Young Lions impress in state showing

OPELIKA – The Briarwood Christian School boys golf team had a chance to bring home a trophy, but was ultimately denied despite a valiant effort.

The Lions were sitting pretty after the first round of the Class 5A state tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Grand National Golf Course in Opelika, deadlocked with Guntersville in a tie, after both teams registered scores of 329 on Monday.

But Tuesday was a slightly different story, as Guntersville’s Paul Bruce improved on his performance from the day before and carded a round of 72, even par.

“Guntersville had one of their guys have a big day today,” Briarwood coach Jim Brown said. “That was really the difference. Overall, we played a little bit better than we did yesterday.”

Guntersville finished with a 315 on Tuesday and a two-day total of 644. Briarwood was two strokes better than Monday’s performance, and the Lions’ 327 wrapped them up at 656. St. Paul was the class of the field, shooting a 603 for the tournament.

Brown said that four of Briarwood’s five golfers had never played a round at the RTJ course prior to this week, meaning they adapted to the new surroundings well and were in the hunt to the end.

He said, “It’s a big venue, with a lot of folks and a lot of activity. Overall, I thought our guys played pretty well.”

Eighth-grader Andrew McCary led the Lions on the first day with his 80. Junior Matthew Herritt shot an 81, with eighth-grader Slade McCraw coming in at 83. Senior Spencer Russell carded an 85 and freshman Cooper Blevins finished at 85.

McCraw and Russell improved on their scores for Tuesday, shooting a 75 and 79, respectively.

Even with how young the Lions are, they impressed this season and gained valuable experience for future seasons.

“It’s always big, because they get a feel for what it’s like and see these guys picking up these trophies and it gives them something to shoot for,” Brown said.