Trace Reavis on the tee box at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg. Photo Credit – ASPN

Harrisonburg – Carroll County High School Senior Trace Reavis toured the 18 hole layout at the Par 70 Heritage Oaks Golf Course in 73 shots and then patiently waited to see where his efforts would land him. Three was the magic number as three hours after tapping in his final putt, Reavis and his traveling party were assured that his three over par was good enough to land the lanky right hander in third place.

  Reavis finished in 10th place on the same course at the end of his Junior year and in his last hurrah he teamed up with new Coach, Jeremy Ogle and continued to grind every opportunity that presented itself.

” Trace had his game in place when the season started,” said Coach Ogle. ” My focus with him was on the mental aspect of the game, between the ears.”

Standing on the fourth tee at +1, Reavis displayed the strength of his game by launching a missle that came to rest just 18 yards shy of the green on the 358 yard hole.

  A bogey on the Par 4 fifth hole put Reavis back at 1 over par and he remained there through the Par 34 front nine. His 35 at the turn included a missed opportunity on the Par 5 seventh hole where Reavis was just short after two shots. The par was probably the one birdie that got away but karma balanced out when his drive on #9 was veering well left until it struck a tree and landed in the center of the fairway.

  Playing in the second of 15 foresomes and surrounded by six supporters, Reavis leaned on one of his fans in particular during an up and down back nine

Reavis made the turn and unloaded another bomb 💣 on the 347 yard 10th hole. Once again, the tee shot flirted with reaching the green. The transition from muscle to touch led to a second birdie and once again the Cavalier stood at even par.

  The tee shot on the eleventh hole did not miss left but by a few yards but unfortunately it landed in a marshy area, forcing a drop and the penalty shot led to a double bogey. This was the first time that Reavis leaned on the smile of his buddy, Wyatt Ogle.

” It really does help to look over and see a friendly face,” Reavis said. ” Being able to stay on an even keel is a big part of the game.”

That thought process was pushed to the brink just three holes later. On the 14th tee, Reavis hit his only truly errant shot and once again it resulted in a lost ball. Hitting three, the approach shot ran through the green and led to a second lost ball on the hole.

  Standing over an eight foot putt to salvage a second double bogey in four holes, Reavis tapped into the mental  aspect that his coached mentioned and calmly sank the putt. That effort was quite possibly the most relevant stroke of the round. Bouncing back from a triple bogey would have been extremely difficult to overcome.

Not only did Reavis right the ship with his round saving putt, he turned it into a wave of momentum. The closing four holes will show only one more birdie but Reavis was all over the flag stick all the way to the clubhouse.

Birdie putts on 15 and 17 just missed and his eagle chip on 16 came to a stop just inches away. Reavis stood over a 51 foot birdie putt on 18 and for good measure, rolled it to two inches.

After signing his scorecard just before 1:30, Reavis sat in second place but this was after just 8 of the 60 golfers had completed their round.

Jackson Devereux of Wilson  Memorial High School carded a 71 to be the leader in the clubhouse and Reavis sat in second place but it would be a long, long wait.

Mom and Dad made the trip to the nearby Chick-fil-A to get food for everyone and then the wind picked up and spotty rain 🌧 began to fall. The tough conditions continued to become more of a challenge for the remaining golfers.

Kennedy MacCleery of Western Albemarle carded a four under par 66 to capture the individual title in addition to leading WAHS to the team crown 👑 by an astonishing 25 strokes over runner up Liberty Christian Academy. The impressive young Lady might have a future in the game.

The future for Reavis is yet to be determined but know that he represented his Family, his team and The Hill incredibly well across his four years. Last year, after the end of the golf season, Reavis traded his golf spikes for tennis shoes and played Basketball for Head Coach Anthony Barnes.

In regards to Coach Ogle and his two assistants, know that they accomplished what every coaching staff should chase – Leave it better than you found it !