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Liberty: A 'hole' lot of talent
Mark Gorby has seen gifted golf teams before.
Gorby said the Rockwall team he coached to the Texas Class 4A title was so good that players needed to shoot in the 70s in tryouts to make the team.
So it means a lot when Liberty's new golf coach likes what he sees in his Eagles.
After two days of tryouts at Kastle Greens Golf Club in Midland, Gorby feels confident he's got a group of guys who will contend for the Cedar Run District crown this fall.
“It's very encouraging. We've got a very competitive top six, and the other three shoot in the high 80s,” Gorby said Monday about his nine-member team.
Gorby says he's got a mix of long hitters and smart, steady golfers. He likes their poise and self-confidence and the way they conduct themselves on the golf course. Plus, he says the group has shown that they care about each other.
In short, this could be a banner year for the LHS golf team, which has had its share of lean times in the recent past.
Last year's squad, coached by Mark Holmes (Liberty's new activities director), staged a mild breakout in their Group AAA debut by finishing third in the Cedar Run District tournament behind Battlefield and Loudoun Valley after a middle-of-the-pack regular season. A slew of formidable players are back, led by junior Sam Owens and senior Walker Riley.
While Owens and Riley figure to duel for the No. 1 slot, at least four others could also emerge as standouts .
Gorby says his next-best four include seniors Steve Massei and Johnny Nettles, who figure to play in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively, and juniors Eric Mehiel and David Harvey.
Gorby thinks most of his top six will break 80 in most tournaments. While that remains to be seen, Liberty is in a position to score well with depth like that.
The other three team members include seniors Chris Brown and Tyler Bouchard, and sophomore Alex Tolley — and they're no slouches, either. “Every one of our nine players are pretty close in score,” reports Gorby.
Owens returns as Liberty's top gun. Owens shot 80 at last year's Cedar Run District tournament to qualify for regionals as a sophomore. That round helped the Eagles to a surprise third-place finish at the district tournament. Owens and graduated Ryan Shipe were the Eagles' only region qualifiers.
Riley is Gorby's other contender for the No. 1 spot . He led the squad with a 76 at Monday's qualifying round at Kastle Greens. “Walker and Sam are definitely year-round golfers. They are long ball hitters and look very consistent,” said Gorby...See the Wednesday print edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat for the complete story.
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