Bryant upholds family tradition

BIG STONE GAP –– Like father, like brother.

The VHSL Group A golf championship? It’s all in the Bryant family.

Galax senior John Bryant became the third member of his household to win the state title as he fired a 1-under-par 70 to score a seven-stroke victory at Lonesome Pine Country Club.

Bryant’s feat matched that of older brother, Sam, who won the 2005 Group A crown. Together, the Bryant brothers have as many first-place medals as their father, Doug, who captured titles in 1975 and 1977 for old Independence High.

One family, four championships.

“It feels great,” the Galax golfer said. “It’s what I’ve been practicing for my whole life. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Bryant carded a 27-hole total of 104 as rain limited Monday’s first round to nine holes. The effort was more than enough to outdistance runner-up Gunar Frazier of Giles, who finished at 111 after a second-round 71.

Counting an opening-round 34, Bryant shot the best score on each day on the hilly Wise County layout.

“We’ve played together for the past four or five years,” Frazier said. “I’m good friends with John. I think he’s a great guy. I wish him all the best.”

While Bryant became the eighth player from a Region C school to win the individual tournament in the last 10 years, Timesland was denied a team title.

Region B champ William Monroe grabbed the gold, shooting a two-day score of 491. The Dragons finished four strokes ahead of first-day leader James River (495).

Bryant, who started his round on the back nine, had no trouble around the green. The Galax golfer seemingly made every putt, beginning with an 18-footer for a birdie 3 on his 10th hole.

“I felt like I could make about anything out there,” he said. “Inside 15 feet, I felt like it was going in. I started putting well yesterday and just got all kinds of confidence.”

Floyd County junior Amanda Hollandsworth had designs on winning the championship, which would have matched the 2004 title her sister, Jessica, won at Lonesome Pine.

Hollandsworth, the starting center on Floyd’s girls basketball team, couldn’t play defense Tuesday. She watched as Bryant drained putt after putt like an opponent icing a game from the free throw line.

“I said in the beginning if I don’t get it, I hope he gets it,” she said. “He deserved it. It showed out there that he wanted it more than anyone. When we started the back nine, after the third hole I just went downhill. My putting left me. He made every putt.”

Hollandsworth shot a 3-over-par 74 and finished tied for third place with Logan Yates of William Monroe at 113.

No one was catching Bryant on Tuesday.

Frazier made a brief run with four straight birdies on his front nine on holes 3-6. However, a double bogey on No. 9 unhinged his hopes but did not dim his go-for-broke effort.

“Ride the horse till she bucks you or you don’t ride her at all,” Frazier said. “That’s a ‘Tin Cup’ quote.

“I wasn’t really playing conservative. I was trying to make birdies and make putts. I was really pleased. There were not too many things I could have done better. I had some bad breaks, but I had more good breaks than I had bad breaks.”

Bryant, who finished third in Group A last fall, left his driver in the bag most of the day. His third hole of the day -- No. 12 on the scorecard -- produced a rare bogey.

“My brother, when he played here, he made a 10 on that hole,” Bryant said. “That crossed through my mind. I was able to get out of there with a bogey. I hit a lot of irons off the tee today. I was hitting my irons really well, which gave me wedges into the greens. I stuck with my game plan all the way through, laying up when I needed to lay up.”

All that’s left for Bryant is to put up his medal. Doug Bryant said he’s not sure where his two VHSL first-place awards are located.

“I’ve actually never even seen my dad’s,” John Bryant said. “I guess I’ll just hang mine up in my room.”

 

VHSL Group A Championship

Lonesome Pine C.C., par-71

 

Team scores

William Monroe170-321—491

James River169-326—495

Virginia High171-327—498

Giles172-330—502

Central-Wise174-338—512

Riverheads178-339—517

Essex183-335—518

King William184-348—532

 

Individual scores

John Bryant, Galax34-70—104

Gunar Frazier, Giles40-71—111

Amanda Hollandsworth, Floyd39-74—113

Logan Yates, W.Monroe38-75—113

Taylor Hall, Va. High43-73—116

A.J. Knick, Chatham39-77—116

Korey Watts, J.River37-79—116

N. Hildebrand, Buffalo Gap41-77—118

Conrad Thacker, Holston38-80—118

Kory Wilson, Giles38-80—118

Austin Batten, W.Monroe44-76—120

Nick England, Central-Wise39-81—120

Josiah Singleton, W.Campbell40-80—120

Luke Humprhies, Riverheads45-76—121

Tyler Barlow, Nottoway46-76—122

Jason Bell, W.Monroe39-84—123

Clay Cantrell, Lebanon43-80—123

Ryan Hyatt, Va. High37-86—123

Trevor Statome, J.River44-81—123

Dylan Dunn, Rappahannock43-81—124

Austin Fox, Glenvar43-81—124

Hunter Thompson, J.River44-80—124

Sam Back, Randolph-Henry41-84—125

Colton Hayden, Lancaster38-88—126

Zac Mullins, Central-Wise45-81—126

Mark Adams, K.William41-86—127

Ryan Baughn, Essex44-83—127

Andrew Good, S.Jackson42-85—127

Larkin Gross, Essex42-85—127

Aaron Hix, Va. High46-81—127

Austin Robbins, Northwood49-79—128

Weston Snyder, Riverheads41-87—128

Graham Dillon, G.Wythe47-82—129

Luke Arney, J.River44-86—130

Alex Nelson, Lancaster44-86—130

Jordan Curry, K.William49-82—131

Skyler Reed, Gate City48-83—131

Patrick Francis, Essex50-82—132

Sean Kessler, J.River45-87—132

Derrick Lee, Va. High45-87—132

Cody Large, Central-Wise43-90—133

Carter Morgan, Essex47-86—133

Kyle Bishop, Riverheads44-91—135

Jared Shifflett, W.Monroe49-86—135

Jacob Hudson, Giles45-91—136

Michael Leonard, Lebanon43-93—136

Daniel Clarke, Essex52-85—137

Bill Coffin, Riverheads52-85—137

M. Harris, Northumberland47-92—139

Travis Lipscomb, K.William44-95—139

Dayton Carpenter, Riverheads48-92—140

Ryan Mullins, Central-Wise47-93—140

Jackson Murray, K.William53-87—140

Shonn Branham, Central-Wise50-91—141

Kyle Chafin, Giles49-92—141

Jake Leonard, Lebanon43-98—141

Aaron Atkins, J.River49-93—142

Yancey Harrison, W.Monroe50-92—142

Dakota Grizzel, Castlewood51-92—143

Chase Reid, K.William50-93—143

B. Chisenhall, Central-Wise58-86—144

Mark Jackson, Riverheads50-94—144

Hunter Carbaugh, Giles49-100—149

C. Herbert, Rappahannock51-98—149

Grant Scarboro, Franklin54-95—149

Douglas Good, Giles62-88—150

Nick Wind, Essex57-94—151

Zach Walker, K.William61-94—155

Ty McReynolds, Va. High64-112—176

Ben Slagle, Va. High66-114—180

Ben Bohlman, W.MonroeDNP-93

Nathan March, W.Monroe93-DNP