Staff report

PILOT MOUNTAIN — Salisbury’s regional golf experience got off to a rocky start when Warren Fesperman suffered serious leg and ankle injuries in a cart accident during a practice round.

But the Hornets will play on the last day of this golf season. They were able to qualify for the 2A State Championships that will be held next Monday and Tuesday at Longleaf.

“Lost the guy who was our No. 2 player all year, but we battled through it,” Salisbury coach Josh Brincefield said. “Not saying we played very well today or as well as we can play, and it was tricky course that we weren’t familiar with, but we still did what we needed to do. Survive and advance at this point, and we survived.”

John McCoy’s 73 led the Hornets in Monday’s 2A Midwest Regional played at Pilot Knob.

Jackson Sparger (80), Bo Brincefield (85) and Bryant Davis (87) provided the other counting scores for the Hornets. Sam Goodman, who replaced Fesperman, shot 89.

East Surry, which had “home field” advantage was the regional champion. Forbush placed second. Salisbury was third. Those three teams advanced to the state event.

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Fesperman was injured when the cart  he was in, toppled over on a side sliope. Brincefield said he reached out of the cart to pick up something, the cart overturned, and fell on top of him. He broke a leg and dislocated an ankle. Surgery is planned for Thursday and he should be fine long-term, but he’s going to miss a few months of golf.

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LEXINGTON — East Rowan shot 319 at Sapona and placed second in the 3A Midwest Regional.

Oak Grove was the regional champ at 310, The third qualifying team for next week’s 3A State Championships at Foxfire was Lake Norman Charter.

Jaden Sprinkle shot 73 to lead the Mustangs. Other East scorers were Landon Merrell (74), Brady McIntyre (79) and Brayden Mulkey (93), Austin Tucker shot 94.

‘We’ve got two freshmen and we had some struggles, but the guys battled and kept the wheels from coming off,” said relieved East coach Tinsley Merrell. “Now we get to play on the last day of the golf season, and that’s always a goal.”

Carson shot 348 and didn’t qualify as a team, but Cade Cranfield, who led the Cougars with a 76, advanced to the state tournament as an individual.

Other Carson scores were Tanner Frye (90), Harrison McCall (90), Jonathan Therecka (92) and Robert Jolly (94).

West Rowan’s Tyler Kepley shot 77 and also qualified for the state event as an individual.

Cooper Burris of Northwest Cabarrus shot 70 and was medalist. Also advancing to states was Northwest’s Talan Harrison (74).