Darton second at national golf tournament after opening round

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — The Darton State College golf team is second at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II tournament after the first day of competition at the the Goose Pond Colony Lake Course.

The Cavaliers finished at 281 on Tuesday, seven strokes under par.South Mountain (Ariz.) Community College leads after finishing at 277, 11 strokes under par.

Tyler (Texas) is third after finishing at 282, while Mississippi Gulf Coast is fourth after finishing at 282.

Darton was led Tuesday by Seth Sanders, who shot a 66, six strokes under par. He finished in a four-way tie for the lead with Mississippi Gulf Coast’s Phillip Hickam, Surry (N.C.) Chandler White and South Mountain’s Connor Klein.

Hunter Tidwell finished tied for 15th after shooting a 70, while Josh Glossop was tied for 22nd with a 71.

Conner Watt, who entered as the team’s hottest golfer, finished two strokes over at 74 and was tied for 57th, while Jake O’Bryan finished six strokes over at 78, tied for 89th.

Darton State coach Gary Hilton said he couldn’t be happier.

“I told our guys that you can’t win it on the first day, but you can certainly lose it on the first day,” he said. “The guys played solid.”

Unlike last season when the Cavaliers had a bad opening round, finishing 18 strokes off the lead and spent the rest of the tournament trying to play catch up, Darton didn’t have any misfortunes on Tuesday.

The tournament continues through Friday.

Sanders clearly stole the show in the first round. After getting left off the first and second NJCAA All-America teams by voters for postseason honors, the sophomore blistered the course to keep the Cavaliers in the lead. Sanders was an honorable mention.

Hilton expects Watt to turn things around today. The freshman had trouble on the par-5 second hole, finishing at four strokes over to quickly fall behind. But Hilton said Watt played “two-under par golf” in the final 16 holes to make the score respectable.

“A lot of people, if that would have happened to them, would have folded at that point,” Hilton said. “He wasn’t happy with himself, but I wanted him to know I was proud of him.

“Jake O’Bryan, he struggled on the last nine holes, but I know that he’s going to come back. We’re definitely in it right now.”