Newton Citizen

Staff photo: Manny Fils Alcovy golfer Emily Moore stares down her tee shot on the second hole in Monday's match at The Oaks Course.

Covington — An eagle by Zach Floyd and a 29 through seven holes by Kelsey Knight helped the Tigers start their golf season with a sweep over Salem at The Oaks Course on Monday.

The Alcovy boys had no trouble beating Salem by 33 stokes, 171-204, while the Alcovy girls had a 27-stroke lead in the girls match, shooting a 67 to Salem's 94.

Floyd's eagle on the ninth-hole par 5 was enough to surpass Andrew Cochran for the low round. Floyd ended the round with a two-over par 38 with Cochran one-stroke back at 39.

"Zach's been playing good," Alcovy head coach Chris Newsham said. "He's been putting a lot of work into (his game) so I'm expecting good things out of him this year. He just has to manage his way around the golf course a little better."

Shooting a scoring-round for the Tigers was Hunter Clark (44) and Wes Keaton (50). Playing but not scoring for the Tigers were Matt Lovell (53) and Jess Nelson (54).

Even though Salem's low score was a 47, shot by Kevin An with the help of a birdie on the par four, eighth hole, Salem boys coach Noah Harrell likes what he saw in their first match.

"The approach I have for my guys is beat your score from last year. I gave them their averages from last year and all my top four guys beat those averages," Harrell said. "I was proud that they're taking those steps to become better golfers which is what we're out here to do.

"Kevin took the year off last year and I'm glad that he's back. I'm expecting him to go (down) from that 47. That's a very good start for him."

Salem's other scorers were Anthony Jackson (49), Clayton Ivey (53) and Kealon Edwards (55) with Jacob Villazana (68) and Charles An (69) also playing against Alcovy.

Even though the girls only finished seven holes, Knight set the pace for the team as she was two strokes off the mark of being at even par. Emily Moore was Alcovy's other scorer with a 38 with the third and fourth golfer in close proximity.

Kaitlayn Doering had a 39 with Sharlie Harrell two strokes back shooting a 41,

Salem's Carmen Carter, Knarhine Bailey and Devin Edwards had the same score (47) with Tori Rice a few strokes back with a 52.

"Kelsey had a good start. She just has to be consistent this year. That's what I'm looking forward to this year. If she can do that, that'll be good. That's really what I'm looking for," Newsham said.

"We can't come out and shoot a 20-stroke difference every match. I think they (teams) have the potential to have a good year."