With the girls and boys golf teams already teed up for the season, both squads are ready to make a playoff run, the boys defending their 2024 state title.
The girls team is led by senior captain and Washington and Lee commit Morgan Maddox, and juniors Becca Pearson and London Davis.
The girls finished top three in sectionals last year. They progressed to substates and finished fourth, narrowly missing out on state. They hope to use this disappointing finish as motivation for this season.
The girls team faces an issue with experience. Maddox, Pearson and Davis lead the squad as the only upperclassmen. Lois Ann Winslett and Challis Greggs are the lone freshmen. Seventh grader Elizabeth Chappel got pulled up from the middle school to fill in the roster.
Despite this, Maddox feels the team is building something special. She believes talent is built from a strong work ethic and desire to get better. She sees that in the team.
“Even though we have a lot of new faces this season, I’m excited to see how we grow as a team,” Maddox said. “I know we have the dedication to improve and compete with any opponent.”
Girls coach Meredith Shuttlesworth is appreciative of how the team bonded in the off-season and believes this will help them go far this year.
“Just seeing the way the girls interacted with each other was encouraging,” Shuttlesworth said. “It was special seeing the older girls connect with the younger ones.”
For the boys, the senior class is small with only three players Palmer Heard, Patrick Doyal and Kaman Rouse. Rouse was a state placer last season, and Heard and Doyal fill the roster with experience.
The junior class is strong. Jack Lowery, Alex Wahl and Andrew Woods are all key golfers for the squad and performed well at state last year. Newcomers Sawyer Bennett and Brooks Jackson join the junior class as key contributors.
Jacob Peters and Sebastian Bennett are the sophomores on the team. Peters comes in with experience from last year and Bennett is a solid golfer looking to make an impact.
The freshmen class welcomes Patrick Bull and Bram Upchurch as the youngest additions.
Last season, the boys flew under the radar and weren’t expected to win the state championship. They defied expectations and won their first state championship since 2016.
“Midway through the season we had a meeting about what we needed to do to step it up,” team captain Kaman Rouse said. “We all clicked at the same time when we needed to at the end of the year.”
Rouse believes having four of the five state placers come back is an advantage in terms of experience, a huge factor for success in high school sports.
“After the turnaround we had last year it just shows the true character of our team and how we can come together and just win,” Rouse said. “I feel we are more mature as a group and after seeing what we went through last year we know that anybody can show up when needed.”
Head coach Jason Haithcock is confident that his squad will go back to the big stage and compete for a state title again. He credits the 6A classification as the most competitive class in AHSAA this year, making winning another title a tough task.
“Fortunately for us, we played our absolute best golf the last 2 weeks of the 2024 season,” Haithcock said. “I’m very confident that we have a team to compete for the state title again but we will have to play our absolute best.”
Haithcock also credits the offseason training the players did and believes it will drive them to the highest point they can achieve.
“These guys have been putting a lot of pressure on each other and so far they’ve handled it well,” Haithcock said.
Both teams teed off early this week to start the season. The girls played at the Hoover Country Club and finished 18th as a group. The boys took a trip to Tuscaloosa and competed at the North River Yacht Club, finishing in fifth place.
