The Richmond Hill boys’ golf team qualified for the state tournament for the first time ever and the girls’ team qualified for a second consecutive year following the area tournament at Jekyll Island Golf Club last week.

The boys shot a 318 to finish third, just three strokes behind first-place Glynn Academy and two strokes behind Houston County. The girls finished fourth at the area tournament with a 294.

“The boys have improved a lot over the last year, cutting 27 strokes from our score from last year,” Coach Tommy Hensley said. “The girls have made it to state now for the last two years. They have been working really hard and playing very well.”

The boys’ scores were: Fred Roberts 75, Ethan McDonald 79, Blake Forbes 81, Liam Markgraff 83, Grant Mahaffey 84 and Landry Sutton 85.

The girls’ scores were: Bailey Davis 88, Erica Couch 92, Morgan Dennis-Jones 104 and Astasia Stedman 131.

The program brought in a new assistant coach this year, Alex Puchales, a local PGA professional, to assist Hensley and Coaches Matt LeZotte and Phil Jones.

“They went to the area tournament prepared to compete and achieved their goal,” Puchales said. “We will approach the state tournament with the same mindset as we did the area tournament: One shot at a time. It's an old cliché but it still hold true.”

The state tournament will be May 21 and 22. The girls will play at Jekyll Island Indian Mounds, while the boys will be at Jekyll Island Pine Lakes.