Four seniors lead Cougars to second straight state golf title
It was a Brookstone birdie-fest at the 2011 Class A boys golf state championship held May 2 at Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Ga.
Led by tournament medalist Robert Mize, who shot 2-under-par 69, the Brookstone Cougars golf team romped to a 12-stroke victory to repeat as Georgia High School Association state champions.
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| 2011 Brookstone state championship golf team: From left, Carter Mize, Coach Marty Durden, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Mize, Robert Swift, Parker Derby, and James Clark. |
“This is awesome,” said Mize, a senior who is the son of pro golfer Larry Mize. “I don’t think there’s any better way to go out.”
Mize is one of four seniors on the Brookstone golf team to win back-to-back state championships. The last time the private high school accomplished such a feat was 1986-1987. The other seniors and their respective scores from the state tournament are Carter Mize (74), Thomas Mitchell (77), and Robert Swift (78). Sophomore Parker Derby shot 75 and freshman James Clark shot 81.
Brookstone’s team score of 295 was 12 strokes better than runner-up Savannah Christian, which shot 307. Rounding out the top 5 were Savannah Country Day (316), First Presbyterian Day (316), and Holy Innocents (320).
Brookstone golf coach Marty Durden said his players battled to keep it together on a golf course that was playing hard and fast. He expressed pride in the way his players handled adversity and grinded it out to the very last putt.
“It was a hard fought match out there,” said Durden. “It was tough to score. The putting was tough. Almost every player had a high number. The thing that I’m proud of the most out of our guys is that everyone had an opportunity to quit but never gave up.”
Masterful Mize Saves Best For Last
Medalist Robert Mize got off to a hot start with birdies on four of the first six holes he played at 1, 3, 5, and 6. He shot 3-under-par 32 on the front nine and parred the first four holes on the back nine.
But on the par-5 14th hole, Mize’s tee shot bounced out of bounds and he had to scramble to save bogey. He responded on 15, a short par 4, by getting up and down from the greenside bunker for birdie 3.
On the par-3 16th hole, Mize mishit his tee shot and his golf ball landed in the pond guarding the green. He responded with a great up-and-down to save bogey and kept his solid round alive. Coming home, the senior golfer made challenging putts on 17 and 18 to save pars and signed his scorecard for a tournament low 69. Mize was the only golfer in the field of 113 high school golfers to shoot under par.
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| Robert Mize drove his tee shot into the greenside bunker on the short par-4 15th hole, where he got up-and-down for birdie. He shot 2-under 69 and was low medalist at the Class A state tournament. |
“It was a little nerve-wracking, but I think I closed it out pretty well,” said Mize, who will play college golf at Furman University. “This has been one of my goals. All of the hard work is paying off.”
Mize’s father, Larry, who won the Masters in 1987 and currently plays on the Champions Tour, followed his son for the entire round.
“I really am proud of him. He’s been working really hard on his golf game and the work paid off,” said Mize. “He went out there today and played a really good round. You could tell he felt comfortable out there, felt confident. He played really well and it was fun watching him.”
The elder Mize also played on the Brookstone golf team when he was in high school in the late 1970s, but never had the team success that Robert has experienced.
“I never won a state championship and now he’s won two,” exclaimed the former Masters champion with a chuckle.
Coach Durden said Robert Mize has worked hard to improve his golf game and has developed into a special player.
“Robert had a good day on the golf course and I’m not at all surprised that he was the low medalist,” said Durden, who secured his second state championship in 11 years as the Brookstone golf coach. “He kept getting better and better as the year went on. Robert fell in love with golf late in his high school career. Since last summer he has really improved and played well. He has still a lot of untapped potential. In my opinion, he has the potential to be a really good player and maybe a guy who could play the rest of his life and make a living playing golf.”
Tripped Up By Triple Bogeys
Even though Brookstone was playing on a golf course in their backyard, Coach Durden said winning another state championship was not as easy as the final scores indicated.
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| Senior golfer Carter Mize shot 74. |
“Every player had at least one bad hole, but they kept on playing and fighting,” said the golf coach. “It was like a championship boxing match. You take a body blow and get back up and keep fighting.”
Durden pointed to seniors Thomas Mitchell and Carter Mize and sophomore Parker Derby, who all took triple bogeys, but battled to the finish to post scores of 77, 74, and 75, respectively.
Mitchell’s trouble hole came on 12, when he dumped his approach shot into the greenside bunker and then blasted his sand shot over the green. He took a 7 on the short par-4 hole.
“He would tell you that he didn’t play particularly well today, but he hung in there,” said Durden. “He ended up with a 77 and that’s one of the better scores on the scoreboard.”
Durden was very proud of the way Mitchell finished his round by making a birdie 3 on the par-4 18th hole.
“It’s so apropos that he finished with a birdie. He never quit scrapping,” said Durden. “It came down to the last hole and he was still trying to get his score down. He never gave up.”
Durden said Mitchell is nicknamed “Tank” because of his prodigious length off the tee. “He can hit it a country mile,” said the golf coach.
Mitchell said the pace of play slowed down at the turn and he made the mistake of letting it bother him.
“I shot 1-over on the front, but got to the back and there were just a bunch of delays,” said Mitchell. “It was so slow, it really affected my play and I finally got it back together on the last several holes.
The birdie on 18 was a nice way to finish off the round, said Mitchell, who will play golf in the fall at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala.
“It was about a 15-footer straight back down the hill and going a hair to the right,” described the golfer. “I just hit it great.”
Winning another state championship was the ultimate goal for the Brookstone golf team, said Mitchell, who was the medalist at the Region 4-A tournament in Hawkinsville by shooting 4-under, 68.
“It just couldn’t be any better,” he said. “This is what we wanted to do and we did it.”
Team Victory Abates Controversy
Fellow senior Carter Mize (oddly no relation to Robert Mize) said he was truly elated to win another state championship in front of the hometown crowd in Columbus.
“It’s a feeling that is unexplainable. I couldn’t be happier,” said Mize, who had four birdies on holes 5, 7, 14 and 15. “I could not have asked for a better ending to a golf career. I’m not playing in college so this is the way to go out.”
Coach Durden said he had no doubt that Carter Mize would bring his A-game to state.
“The word for Carter is steady, consistent,” said Coach Durden. “If he were a guy shooting a gun at a target, he would have the closest pattern. He’s very consistent in his life and in his golf game.”
The golf coach said Mize also has a gift for responding with poise when faced with adversity as he did on the 18th hole. “When things get tough Carter seems to always be able to give his best effort,” said Durden.
Mize was even par through 17 and hit his tee shot on 18 in the middle of the fairway. But when he got to where his golf ball should have been, he could not find it. Another golfer from First Presbyterian Day playing the adjacent ninth hole was suspected of mistakenly hitting Mize’s ball. Rules officials asked the player to check his golf balls in his bag to see if he had hit the wrong ball, but Mize’s ball was still not found.
The Brookstone golfer was assessed a two-stroke penalty and had to return to the 18th tee to play another ball. As a result, Mize made a controversial triple-bogey 7 on the last hole that had players, parents and Coach Durden upset.
“He got a terrible break on 18. He took a triple on 18 that I think should have been a par,” said Coach Durden. “He still shot 74, but that should have been a 71.”
Mize said repeating as state champions wiped away the anger and frustration that he felt from the unfortunate incident on 18. “It’s all about the team first,” said Mize. “As long as we win I’m happy.”
The red-haired senior golfer said playing for the state championship at Green Island in Columbus was beneficial for the Brookstone players, but he believes they would have won on any golf course in Georgia.
“We could have won anywhere. We have all the talent in the world,” said Mize. “Home course is not a big deal. You still have to play your own game. You still have to hit fairways and greens and make putts.”
Fellow senior golfer Robert Swift agreed with his teammate.
“Definitely could have won anywhere else,” said Swift, co-captain of the Brookstone golf team with Robert Mize. “It doesn’t matter what golf course. We have such a strong team.”
Swift will attend college at Wofford, where he will attempt to walk on the golf team.
“We are lucky that we have so much talent together in this high school,” said Swift, who shot 74 at Region.
Future Bright For Brookstone Golf
Coach Durden said it will be difficult to part ways with his four seniors—all of whom he has known since he taught them P.E. in the second grade.
“I will miss these seniors so bad. It’s going to leave a personal hole,” said Durden. “I’ve known all of these seniors since they were little biddy boys. They’ve all been like sons to me and I’m going to miss them. They grow up in front of your eyes. They sure have had good golf careers.”
Despite losing four seniors, Durden said Brookstone will field another talented golf team next year, led by sophomore Parker Derby and freshmen brothers James and Mercer Clark.
“I think the Lord for the privilege of being the Brookstone golf coach,” said Durden, reflecting on back-to-back state championships. “If you look in the record books, repeating is the hardest thing to do in sports, but we did it. God has given us his blessing.”
As far as the future of the Brookstone golf team, Derby did not shy away from talking about another state championship.
“I think we have a chance to win it the next two years,” said Derby. “We are going to be good next year and we’ll be just as good my senior year, if not better.”
By John Carroll
IN THE GAME High School Sports Magazine
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