Photo: The Westbrook Christian boys golf team gathers for a photo after the Warriors won the Class 3A state championship last Tuesday (May 16) at the RTJ Grand National Golf Course in Opelika. Pictured, from left: Coach Rob McHugh, Nolan Terrell, Eli Edge, Cove McHugh, J.D. Berndt, Luke Pearson, coach Greg Edge. (Submitted photo)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
Sparked by Eli Edge’s low medalist score, the Westbrook Christian boys golf team won its fourth state championship in the past eight years and first since 2017 last Tuesday (May 16) at the RTJ Grand National Golf Course in Opelika.
The Warriors finished with a 656 score, 12 strokes better than runner-up Trinity Presbyterian. Westbrook had a 15-stroke lead after Day 1.
“We gave up a few there during the second day, but we managed to hang on,” said Westbrook coach Greg Edge. “Eli was putting really well the first day, and he knew that if hit the fairways better, he’d have been scoring probably better than he did. He managed to pull it together on the second day, when I think he had one bad hole. If not for that, he would have [shot] par or maybe a little under.”
Edge, shot a 75 in Monday’s opening round and 76 in Tuesday’s action to finish at 151.
“We weren’t telling him much about the score near the end because we wanted him to just play his game. He had to finished around par on his last two or three holes, and it worked out.”
Cove McHugh placed third overall individually with a 82-79-161 performance.
“Cove had a super tournament,” said Greg Edge. “We had some issues during a practice round on Sunday, and Cole was one of those guys who was concerned about his game. But he really stepped up.”
Nolan Terrell came in 12th place with at 89-84-173, followed by Luke Pearson in 14h place (83-93-176). J.D. Berndt shot 90-88-178.
Greg Edge said the team discussed and planned on winning the 2023 state tournament immediately after the Warriors’ fourth place finish last season.
“They knew that they would have a chance to win it if they were playing good enough, and that’s been their goal all year, to make it back [to the state tournament] and have a different outcome this time.
“A lot of great kids have played here with some great coaches, and although some of these kids had ties to that, a lot of them didn’t. But they knew about the program’s tradition and tried to keep it going.”