LOCUST — West Stanly golfer Carter Shaw recorded the first hole-in-one of his career during the Colts’ recent win over Mount Pleasant at Red Bridge Golf Club.
The Colts (4-1 Rocky River Conference) defeated the Tigers (3-3 RRC) 166-175 in the March 24 matchup, highlighted by Shaw’s ace on the par-3 ninth hole.
The junior used an 8-iron from 140 yards in challenging conditions, with the wind and pin placement both factoring into the shot.
“It was playing dead into the wind, so I knew I needed to club up,” Shaw said. “The pin was in a tough spot sitting in the front of the green. I wanted to be short of the hill and let it work back to the hole. I just had to be confident and put a good swing on it. This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
West Stanly coach Matt Jones and Shaw’s parents were positioned near the green and witnessed the shot firsthand.
“The hole was in the front of the green, and it was playing into the wind, so he had to club up a little bit,” Jones said. “It was a very challenging shot, because most of the shots that land short or in a difficult spot on that green end up actually rolling past the hole and off the green. So he threw a shot just to the back of the pin, a little bit right of it, and played the hill to funnel it back down into the back of the hole.”
Shaw also turned in a team-best score of 40 in the match, continuing what Jones described as steady improvement since joining the team last season.
“It was definitely an incredible experience for not only him, but myself as well, because in my 12 years of coaching, it’s the first one I’ve witnessed from one of my own team players,” Jones said.
West Stanly sits in second place in the Rocky River Conference standings midway through league play, trailing Parkwood (6-0 RRC), which handed the Colts their only conference loss this season.
The Mount Pleasant match marked the end of the first round of conference play, with teams set to face each other again in the second half of the schedule.
The Rocky River Conference tournament is scheduled for April 27 at Stonebridge Golf Club in Monroe.