Adam Goins The youthful Gaffney High golf team didn’t bring home the trophy at the Capitol City Classic this past weekend, but the team did accomplish one of its goals by proving it can compete with the top programs in the state.

The Indians shot a 36-hole 627 to finish fifth, just seven strokes behind champion A.C. Flora.

The Indians shot 310 on the second day of the tournament played at The Woodlands but, surprisingly, head coach Todd Coggins said the team’s first day score of 317 at Wildewood was actually more impressive because of the winds and wet weather.

“The conditions were worse Thursday,” Coggins said. “It was a good experience for us. I think we surprised a lot of teams.

The Indians were paired with the final group of teams on the second day.

“We proved that we can compete with the top teams in the state,” Coggins said.

Phillip Rogers continued his resurgent play with a 77-73 - 150, good enough for ninth place overall.

“He hit a lot of the greens and got up and down,” Coggins said.

Trey Taylor was the next lowest Gaffney golfer with a 77-76 - 153.

Teammate Adam Goins had an 81 on the first day but shot a respectable 4- over 76 on day two to finish with a 157.

Newcomer E.J. Blanton was understandably nervous playing in his first major tournament, but he did surprisingly well with an 82-85 - 167.

All four individual scores were tallied to determine each school’s total score.

Fort Dorchester was second and Dorman was third.

Gaffney will host Fort Mill and Northwestern in a region match today before hosting Spartanburg and Boiling Springs in a nonregion match on Tuesday.