Columbus boys golf team wins second straight state championship

After a strong start to the state tournament at Columbus Country Club Monday, the Columbus Blue Devils celebrated achieving their season-long objective a little earlier than expected.

The Blue Devils’ efforts in the first round of the Class 4A state championship proved to be enough once rain rolled across Muscogee County Tuesday. After watching to see if the weather pattern would clear out, the tournament’s second round was canceled, giving Columbus the title.

Columbus finished 15 strokes ahead of Marist, the tournament’s runner-up. The championship is Columbus’ second in a row and fourth under head coach Chris Parker.

“I think our kids were ready to go again today,” said Parker, whose Blue Devils captured the Class 5A title one year ago. “They did a good job yesterday and built a pretty commanding lead to where there wasn’t much doubt left. I was confident in them whether it was close or not close that they would pull through today.”

Sophomore Jonathan Parker’s 68 Monday was the lowest score for the Blue Devils. His efforts left him tied with Richmond Academy’s Jay Beach for the tournament’s second-low medalist honors. Parker and Beach finished one stroke behind low medalist Daniel McKenzie from St. Pius X.

Jonathan, Chris’ son, said the victory helped the team realize all its efforts from the year.

“It feels pretty good,” Jonathan said. “We worked hard all season. Most of the guys, we’ve been playing every day trying to get ready for this. It feels good all our hard work has paid off.”

Jonathan pointed out that his efforts would not have meant much if his teammates hadn’t followed with strong play as well. Nolan Miller and Ben Carr finished one stroke behind Jonathan, while Daniel Davis rounded out the counting scores for Columbus with a 73.

“I’m happy I played well, but I’m also happy the team played well,” Jonathan said. “It’s a team sport, and you have to all have good scores to win it all.”

Parker said he might have lost a little sleep during the days leading up to the CHS-hosted tournament, but none of it was due to his players. He was confident they could get the job done, especially considering their experience.

Along with having three seniors playing the tournament, Parker said the team had followed its usual routine of playing the toughest competition it could during the regular season. The golfers certainly didn’t flinch at the challenge, as Parker said the team’s stroke average of 291.8 per tournament was the lowest the team’s ever had.

“I’m just proud of these guys,” Parker said. “They work hard year round. They’re committed, they’re great kids and they do what their parents tell them to do most of the time. We’re proud of them, and they’re deserving.”

Parker said he and the team hoped to set the standard in the first two-day state tournament in Georgia but was content with how it ended up.

The Blue Devils will lose tournament participants Miller, Davis and Ben Womack, who will soon be playing for Mercer, Georgia College and LaGrange College, respectively. Still, Jonathan, who has been part of two state championship teams in his first two years of high school, said he feels good about Columbus’ quest to make it three in a row.

“I’m pretty excited,” Jonathan said. “I think we still have a good chance next year to do it again.”

Top 10 team standings

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Columbus boys golf team wins second straight state championship."