CONWAY -- Grant Shelman was quick to admit he did not master the compact Conway Country Club course Tuesday afternoon, but the Hazen senior had no problems in earning medalist honors.
Shelman fired a 4-over 74 on the 6,076-yard layout to win the Class 2A boys state golf tournament by seven strokes on a cloudy, gray day.
"Usually when I'm in contention, I'm hitting greens and making putts," Shelman said. "I did have a couple of bad holes. ... But whenever I needed to, I hit the greens and I hit the putts."
Spring Hill sophomore Colby Light won a rain-soaked, three-way playoff for second on the second hole. Andy Milligan of Buffalo Island Central finished third. Matthew Morgan of Hackett was eliminated in the first hole of the playoff. All three scored an 81 in regulation.
Buffalo Island Central shot a 255 to win its third consecutive state title and its fourth in the past five years. Conway St. Joseph was the runner-up with a 274.
Shelman's round included four birdies, four bogeys and two double bogeys. He started and finished with a couple of clutch putts, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt on the 377-yard No. 1, and an 18-foot putt for par on the 376-yard No. 18.
"I really didn't like my score today," Shelman said. "I was wanting to be under par. It's a tough course. There's not too much room to go out of bounds, and there's a lot of trees that can cause you to get into trouble."
Light took bogeys on his first three holes and a double bogey on No. 5, but he recovered with birdies on No. 7 and No. 9. He suffered two more double bogeys on the back nine, but a birdie on No. 16, a 157-yard par 3, allowed him to move into the playoff.
"I thought I played pretty good on the front, but I wasn't happy with what happened on the back," Light said. "It wasn't a bad round for me."
All 72 of the golfers finished play in mostly dry weather, but by the time tournament officials finalized the results that led to the three-way tie for second, the skies began to release a steady rain.
Light and Milligan both took a double bogey on the first playoff hole, but they both advanced to the second hole. Light connected with a short par putt to claim second place.
"My feet were really heavy because they were so wet," Light said. "It was tough to play in all that rain."
Like Light, Shelman used a good shot off the tee to birdie No. 16.
"I hit it to within 6 feet of the hole," Shelman said. "I hit the birdie putt, and that really gave me some confidence I needed to finish."
All four of Buffalo Island Central's golfers finished 91 or better. Besides Milligan's 81, Miles Gifford scored an 84, Cannon Walling turned in a 90 and Andrew McFarlin scored a 91.
Shelman, Light and Milligan will advance to the Overall tournament next week at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
Sports on 10/04/2017