Jags put up best round of year at state, take home 2nd
The Spain Park High School boys golf team put together its best effort of the season at the Class 7A state tournament, held May 14-15 at The Shoals Golf Club in Muscle Shoals.
Unfortunately for the Jags, so did Mountain Brook. The Spartans posted an incredible two-day total of 544, 32 strokes under par, to claim their seventh state championship and second in a row. Spain Park shot 12-under for the tournament, the team’s best score of the season, to finish second.
“We knew it was going to come down to us and Mountain Brook,” said second-year coach Keat Litton. “Our guys played really well. We left some shots out there for sure, but when you shoot 12-under and lose by 20, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Even though there wasn’t much the Jags could do about Mountain Brook’s performance, the Jags won the 7A title in 2016, so that was the ultimate goal once again.
“Four of them were part of a state championship two years ago,” Litton said. “We didn’t go there for a red trophy, we went there for a blue one, so there was some disappointment there.”
The Jags returned to the state tournament after falling short at the section tournament in 2017 and capped off a strong, consistent season. Out of the 12 tournaments Spain Park participated in throughout the season, it won six of them and placed in the top two 10 times.
In each of the first 11 tournaments, the Jags also had an individual place first or second, with four different players earning one of those honors.
“Not only did we have team success, we had individual success throughout the year,” Litton said.
At state, Ethan Hagood finished third with a total of 135 (-9), two strokes behind Mountain Brook’s William Wann and Gordon Sargent.
Eighth-grader Nick Dunlap placed fifth after shooting 140 (-4). Carter Goodwin finished at 146 and Landon Carner fired a 148, as each of their rounds counted toward the team scores. Matt Stuart also played for the Jags at state and shot a 150.
Spain Park and Mountain Brook battled it out several times throughout the year. The Jags rallied from a nine-shot deficit to defeat the Spartans at the Bradley Johnson Memorial and the two teams tied at the 7A, Section 3 tournament.
The Jags will graduate four seniors, all of whom will play in college. Hagood has signed with UAB, Carner is heading to Memphis, Goodwin to Wallace State and Reed Hereford will play at Jeff State.
“They were highly motivated after finishing on a down note last year and they were motivated to put their mark on the program this year,” Litton said.