By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Covington Catholic and Highlands boys golf teams won regional championship trophies on Tuesday after placing second in the post-season tournaments last year.
CovCath took the Region 7 title with a team score of 306 at Boone Links. Ryle was runner-up with a 312 total. This is the 17th consecutive year that those two teams have finished first and second in the regional to qualify for the state tournament. During that run, CovCath has now won 10 regional titles with the last one coming in 2016.
The lowest team scores in the Region 8 tournament at A.J. Jolly were Highlands at 293 and Grant County at 307. Last year, Grant County finished on top with an 18-stroke margin over Highlands, which had not won the regional since 2007.
Justin Gabbard of Highlands and Tyler Mitts of Grant County both shot 70 to tie for first place on the Region 8 scoreboard. Gabbard won a playoff for medalist honors on the sixth extra hole. The other scoring golfers for Highlands were Luke Muller (71), Ryan Leigh (72) and Joel Craft (80).
Jerod Baynum of Brossart shot a 73 to place sixth and earned an at-large berth in the boys state tournament to be played Oct. 5-6 at Bowling Green Country Club. The other individual state qualifiers were Mason Butler of Mason County and Clay Monroe of Pendleton County.
CovCath senior Patrick Kennedy won the Region 7 tournament with a four-under-par 68 and senior teammate Ben Sweeten placed third with a 73. The team’s other scoring golfers were junior Christopher Fitz (82) and senior Cameron Martin (83).
Ryle’s top four scorers were freshman Chris Harpum (76), senior Lincoln Herbst (78), freshman Ben McDaniel (79) and sophomore Luke Herbst (79). The three individual state qualifiers were Henry County juniors Alex Hadin (70) and Isaac Klemper (75) and Cooper freshman Ryan Wotherspoon (75).
Girls regional golf tournaments were cancelled on Monday due to heavy rains. The Region 6 tournament was rescheduled on Thursday at Twin Oaks with Ryle as the defending champion. The Region 8 tournament will be played Wednesday. The field includes defending champion Scott County and local teams Brossart, Campbell County, Scott and Calvary Christian.
REGION 8 BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS
HIGHLANDS (First place team, 293) — Justin Gabbard 70, Luke Muller 71, Ryan Leigh 72, Joel Craft 80, Steven Grimme 92.
GRANT COUNTY (Second place team, 307) — Tyler Mitts 70, Ryan Mitts 72, Kyle Lewis 82, Lucas Allnut 83, Bryce Spencer 93.
INDIVIDUALS — Jerod Baynum (Brossart) 73, Mason Butler (Mason County) 76, Clay Monroe (Pendleton County) 76.
REGION 7 BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS
COVCATH (First place team, 306) — Patrick Kennedy 68, Ben Sweeten 73, Christopher Fitz 82, Cameron Martin 83, Lincoln Hammond 88.
RYLE (Second place team, 312) — Chris Harpum 76, Lincoln Herbst 78, Ben McDaniel 79, Luke Herbst 79, Daniel Bailey 86.
INDIVIDUALS — Alex Hadin (Henry County) 70, Isaac Klemper (Henry County) 75, Ryan Wotherspoon (Cooper) 75.