Coming off of an unsatisfying second-place finish last year, Liberty boys’ golf captured their first-ever state title at the recent championship in Richland.
“The team’s euphoric. Not very many kids get to say that they’re state champions, so this is something that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives,” coach Jon Kinsley said. “It makes me extremely proud to be a part of this group. They’re awesome kids on top of awesome golfers.”
The state team consisted of senior Collin Fletcher, junior Ben Graham, junior Luke Hall, sophomore Chase McIntosh, sophomore Cole Sherman, and senior Alex Wilsey. Qualifying for finals on the second day were Hall, who placed 2nd; McIntosh, who tied for 3rd; Graham, who tied for 13th, and Wilsey, who placed 30th.
“It was the way they stepped up on the second day that got us to first place. Luke duplicated his score from the first day, and Chase, Ben, and Alex all improved dramatically. That was the difference: they all just raised their game,” Kinsley said.
“Working hard and learning from our mistakes from last year and having confidence that we were able and talented enough to win definitely contributed to our huge success this year,” Hall said.
The team is proud of its accomplishments and hopes to continue its winning streak going into the future.
“We’re all really happy to win state, especially considering that last year, no kid had ever been sent to state,” McIntosh said. “I think we definitely want to keep the legacy of boys’ golf going. We got second place last year and first place this year, so I think we can definitely do well next year.”