JOURNAL STAFF
Byrd made its mark at the state golf tournaments as the boys’ team captured the LHSAA Division I title on Tuesday at Cane Row Golf Club in New Iberia while Sydney Moss took second place in the individual girls’ competition at The Wetlands in Lafayette.
Byrd’s four counting players all shot 75 or better in the final round to give the Yellow Jackets their fifth Division I boys’ title in the last seven years. The Jackets posted a team score of 587 to take the team title by five strokes over second-place Catholic-Baton Rouge (592). Defending champion St. Paul’s finished third, three more strokes back at 595 while Benton finished fourth (616).
First-day leader James Holtsclaw of Byrd followed his 5-under 67 in the first round with a second-round 3-over 75 to finish in third place at 142. Holtsclaw joined champion Joshua Achord of St. Paul’s and runner-up Walter Anderson of Catholic-Baton Rouge as the only players to shoot under par for the tournament.
Duke Bowen, Grant Reagan, and Peyton Johnson all finished in the top 11 to help catapult Byrd to the team title. Bowen shot a second-round 75 to give him a total of 147 and a tie for sixth in individual competition. Reagan finished at 148 and tied for eighth after shooting 74 on Tuesday, and Johnson’s 72 in the final round put him in a tie for 11th at 150. Byrd’s Brown Snyder finished at 157.
In Lafayette, defending champion Moss followed her first-round 2-over 74 with a 4-over 76 to finish at 150, two shots behind first-place Sarah Meral of St. Scholastica. Meral, last year’s runner-up to Moss by seven strokes, posted a 1-over 73 on Tuesday to go with her opening 75 to claim this year’s title. Byrd’s Riley Walton shot 113-103—216.
The Byrd girls shot a two-day total of 366 to take fifth place in the team competition.
Barbe posted the final day’s low score (166) to add to its 12-stroke first-round lead(163) and claimed its second straight Division I team title, followed by Dutchtown (342), St. Scholastica (361), Sam Houston (362), Byrd (366), Northshore (392), Benton (400), and Mt. Carmel (471).
