Brookstone boys golf grabs seventh at High School Invitational

The Brookstone boys golf team made the most of its chance to play at Highland Course in Atlanta, finishing seventh in the 13th annual High School Invitational at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Junior golfer Walker Hinds and freshman Charles Waldrep led Brookstone by shooting 76 in the tournament. Freshman Ross McKinstry rounded out the Cougars’ scores with an 83. Fellow freshman William Sluder also competed for Brookstone but ultimately had his score dropped.

Marist won the tournament with a team score of 1-under-par, defeating second-place Woodward Academy by two strokes.

The chance to play at the course, which has previously hosted the U.S. Open and three PGA Championships, was one Brookstone head coach Hunter Chapman explained as being very special for himself and his golfers.

“Today was a lot of fun,” Chapman said. “It was great weather and obviously a phenomenal course. It’s a tournament each year that the guys look forward to playing with it obviously being a PGA Championship course.”

Chapman applauded the efforts of his golfers in a tournament Brookstone won in 2014.

“Walker Hinds has really taken his game to a level where he’s playing really consistently,” Chapman said. “Charles Waldrep has emerged as a really consistent leader and contributor as a freshman. For Ross and William, it was obviously an amazing experience to have this opportunity to play in this caliber of a tournament.”

Chapman detailed the makeup of this year’s team and how they’ve interacted with each other. He explained that four older upperclassmen came back from last year, a season which saw the Cougars win a state championship. That returning experience has been met by the influx of six freshmen, including Waldrep, McKinstry and Sluder.

“It’s really a passionate group,” Chapman said. “They have a lot fun, and they love to compete. They have a high bar set for them, and it’s really fun to watch them play pretty fearlessly.”

Those different backgrounds have come together for Brookstone, with this latest tournament just being another example. The Cougars were up against 17 different teams, many from around Atlanta but some coming to the tournament from South Carolina and North Carolina.

“That’s what is so awesome about the tournament: It’s a really deep field with great teams on an amazing course,” Chapman said.

The Cougars return to play on April 3 in the Stratford Tournament in Macon.

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Brookstone boys golf grabs seventh at High School Invitational."