All-Rowan County golfers.

 

 

West Rowan’s Brody Tucker and Tyler Kepley.

 

By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Landon Merrell’s East Rowan teammates shook his hand and then shook their heads.

They smiled and declared it wasn’t a legit four-peat golf county championship for the unassuming senior because he’d only tied with Salisbury’s John McCoy for the coveted title in 2023. But they were kidding, of course, and Merrell knew they were kidding.

The Mustang, who is coached by his mother, Tinsley, has had a remarkable run, any way you look at.

The Rowan County Championship is a tough event to repeat in for any individual, no matter how talented. East Rowan grad Nick Lyerly used to put up 66s and 67s, but he only won the county twice in four years and didn’t do it back-to-back. The same can be said of stars such as Salisbury’s Alex Nianouris and Eric Edwards and East’s Logan Shuping. All of them were terrific and all of them won two titles, but none of them ever repeated, much less four-peated.

So what Merrell has done is noteworthy. He’s won on three different courses, with a 71 at Crescent as a freshman and with a 75 at the Country Club of Salisbury as a sophomore. Merrell and McCoy shot 72s at Crescent to share medalist honors last year. Merrell proved he also could do it at Warrior on Thursday, winning with a 2-over 73.

“It feels great, and I hit some quality shots, but I didn’t feel like I was doing anything that special,” Merrell said. “There was a little pressure on me, trying to win again, but I kept my head down and tried to be consistent.”

Merrell finally got some separation from the field when he made a birdie on No. 5, his finishing hole, winning by two shots over Salisbury’s McCoy and Jacob Trainor and West Rowan’s Tyler Kepley.

Merrell’s consistenby could not prevent deep Salisbury from winning its second straight team championship. The Hornets, who edged East by two shots in 2023, won by a more comfortable margin this time — 13 strokes, with a 307 total from their top four scorers, compared to the Mustangs’ 320.

Trainor, a 1A state qualifier last season who transferred from Gray Stone at the semester break, was listed as Salisbury’s No. 5 seed, but he turned out to be a difference-maker with his 75.

“Any of the six guys we played today are good enough to win a tournament on a given day,” Salisbury coach Josh Brincefield said. “Jacob has had a few shaky rounds lately, but he was outstanding today.”

In addition to the 75s by McCoy and Trainor, Jackson Sparger, who also plays baseball at this time of year, shot 77.

The fourth Salisbury scorer with an 80 was Warren Fesperman. Sam Goodman, Salisbury’s sixth seed, shot 81. Bo Brincefield, Josh’s son, and often the No. 2 man for the Hornets, shot 88.

“Bo struggled some today, but it happens,” Coach Brincefield said. “You’re not going to be great every day on the golf course, but the beauty of our team is we had the depth to pick him up. We played some really good golf. Those were challenging conditions we played in, with the cold and a lot of wind. McCoy and Trainor shot 75, and I’d say that was like shooting 70 at Warrior on a normal day. Sparger’s 77 was a very good round. All I know is I was really glad that I wasn’t playing today.”

Salisbury came prepared for a chilly afternoon and evening, reluctantly bringing out the winter gear, after some fine spring days. But it’s North Carolina, it happens.

Their opponents fought through the same challenging weather. Scores roller-coastered as wind gusted.

“The weather definitely elevated scores,” Coach Merrell said.

Jaden Sprinkle, East’s No. 2 man, made the turn at even par, but finished at 6-over 77.

Brady McIntyre, East’s No. 3 player, has played several sensational rounds this season, but carded an 87. East got a strong effort from Mason Mainville (83) to stay reasonably close to the Hornets.

Landon Merrell could tell early on that it wasn’t going to be a day for 68s.

“It was absolutely a tough day, but I’ve played in tough conditions before,” he said. “The thing was to understand that it was a day that you could win by making pars, not birdies. I tried to keep the ball in front of me, tried to make pars, and I made 12 of them. Four bogeys, two birdies.”

Merrell’s first birdie came on the par-5 No. 17 hole, his 12th hole of the day.

When he arrived at No. 5, his mom/coach wasn’t sure exactly where he stood, and she wasn’t sure who his closest challenger was. All she knew was that she had seen McCoy and Trainor make great shots.

Merrell finally settled it when he finished with the birdie on No. 5, a short par 4 at 373 yards.

“Iron off the tee, hit a wedge to within 15 feet — made the putt,” Merrell said matter-of-factly.

He answered the pressure of trying for the four-peat about as well as you can answer it.

Also answering the pressure were the Hornets, back-to-back county champs, the first time the program has accomplished that since 2011-12.

After a long day that started at 2 p.m., the Hornets celebrated their victory at Porky’s late Thursday night.

They have state-level aspirations with a bright future, but there also is a bright present. McCoy is a sophomore and most of the team is made up of juniors. They gained valuable experience last season and could be stout in the postseason this time.

“You can’t hope to be the best in the state unless you can be the best at home, so this was the biggest match we’ll have in the regular season,”  Coach Brincefield said. “We’ve got a good rivalry with East. although it’s a very friendly rivalry, not a we-hate-those-guys rivalry. No one in our league is going to push us like East can, so we play East as often as we can. When we’re not playing them, we like to see them win.”

Coach Merrell said the same things about the Hornets and tipped her cap to them.

“We enjoy competing with Salisbury, but that’s a great team,” she said. “That’s a team with five No. 1 seeds.”

•••

Team scores

Salisbury 307

East  320

West 342

Carson 364

South 366

North had two golfers.

All scores are in Scoreboard

First and second all-county teams were announced by coaches:

First team

Landon Merrell, East 73

John McCoy, Salisbury 75

Tyer Kepley, West 75

Jacob Trainor, Salisbury 75

Jaden Sprinkle, East 77

Jackson Sparger, Salisbury 77

Second team

Warren Fesperman, Salisbury 80

Sam Goodman, Salisbury 81

Mason Mainville, East 83

Brody Tucker, West 87

Brady McIntyre, East 87

Dane Wheeler, South 87