The OHS golf teams are looking forward to starting the season after the first tournament in Tunica, where both girls and boys teams showed promise. Golf Coach Ryne Bankston and all the players are expecting a great year.
The Chargers could face conflict being that the team is still pretty young, but both players and coaches believe it is possible to put them in a good position for upcoming seasons.
“One of the biggest challenges we will face this season is trying to balance pressing for better and better results while still being relatively young,” Bankston said. “We only have two seniors on the team, one boy and one girl, and we have a lot of younger golfers who are going to get high school playing experience for the first time throughout the season.”
The Chargers recently played in the Border Bash at Tunica National on Aug. 11. The boys shot a total of 328, while the girls shot 316. The best scores of the day came from Walker Gary for the boys, who shot a 73, and Maier Jernigan for the girls, who shot an 83. The team is satisfied with the results, but they know they can improve for the upcoming tournaments.
“This season I am super excited about the environment of the team, both boys and girls.” Maier Jernigan said, “The team this year is extremely determined to get better no matter the skill level.”
The girls recently placed sixth at the Lady Macs invitational at Whisper Country Club in Madison, Miss. showing good signs for upcoming tournaments. Both boys and girls will be back in action on Aug. 18, at the Ole Miss Golf Course.
Tournaments include both a boys and girls division. The boys team is composed of six golfers who compete individually, then taking the best four scores of the six golfers and adding them to the team score. The girls team operates similarly, except the girls team only has four golfers and they only take the two best scores out of the four. Most matches are 18 holes, although 36 hole matches over two days are starting to gain popularity.
“My personal goals for the season is to get better every time I play and help the team as much as possible during the season,” Sophmore player Farrell Wiygul said.
Farrell, and many other golfers on the team believe that this is the year to set them up for success, individually and as a team. Farrell is also looking forward to playing Tunica National and the Ole Miss Golf Course as those are the courses he thinks he can improve the most from last year.
Due to the Chargers new region this season, the team is looking forward to playing some new courses around Jackson Miss. and Tennessee. The team is also looking forward to playing some new competition they have never played before in southern Mississippi and in Tennessee.
“We are always looking to play in a wide array of tournaments that provide us invaluable experience as we develop as individual golfers and grow as a program.” Bankston said.
