Weaton earns All-SEC at conference meet

The Fairfield boys' golf team finished third at the Southeast Conference meet held at Washington Tuesday morning, partially because they are so used to playing in the afternoon.

'It being early morning, I wasn't really awake,” admitted sophomore Jeremy Crile. 'I knew that once I got going I might kick something in gear, maybe get a good run going, but I guess that never really happened.”

Half of the golfers did do better on the front nine despite the early tee time and one shot the same on both sides of lunch.

'My second round was worse, but it felt better,” added Crile, 'because I couldn't make contact with the ball whatsoever on the first three holes.”

Junior Josh Brewington experienced the opposite situation.

'I think part of me was getting tired toward the end. At the beginning of the round, I was hitting my shots square and straight and then I had a couple of bad shots and I was forgetting to open my hips and face my targets and my shots weren't going straight because of it.”

Standings

328 Mt Pleasant

358 Washington

364 Fairfield

395 Ft Madison

407 Keokuk

All-SEC team

76 Brady Knutson, Washington (won second playoff hole)

76 Brock Sobaski, Washington

77 Jake Moffett, Mt. Pleasant

81 Jace White, Mt. Pleasant

84 Shelladay, Mt. Pleasant

85 Jackson Weaton, Fairfield

Trojans

Senior Jackson Weaton shot a 'really good back nine,” according to head coach Mick Flattery. Weaton had six pars during his 85 (45,40)

Ninth-grader Evan Haines had three pars during his 91 (47,44).

'We had previously golfed at that course two other times and I didn't do very well,” said Haines. 'I was just looking to improve and get better each hole and I shot way better than my other two rounds.”

Better round in Evan's mind?

'The back because I was more consistent and had a couple good pars while playing well.”

Prepping for sectionals

'I haven't played there before, but I'm looking at it as any other round. We'll go out there and do our best and hopefully we'll move on to districts.”

Junior Josh Brewington had a 94 (46,48) with very few surprises.

'I did what I always do and we've played that course before so I was familiar with it,” said one of the elder members of the Trojans. 'I just try to stay focused and keep a good attitude no matter what happens. My shot of the day was on a par four. I chipped on and was putting for birdie and I missed the putt, but I got par because it was a far putt.”

Brewington is also helping the lone senior Weaton shoulder some of the leadership burden.

'We're pretty much leaders. I try to make sure nobody is nervous because I learned when I was younger that you play better when you're loose. I use to get in my head if I was playing with people who are good, but now I just think that if I can stay with them then I can shoot a better round.”

Goals?

'I want to shoot high 40s or high 70s,” which would apply to the front nine and round totals for Brewington. 'I want to try to get into the 30s once on a nine and hopefully I can hit my shots square and figure everything out. If I know I'm shooting a low-score, I seem to do worse so I try not to focus on my score. I need to hit my driver well, usually over 250 yards, but I'm very comfortable with my 3-wood as a backup driver. Anything in my short game is good so if I can just get to there I should have pretty good rounds. I'm just going to leave it all out there so I can maybe move on and if not, just get the best round of this year.”

Freshman Nate Smithburg had four pars during his 94 (47,47).

'Going into the round [Tuesday], it was earlier than I've ever played before. Waking up that early I was kind of doing my school routine but with golf stuff. When we arrived at the country club I was in an abnormally good mood for that early and the guys were kind of razzing me for being so awake and talking so much, but that's what I usually do in the car. When we got there I was hitting my driver well at the range and I've been struggling with that lately. I knew that if I could hit my driver well, then it was going to be a good day. On the first hole, it was a long par-4 that had a dog-leg and I went with my driver and hit a good shot and bogeyed. That was one of the better first holes I've played all year. I knew it was going to be a good day if I could keep it up. My goal is to stay in the 40s because I can't shoot in the 50s if I want to stay on varsity.”

Thoughts on being the baby-faced freshman on the team?

'I've played in the 4-5-6 slot this year, so when I walk up there and it's a senior I'm against and they find out I'm a freshman it jumps out to them that I might be good. They want to play well to make sure they don't lose to a freshman and it gives me a good feeling when I get in their head just by telling them what grade I'm in. Then you have to put a good shot out there to really back it up.”

Sophomore Brad Smithburg shot a 100 (48,52) on the day.

'I was trying to stay in the moment and move on from any bad shots and keep moving forward with the round mentally and physically and hopefully improve as the round went on. I was definitely lacking confidence going into the second nine which is something I need to work on. It's the one thing that probably hurt me in the long run.”

Shot of the day?

'I don't know, there weren't too many good ones, but on the front nine I hit a lot of greens on the par 3s. Just keeping the big scores away is the key for me [at sectionals].”

Jeremy Crile had a 106 (52,54) round scored.

'I either topped it or shanked it, it just wasn't a good first round and I don't think I was mentally ready for the meet,” said Crile. 'Normally I don't get nervous, but that one kind of hit me and I messed up on the first tee box and I tried and tried, but I couldn't get it going. It was better than my worst round of the year, but it was just a rough day, but that's golf.”

Ready for sectionals?

'I'm feeling pretty good and I played decent at Burlington last year. It's nice and short and it should go pretty good, but again, I thought that about Washington. Hopefully I can shoot low-80s or 90s and I think I should.”

Making a name for himself

'Carson has done a lot for Fairfield with football and basketball and all of that, but hopefully I can help try and make a name for myself. Hopefully.”

Next

Fairfield will play at Flint Hills in Burlington today for the sectional meet.