Panther men’s golf should be set up for success this year.
After an excellent 2023, placing second in the Mountain Seven Conference and competing in the 3A West Regional, on the final week of February Franklin made their much-anticipated return. With team wins over M7 foes in Smoky Mountain and reigning conference champions Pisgah, Ryan Raby’s team took their first steps toward another strong year.
“They’ve been doing well,” said Raby of the team’s 11 golfers, a robust number for any roster in WNC. “We’ve got largely the same team that we had last year – we had two kids that did not come back this year, but we added two kids. … Most of these kids have worked their tails off in the offseason, and it’s showing up right now early in the season. It’s been very good, and very refreshing.”
After roughly two months of offseason work, Franklin teed off their season Feb. 26, traveling to Springdale Country Club in Canton for a three-team match. Versus conference foes Smoky Mountain and Pisgah, sophomore Tanner Jones picked up where he left off, shooting the lowest round of any team with 38 strokes over nine holes.
Hot on Jones’ heels was junior Gabe Stilwell at 39, followed by Cameron Trubicza and Cole Martin with 40 apiece. Senior Ashton Shope rounded out Franklin’s top five at 43.
As a team Franklin’s top four scores added up to 160 strokes, edging out Pisgah’s 166 and Smoky Mountain’s 203. In addition to the conference win, Monday’s match also served as valuable experience, giving new players a chance to scope out the site of the 3A West Regional May 7.
Three days later, Franklin and Smoky met again at the Franklin Golf Course, with all 11 Panthers playing the 9-hole course. There, players faced stiff competition to finish in Franklin’s top five.
“Tanner shot the best score at 39, Ashton Shope shot a 40, and we had two guys at 42 and two guys at 43,” said Raby. “So, the two at 43 had to go play it off again, and that was Cole Martin and Gabe Stilwell. Cole won that playoff, but if you had told me that a 43 wouldn’t have made a match, then I would have probably laughed at you. I’m not saying we couldn’t get to that point, but to be playing this well, especially this early in the season has been great.”
In besting Smoky 170-199, Franklin earned their third team win of the week, including one over the reigning conference champions on their home course. For their stellar start to the season, Raby credited his team’s work ethic.
“Those kids have just put in a tremendous amount of work on their own,” said Raby. “Even yesterday, our match ended fairly early because we got to start early, so there were still a couple hours of daylight left. When I left to go out and watch [Raby’s son and Panther baseball Swiss Army knife] Reed play, of the 11 kids, there were probably six or seven of them either hitting on the driving range or out on the course still playing after the match. There’s a real high level of dedication by most of the kids.”