The conditions were far from ideal. However, the afternoon ended in ideal fashion for Aaron Deel.

The Holston High School junior finished ninth on the individual leaderboard at Tuesday’s Region C golf tournament and earned a spot in next week’s VHSL Group A tournament at Piankitank River Golf Club in Hartfield, Va.

Deel was the only Hogoheegee District golfer to advance to the state tourney on a day that featured some occasional rain, heavy winds and brief appearances of sunshine at Wytheville Golf Club.

Deel overcame the bone-chilling temperatures to card a 79.

"It was pretty bad," Deel said. "It was a constant battle, all 18 holes. I just tried to stick it out."

Deel fired a 42 on the front nine, but found his groove by shooting a 37 on the back nine of the par-70 course. Deel said his drives were far more accurate than they were in last week’s Hogoheegee District tournament, where he carded an 83 on the same course.

There was also another key element to his performance.

"Just making putts," Deel said. "That’s all that matters."

It will be the first state tournament trip for Deel, who flashed a big grin as me milled around the scoring area long after his round was completed.

"It feels good," he said.

Holston finished fifth in the team standings, a good sign for head coach Adam Moore. The Cavaliers won the Hogoheegee District regular-season title with a roster that does not include a single senior.

"We’ve got a good foundation," Moore said. "Hopefully, we can build on this."

As for the rest of the Hogoheegee, the regional tournament was rough.

The district’s tournament champion, Northwood, finished eighth out of eight teams. The Panthers did get a nice performance from Chaz Jones, who used a strong start to finish with an 82.

That was the second-lowest score of any Hogoheegee golfer. Patrick Henry’s Josh Compton (83) also had a solid round.

Perhaps the biggest shocker of the day came when Chilhowie junior Conner Hayden had an uncharacteristically bad round. Hayden fired an 85 and failed to qualify for the state tournament, one week after he shot a 66 to win medalist honors at the Hogoheegee tourney.

Hayden had placed fourth in last year’s state tournament.

Meanwhile, Galax and Giles continued to be Region C’s best.

Galax won the team title with an impressive 286, getting particularly good rounds from tourney medalist Brock Cox (71) and the trio of Dustin Thompson (73), John Bryant (75) and Eddie Hanks (77).

The Maroon Tide won the state tournament in 2008 and finished as runner-up to Giles in last year’s event. Galax beat its rival by 16 strokes on Tuesday.

That also didn’t make things any easier for the Hogoheegee contingent.

"This region has won the state a bunch of times," said Northwood coach Gary "Peaches" Arnold. "It’s tough. It really is."