DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710080196

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 10   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAY LIDINGTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

TOURNAMENT CRUEL, KIND TO HIGH SCHOOL GOLFERS MAURY'S CASEY O'HEARN WOULD RATHER FORGET THE FINAL EIGHT HOLES.

CALL MAURY'S CASEY O'Hearn an optimist.

The dust had hardly settled from O'Hearn's rocky final round in the Eastern District tournament last Tuesday at Sleepy Hole and O'Hearn was already looking forward to the Eastern Region tournament Oct. 14-15.

The district tournament's final eight holes are something he'd rather forget.

O'Hearn, a sophomore, was sitting on a four-shot lead over Churchland's Robbie Floyd going to the 11th tee when he drove his tee shot into a fairway bunker and had to make a long putt for bogie. O'Hearn also bogied No. 12 while Floyd birdied the 12th and 13th holes to tie O'Hearn for the tournament lead.

Floyd locked up medalist honors with a 3 1/2-foot putt at No. 18, a hole O'Hearn scrambled to bogie after hitting his tee shot into the neighboring No. 1 fairway. Floyd finished with a 77 for a tournament total of 152; while O'Hearn's 80 gave him a 153.

``I hit a 30-yard slice into No. 1 fairway,'' O'Hearn said after the tournament, his eyes fixed downward while dragging his putter slowly through the grass. ``The funny thing is I never slice the ball.''

O'Hearn's approach shot hit a tree and bounced into the rough while Floyd knocked his third shot, a chip from the front fringe, to within 3 1/2 feet.

``At that point in the round, that was the first time I felt nervous,'' O'Hearn said. ``When he hit his approach, that was the first time I thought I might lose. I was playing terribly, but I didn't give up. That was my only chance.''

O'Hearn and his Maury teammates had other reasons to celebrate, however. They finished first in the team standings with a 677, ahead of Granby with 686 and Churchland's 714.

One of the regional host courses, Lake Wright, was the site of O'Hearn's low round of the year - a 68.

``If I can go out there and drive it straight, maybe I can make state,'' O'Hearn said after districts. ``I hope I can make up for the way I played today.''

Maury's J.R. Lockery finished third in the individual standings with a 164 and teammate Jeff Powers shot a 172 to finish seventh.

Granby's Xerses ``Zeus'' Nabong and Booker T. Washington's Jonathan Elliott tied for fourth place at 165. Granby's Billy Hussey shot 166 to finish sixth; teammate Robert Boyd finished eighth; and Booker T's Steve Gibson finished 10th.

Norview's Nick Beane qualified for the regional as an individual, as did teammate Dan McMillan, who won a three-hole playoff over yet another teammate, Chris Peoples, and Stephen Manrique of Lake Taylor.

The Eastern Region tournament and the accompanying showdown with the golf powerhouses of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach should prove to be a difficult test for Eastern District golfers and teams.

``It would be tough for us to win it as a team,'' said Maury coach Gary Masterson. ``But we have a good shot for a couple of our players to make it'' to the state tournament.

While the top three teams and five individuals not on those teams qualified for the region meet from the district tournament, only the top two teams and six individuals from the region tournament advance to state.

``Great Bridge and Cox - they shoot around 300. They have really tough golfers. Their sixth player would be in our top four,'' Masterson said, half-joking. ``They're really solid 1-4.''

Despite feeling like his game was headed the wrong way, Booker T. Washington's Jonathan Elliott was the tournament's top individual qualifier from a non-qualifying team after shooting 165.

Elliott salvaged his final round with an impressive shot from against the forward lip of a fairway bunker on the 17th hole to within a few feet of the hole. He two-putted for par.

``That was one of my bright spots,'' he said. ``I was just going backwards the whole day.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA

Casey O'Hearn of Maury High finished second with an 80 at the

district tournament at Sleepy Hole Golf Course in Suffolk. KEYWORDS: EASTERN DISTRICT GOLF

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