Eklund cruises at Old Trail

During the winter, Weston Eklund worked arduously on his game, trying to become more consistent in all facets.
On Sunday afternoon at Old Trail Golf Club, the extra labor paid dividends.
Playing on a difficult rain-soaked course, Eklund easily outpaced the field at the third annual Old Trail Team Invitational.
The 18-year-old, who will be a sophomore at Radford next fall, shot a 3-under par 68 — the only score in the red during the three-day event.
“I was hitting the ball well going into today,” said Eklund, who plays out of Green Hills, “so I knew that if I could take advantage of a few holes — some par 5s — that everything would be all right.
“The course was playing long and really windy and cold, so I was just trying to stay patient and when things came to me, I would take advantage.”
Eklund finished 1-under for the tournament. Birdwood’s Dave Hondula was second at 8-over. He was followed by Old Trail’s Ty Grove (10-over) and Farmington’s Philip Mahone (11-over).
Old Trail (1,125) took the team championship for the third straight year. Birdwood (1167) was second and was followed by Farmington (1226).
Grove, like most everybody in attendance at Old Trail on Sunday, was impressed with Eklund’s round.
“Shooting a 68 on this gold course — with the rough the way it’s been — is just a remarkable round,” Grove said. “He deserved to win. No question.”
Grove was the first-round leader after opening with a 71 on Friday. However, a 78 on Saturday did him in.
“I had a rough day [Saturday] where a couple bad lies cost me a lot of shots,” said Grove, who shot a 74 Sunday. “I could have been in the mix, but after today and what [Eklund] did, it was all moot. We were all playing for second.”
Eklund, who hopes to play in the upcoming Kenridge Invitational, notched birdies at No. 6, No. 12 and 13.
Mahone, who was fairly consistent in the tournament, said he just needed to play a little better.
“[On Saturday] I had it going,” he said, “but then finished with triple bogey, bogey, bogey. That hurt.
“The course played long, wet, windy — much different today. You didn’t get much roll and with the weather and the wind, the ball wasn’t going that far…it was harder.”
That is, for everybody but Eklund.