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Schools

Hylton Sophomore Golfer Makes All-District Team

Aaron Braxton won a one-hole playoff, qualifying to compete in the regional tournament next week.

Hylton sophomore Aaron Braxton shot a 16-over-par 88 in Tuesday's Cardinal District golf tournament, forcing a one-hole playoff against Osbourn Park's Derek Sikora. The result was two strokes better than when Braxton played the hole earlier in the day, which earned him a spot on the Cardinal All-District team, and a trip to the regional competition in Hardy, Virginia.

Braxton opened his round with a bogey on the par-5 first hole, but when replaying the hole head-to-head against Sikora, he looked like a completely different golfer. His drive landed in the fairway 50 yards from the green and five yards behind Sikora's. Braxton then used an approach wedge to stick the ball seven feet from the cup; Sikora's approach shot landed 15 feet away. After Sikora missed his chance at birdie, Braxton sank his putt.

“It felt good,” said Braxton. “The way I finished left a bad taste in my mouth. But in the playoff, to put a good one in for birdie at districts to make first team, you know, it feels great.”

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The way Braxton executed the playoff hole was a complete 180 degree turnaround from how his round ended. After bogeying the 10th and 12th holes, he birdied 13 and 14. Braxton then bogeyed 16, double bogeyed 17, and ended the round with a quintuple bogey 10 on the par-5 18th.

“I didn't play smart on the last couple holes,” said Braxton. “I started getting a little aggressive on the last hole, and I should have played passive on that.”

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Braxton attributed the troubles he had on the front nine to changes in his swing. Earlier in the year he worked on transitioning his hips ahead of his hands on the downswing, but Tuesday, his timing reverted back to how he previously swung the club.

“On thirteen I put my hips ahead a little bit and I was then able to get my swing back to when I was hitting the ball better,” added Braxton. “It was just mental collapses that got me at the end. The swing change is there, so I'm gonna try to fix the mental aspects in time for regionals. I went through a slump through a lot of the year, but the one good thing about going through a slump is that your recovery always gets better. When you hit a bad shot you have to learn how to recover from it, and today I was able to recover from bad shots.”

First year coach Joe Patonetz believes that for a sophomore, Braxton is one of the most poised players he has ever met.

“He's getting stronger and more knowledgeable about the game every week,” said Patonetz. “His biggest flaw right now is course management, and once he gets that down he'll be an excellent player. My whole team has come a long way, and everybody has improved a little bit this year.”

Hylton placed fourth in the district tournament and did not earn a trip to regionals as a team. Donald Jones and Brent Holley both shot 106, Joseph Clarke shot 121, Morgan Powell shot 123, and Bashier Idris shot 129.

Team Scores

Woodbridge: 342, Osbourn Park: 343, Forest Park: 387, Hylton: 421. Gar-Field, Potomac, and Freedom do not have full teams, and therefore their individual players' scores do not count towards team competition.

Cardinal All-District Team (Top 6 Medalists)

Adam Szwed: 78 - Woodbridge

Daniel Westley: 84 - Osbourn Park

Austin Hurlbrink: 84 - Woodbridge

Corbin Attreed: 85 - Osbourn Park

Kyle Vignovich: 86 - Osbourn Park

Aaron Braxton: 88

Individual Regional Qualifiers

Aaron Braxton: 88

Parker Burke: 91 - Forest Park

Andrew Jones: 91 - Forest Park

George Watkins: 92 - Gar-Field

Ryan Johnson: 97 - Freedom

Chris Colletti: 100 - Forest Park

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