The game of golf is played on an everchanging landscape where adapting to new circumstances is vital to being successful.
Coming off the most successful season in school history, Shady Spring will now have to traverse a much different landscape this year to become back-to-back Class AA state champions.
“I think the kids feel a different kind of pressure this year,” Shady Spring fourth year head coach Greg Daniel said. “Last year, we were really expected to be right there for the title. This year, most people probably thought we would take a big drop off, so it is a different kind of pressure.”
Last year Shady Spring was led by Todd Duncan who not only led the Tigers to the team title, he also captured the Class AA individual crown for the second consecutive season.
Duncan has since moved on to play college golf for West Virginia University, bit his success and the team’s success have helped build a solid base for this year and years to come.
“We are a young, but I think we have a good team this year. We have 17 kids playing,” Daniel said. “The hard part is getting them all playing time. Last year we were a little top heavy. Our No. 1 golfer would come in and we would have the lead. Then our No. 2 would come in and we might have a bigger lead. Then we would have to hang on with our No. 3 and 4. This year it is a little different. We make up a little ground on people when our three and four come in. We are a lot better than everybody thought we were going to be.”
Just a few short years ago, just finding four golfers to make up a team was a difficult proposition for Shady Spring.
“Hopefully, we are building something here,” Daniel said. “A few years ago, we tied for second at the state tournament and we only had three players. The tiebreaker was the fourth score on your team, but we didn’t have a fourth player. So, we ended up finishing third because of it. We have gone from three kids to 17 in a short period.”
Shady Spring may not have the dominant player like Duncan this year, but the Tigers bring back three of the four players that helped earned them the 2020 state title.
Junior Tanner Vest, senior Jordy Townley and sophomore Hayden Wood all weathered the state tournament pressure-cooker on the Speidel Golf Course at Oglebay Park in Wheeling last year.
“Since we have three players with state tournament experience, that is big for us,” Daniel said. “They are a great group of kids, and they spend a lot of time on the golf course. Whenever you go out there, you see them playing. As a golfer, you know that is what it takes to be good.”
Vest and Townley both played well on the difficult Speidel Course which has dismantled some of the best golfers that walked its fairways. Over the 36-hole, two-day event, Vest finished fourth overall and Townley was 28th.
“I walked every hole of the state tournament with Jordy and he really grinded it out. We wouldn’t have won that championship without him,” Daniel said.
After starting the season a little slow, the Tigers are starting to find their rhythm with regional play beginning next week.
“We have been a little inconsistent, but that comes from being young. Tanner is one of the best players in the state and we have six or seven players vying for three of those top four spots,” Daniel said. “We have had some good tournaments and some that weren’t so good. I think come regionals we will be fine.”
Shady Spring has also received solid play this year from Michael Canterbury and newcomer, Zach Smith.
“Zach and Michael have the potential to be a really good players and we have a couple of freshmen we feel the same way about,” Daniel said.
In high school golf, it’s not the regular season scores that matter, it all boils down to the top two teams at the regional tournament to determine who makes the trip to Wheeling.
“I don’t put a lot of stock in the regular season matches. I basically tell kids they are all practice,” Daniel said. “The kids hear me preach it all the time, don’t let one bad shot effect your next one. They have to understand that every shot matters in the postseason. I want them to be focused more on the total scores. It is more like a Ryder Cup mentality than a PGA Tour mentality.”
While Daniel is hoping his team plays well at the regional tournament, he also notes that the bar is very high in Class AA Region 3 golf.
“There are three really good teams in this region including Herbert Hoover and Westside. If the winner of this region doesn’t win a state championship, I will be surprised. That is just how it is,” Daniel said. “Four of the last five Class AA state champions have come from this region and Wyoming East was runner-up in 2015.”
The Class AA regional is slated to be played Monday, Sept. 27 at Grandview Country Club.
