It was another year to remember for Panther men’s golf.
Throughout the spring campaign Franklin boasted a strong roster from top to bottom, to the point where head coach Ryan Raby was hard-pressed to choose the team’s lineup. At the 3A West Regional at Springdale Golf Club May 7, junior Max McClure’s season boiled down to a single hole.
“The top nine individuals advanced on to state, and there were six individuals that shot lower than 77. There were seven individuals that shot 77, so that left three spots for seven guys,” said Raby. “So, we went back to the 18th tee box and all seven of them played the same hole at the same time – all seven teed off, all seven hit their second shot. It was cool because all the coaches went up to the tee box, and on the way up there you saw kids from the other teams running across the fairway and staging themselves on the edges of the fairway. There were kids and parents all around the back of the green and a little bit beyond just watching the show.”
With a five-over-par round on a difficult course in Canton, McClure tied six other golfers with just three more state berths remaining. In the most dramatic and pressure-packed situation in golf, the junior fell short by the slimmest of margins.
“On the first [playoff], all the guys get up there towards the green and one guy chips in for eagle,” said Raby. “All the other six par, so he advances, and that leaves two spots for six guys. We go back to the tee box and play 18 again, and three guys birdie and three guys par. All three pars are eliminated, so now we go back to 18 for the third time and you’ve got two spots for three guys. On that last hole those other two guys birdied and Max parred, so he was the last one eliminated.”
While McClure was unable to advance to state, he did headline an excellent overall day for Franklin, finishing just two strokes ahead of senior Ashton Shope (79). Sophomore Tanner Jones shot the Panthers’ third-lowest round at 81, followed closely by juniors Gabe Stilwell (82) and Cole Martin (83).
As a team Franklin’s top four scores added up to 319 strokes, just 10 strokes off the third-place finish needed to advance as a team. Stuart Cramer (Gaston County) won the regional at 299, while North Lincoln placed second with a 308.
“I think everybody that plays could go through and come up with two or three strokes that they could have or should have eliminated through the round, and it’s the same thing we always preach to them – every stroke counts,” said Raby. “But, I’ve got no complaints at all. Any time you’re in a match of that caliber and the score you’re dropping is an 83, I’ll take it.”
In advancing to regionals as a team for the second-straight year, Tuesday’s round brought another stellar season to an end for the Panthers. With Shope the only member of Franklin’s top five set to graduate this month, the team should be right back in the regional mix next spring.
“For guys growing up playing football and baseball and stuff, it’s kind of funny for somebody to say ‘hard work’ in relation to golf, but those kids do,” said Raby. “They go out there and they grind day after day after day, sometimes not seeing results, but they still have faith in the process. It’s really, really fun to watch stories like that happen – to watch kids put the time in and see it pay off in the end. … For a bunch of old country boys in the mountains, they did pretty good.”