The Pulaski County Golf team finished their 2026 season on Monday in the Regional
Championships. The team finished 5th out of a 15-team field shooting a team score of
319. Hidden Valley won the event with a team score of 297, and Cave Spring came in
second at 306. Hidden Valley senior, Harris Camp, won individual medalist with a
sterling 67. His round was highlighted by a rare albatross on the opening hole! For
those readers who are not familiar, an albatross in golf is a 2 on a par 5, thus Harris was
3-under after 1 hole!
The Cougars were led by 1st team All Region, Will Rackaway with a 76. Cayden Mines
shot an 80 and finished as a 2nd team All-Region representative. Evan Singleton scored
81 and Ethan Clark rounded out the team scoring with an 82.
Rackaway ended in a 4-way tie for two of the 3 individual spots for the State tournament
and a sudden death playoff was held. Carter Dudash from Christiansburg birdied the
first hole to qualify, While Will, Davis Cook from Abingdon, and Derek Bond from Lord
Botetourt all parred and moved to second hole. After tying hole 2, Bond was eliminated
on hole 3. Both Cook and Rackaway hit excellent tee balls on the par 4 fourth hole, but
Cook was able to put his wedge shot to 7 feet and made the putt to win the second
State bid.
“We certainly had our eyes on a state berth this year,” said Coach Hanks. “With 5
starters returning and the addition of Ethan, this team had the makings and started off
so well. Not sure really what the late season swoon was about, but golf is a lonely game
when things are not going your way. I am just super proud of the way the guys carried
themselves throughout the season. It is good for an old ball coach like me to be around
them!”
“We have improved our team and our program so much since Conner and Boone joined
us 4 years ago. It’s nice getting off the bus and other teams recognize you as one of the
better groups around-I credit those 2 for helping us turn it around”
When asked about the regional round and particularly the playoff, “Like I said going in,
we know that course so well and I really liked our chances. Hidden Valley and Cave
finished well ahead of us in the regular season, and it would have taken some of our
best stuff, just didn’t happen. Certainly not for a lack of trying and honestly you can
almost try too hard in sports sometimes-overthink it. We could go out today and shoot
300, but golf is crazy like that. The playoff was exciting, Will looked at me on the 4th
hole and said his heart was about to jump out of his chest! He hit some really big shots
and made a couple clutch putts. On the last hole, I thought he had hit his wedge tight
and it just ran past the hole more than we thought it would. Davis is a fine player and a
quality individual, so hats off to him and I wish him the best at states”