When two-time Class AA individual state champion Todd Duncan convinced Greg Daniel to fill the head golf coach vacancy at Shady Spring High School for 2018, the program was a mere shell of itself back then.
In a sport where four players make up the roster for each match and the best three scores are used as the team score, the Tigers only had three players overall.
Those days seem light years away now.
Heading into regional play Monday morning, Shady Spring has now qualified for the state golf tournament the last five years in a row. That five-year run has included three regional titles and a state championship title in 2020.
“The first year we had three players. One was Todd and one was Nate Daniels which were pretty good players,” Daniels said. “The last few years we have had 18 kids. I tell the kids all of the time that we take no shortcuts and we want to do it right. A ten is a ten and a nine is a nine. Whatever you make is what you write down.”
The program’s meteoric rise naturally included some really good players, but Daniel also found a framework to success during his first trip to the state golf tournament at Oglebay Park in Wheeling when Duncan was a sophomore.
“Todd had qualified for the state tournament and I saw (Cabell Midland) at the state tournament. I felt like they were doing things the way you are supposed to do it. That was what I wanted us to be,” Daniel said.
As part of the building process for his program, Daniel entered his team in some of the top tournaments around the state. He also made arrangements to play an 18-hole head-to-head match each year with the Knights during the regular season.
The method to the madness was clearly based on ‘iron sharpens iron.”
“I know (head ) coach (Matt) Stead down there and we have become pretty good friends. He probably thinks it is a coincidence that I called him to get these home and home matches each year,” Daniel said, playfully. “I could judge how good we would be by how we played against them each year,” Daniel said. “The kids really like it and they feed off of it.”
The Cabell Midland coach agreed with Daniel’s thinking.
“We love it. It is tough to find good quality competition in West Virginia and they are,” Stead said. “I know they are not in our division, but they got us up at Edgewood.”
Prior to the head-to-head match-up back in early September, the Tigers took a five-shot win over the Knights at the Capital City Classic at Edgewood Country Club with a field of 33 teams. Two days early, Cabell Midland edged Shady in the Duke Ridgely Invitational at Guyan Country Club.
Stead took over a successful Cabell Midland program in 2015. The Knights had won the state golf title in 2000 and finished runner-up in 2004 and 2013.
“Midland was on a dry spell for championships, but had been on a string of state tournament appearances,” Stead said about his inaugural season. “I was lucky to come in at a time when we had some talented seniors and some really good underclassman. It was the perfect storm and we found a way to win.”
Cabell Midland made it back-to-back titles with a win in 2016, but since those wins, the trips to Wheeling have ended with a good bit of disappointment.
“Since then we have had three runner-up finishes. We have had so many good golfers, but it has also been frustrating,” Stead admitted. ” We had years where we were the best team on most days, but it just didn’t do the job on the mountain.”
Although they will not compete in the same class, the two teams are now hoping to reunite in Wheeling for the state tournament Oct. 8-9.
Clearly, neither team can get caught looking ahead and must perform well at the regional tournament, but both are heavy favorites to hoist the championship plague Monday.
“This year we have some experience and some talented youth. We feel like it is that storm coming together again,” Stead said. “We have six really strong golfers, so it is up to me to find the right line-up. That is the toughest part and a lot of them are seniors. They have been through the grind and the heartbreaks. But, that makes us stronger.”
Narrowing down the four players for the postseason was not quite as difficult for Daniel, but he also had several quality players to choose from this year.
“I didn’t think there was anybody that loved golf more than I do. I just love everything about it and these kids do too and that’s good,” Daniel said. “Our No. 5-8 are pretty good and are shooting in the low 40’s. I feel bad for the kids because they could be the No. 1 on some other teams.”
Three of the Tigers have state tournament experience. Juniors Tyler Beard and Cooper Ward have played each of the last two years on the Speidel Golf Course, while senior Jack Williams played in the state tournament last year.
Freshman Grant Winkler is the newcomer to the high school scene, but the young phenom definitely plays well above his age.
“Everyone of the players has been a (low) medalist at one time or another this season,” Daniel said. “I love that part of it. It lets them know you don’t have to play well every day because you will get some help from your teammate.”
The Class AA Region 3 golf tournament starts at 9 a.m. Monday morning at Grandview Country Club.
The top two teams will qualify for the state tournament, while the top two individual golfers who have the
lowest score and are not on the winning teams will also qualify for the state tournament.
