourself in good spots there.”
The Seahawks will next play in the state tournament next Monday and Tuesday at The Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, a course they are familiar with.
“We’ve still got to keep the ball in play and hit it into the right positions on the golf course,” Leftis said. “After that we’ve got to just let it roll. The green roll slow there so you have to give it a little bit of pace. You can probably put a really low number out.”
The key to Myrtle Beach’s recent run?
“I feel like we’ve really practiced every day and put in the work we needed to,” Leftis said. “We’re getting serious at the right time and starting to believe we can do it.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach boys golf wins Lower State title."