Brookstone boys golf takes second in area tournament

Brookstone boys golf coach Hunter Chapman said his team has two goals every year: win the area tournament and win the state tournament. Although the Cougars didn’t accomplish the first objective this season, they positioned themselves well to get the second.

Brookstone finished second in the 1A Private Area-1 tournament Tuesday at Healy Point Country Club in Macon. The Cougars posted a team score of 303, 13 strokes behind first-place First Presbyterian Day.

The area’s top three teams advance to the state tournament, meaning First Presbyterian Day, Brookstone and Savannah Christian all will be battling for the title.

“I have a ton of respect for the way FPB played today, and I tip my hat to them,” Chapman said. “On the other hand, I do feel like we beat ourselves a good bit. I think a lot of our guys played a lot of really good golf. I think we lost a few strokes down the stretch and in other places that hurt a little bit.”

Walker Hinds shot 74, which left him as the third-low golfer in the tournament. Evans Copeland finished one stroke behind Hinds at 75 and was followed close behind by Williams Reaves, who shot 76. Charles Waldrep’s 78 was the final score that counted for Brookstone.

The runner-up finish wasn’t what Brookstone’s coach and players wanted, but they now have plenty of time to prepare for the state tournament.

Outside of one remaining tournament, the Cougars have nearly a month it can dedicate to state tournament prep. That lone tournament also will prove useful, as it will be played on May 4 at Green Island Country Club, Brookstone’s home course and the location of the state tournament.

The team’s golfers will have ample time to try and win the 16th state golf championship in program history. The key, according to Chapman, is to make sure his golfers don’t lose the aggressive edge that comes with competition on the course.

“Above all, the biggest challenge is trying to stay in tournament mode,” Chapman said. “One of my main jobs as the coach is to keep the guys in a competitive mindset. That’s the plan. We’ll be getting after it.”

The Cougars seek their second consecutive state championship and sixth title in the last seven years once the two-day state tournament begins May 22. In order to do that, Chapman said his team needs to learn from this tournament and put in the effort to make it possible.

“At the end of the day, we are advancing to state, but our goal was definitely to win (the area tournament). It was definitely a bummer to come up short on that goal,” Chapman said. “All we can do is move forward and really commit a month of really hard work.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Brookstone boys golf takes second in area tournament."