Bears swing into top five at tournament
By Anne Marie Kyzer annemariek@thetruecitizen.com

John Keller walked away with a second place individual finish at the tourney.

The Bears didn't let the weather freeze them up last weekend.

The Burke County High School varsity boys golf team (38-9) took fifth place in the Pike Challenge Golf Invitational held Saturday outside of Atlanta despite the freezing winds that swept through the course.

Coach Wade Marchman said snow fell while the team teed off and the temperature hovered around 34 degrees during the day.

Still, the Bears managed to beat 19 teams in the event, including Columbus, which was ranked second in the state in AAA during the pre-season. Burke County was eighth during the preseason.

John Keller shot an especially nice round, sinking a second-place individual finish with his 77. He said his toughest opponent was the weather. Some 120 golfers made up the field.

Keller's score, along with Buck Bell's 81, which landed him 12th in the tournament, Evans Horton's 87 and Logan Fairley's 88, helped the Bears to their top five team finish.

"We accomplished one of our team goals by finishing in the top five in one of these big tournaments," Marchman said. "Obviously, John Keller had a good weekend and played really well."

The varsity girls and junior varsity boys took on Washington County High School earlier in the week, and both Burke County teams added wins to their records.

The girls defeated Washington County 115-135 with Jorie Marchman's 54 and Mallorie Shaw's 61.

The boys won 175-227 with Mitch Mitchell's 42, Patrick Mobley's 42, Jesse James' 45 and Omar Walden's 46.

On Saturday, Burke County will welcome 16 teams to the TaylorMade-Adidas Invitational to be held at the Waynesboro Country Club. The teams will get started at 8 a.m. and should finish up by mid-afternoon.
TAYLORMADE/ADIDAS
INVITATIONAL
Saturday, March 15
Waynesboro Country Club
First tee time: 8 a.m.
Burke County: ~9 a.m.