Patriots’ Rutledge, Gators’ Richey finish inside top ten of KHSAA Boys Golf State Championship

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After day one of the KHSAA boy’s state golf championships wrapped up on Tuesday afternoon, a couple local golfers competed within the top ranks of the final round for 2024.

Greenwood’s Layton Richey entered the day one-over par, and his Wednesday performance mirrored that, finishing one-over again to wrap up his season tied for eighth place in the bluegrass.

But Allen County’s Barton Rutledge was the highest finisher from South Central Kentucky Wednesday afternoon, and his day was a thriller, starting on hole 18, where the Patriot golfer sunk a chip shot to birdie and finish through 36 holes with a score of one-under-par.

With that shot, he entered what would become a three-way tie for first which meant a sudden death playoff, starting on hole 18.

Rutledge entered the par-five hole with Pikeville’s Cam Roberts and Lexington Catholic’s Charlie Spiller.

The Patriot golfer had a chance to birdie and win the tournament, but the ball decided to layup just in front of the hole, Rutledge would tap it in, and his competitors would also finish at par. All three young men would repeat hole 18 and tie at par so the playoff would shift to hole 10.

Here, a winner was crowned, as Rutledge and Roberts both bogeyed the hole, while Knight’s golfer Charlie Spiller finished at par winning the individual state title.

After the conclusion of the tournament, News 40 spoke with both Richey and Rutledge to hear how they felt after finishing their seasons.

“ It’s been great seeing everybody out here and this is one of the biggest tournaments of the year or the biggest tournament of the year, I should say,” Richey said, “and it’s cool competing with my best friend that I played with today. Like that was a really cool experience for me.”

“I mean, it’s tense. I mean, missing that little put or the 15-footer I had, I mean missing that kind of hurt, but knowing that I moved on was helpful,” Rutledge said. “I mean, and I just kept going and going [that was] the hard part. Just make every shot and you can’t control what everyone else does.”

Rutledge also added what it meant to him, finishing so close to a state title in the three-way playoff Wednesday afternoon.

“It means a lot; I mean knowing that I could do this. I mean it means a lot coming from last year missing the top ten, now getting to be in the playoffs for first, it’s a lot of fun, had a lot of fun today.”