Varsity golf this year at RMA looks much different than it did one year ago. Under the leadership of the Coach Randy Davis, the team has grown from thirteen members to twenty-one. A majority of the newest additions have come from the 7^th and 8^th grades and with their early exposure to match play, they will surely show a great range of improvement once at the high school level. In addition to the growth in the number of players, the golf team has undergone another change. This year, Coach Davis has worked with the other coaches in our conference to start up a girls division. This means that all four of the girl members of the team travel to every match, along with the top six seeds, to compete with other girls from the other schools in our conference. Overall, this team has seen a fairly successful season thus far and, with the steady improvements each week, the group should continue to perform well in the future.

With the loss of senior and star player Zach Fulcher last season, the team was unsure who would take his place this year. Juniors Rob Turnage and Andersen Cobb have consistently qualified for playing in every match so far this year by being in the top six scorers during practices. In the first match, junior Thomas Moore was named overall medalist after shooting the lowest score on nine holes out of every school. Caleb Lambert has also proved to be an asset to the team as he consistently qualifies for matches and contributes low scores. At last week’s Monday match, freshman Christopher Gardner traveled to his first match of the season and shot the second lowest score on the team behind team medalist Andersen Cobb. With the occasional inspirational speech from Rob or Thomas, the team has been able to compete alongside other schools without being left in the dust. When asked about his thoughts for the season, Thomas answered, “I think this year we have had some tough competition with Kerr Vance Academy and Crossroads, but everyone has just been grinding it out and we have great potential for many more years.” Paul Larimer also serves as a solid component of the team as his methodical play shows he has a knowledge of the sport that not many have. As the high school players graduate, the team will be led by current middle schoolers such as Ian Fryar, Graham Turnage, and Jack Pittman.

With the addition of a girls division, the four girls on the team are now able to travel to every match. This year, the girls of the team, juniors Maxwell Miller and Emily Cheston, gained two new members: senior Belle Rose and sophomore Alexis Reams. In the first match, Emily Cheston came in second overall with Alexis not far behind. Later in the season, Maxwell Miller shot a successful round at her first match with a birdie and a par and was awarded overall medalist. On the same day, Belle Rose also performed well by securing a par in her first match of the season. At last Monday’s match, Emily Cheston placed as overall medalist for the girls division with a personal best. All in all, the girls’ team has seen steady improvement and is continuing to try to shave off unnecessary strokes wherever possible. Maxwell Miller stated “It’s a good feeling to see your score go down after playing nine holes with hours in the sun. Improvement is always a good sign that practice is paying off.”

As the season continues, the team will continue to work hard at after school practices, and many members get in a round whenever possible. The group constantly works to improve their games with the advice of Coach Davis and their own teammates. The team works to encourage each other by analyzing their swings and offering helpful advice. Lighthearted practices make the sport enjoyable and makes everyone want to get out on the course that much more. Coach Davis and the rest of the team hope to keep the success of the team moving forward and are excited to see what the next few weeks in the rest of the season have in store.