Four years ago, while I was taking a Cole Camp team golf picture for the BCE Sports Edition, I asked then Coach Brandon Harding for a picture of his two top golfers. He denied my request, stating he thought his two freshmen were his best and he didn't want to show up the rest of the team.
Well, the following year, as sophomores, Matthew Bright and Tyler Howard led the Bluebirds to their first ever state title.
Last Tuesday, on May 14, after a fourth place finish last year, the duo helped Cole Camp win the Class 2 state championship at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville for the second time in their high school careers.
As they say, nothing comes easy. The boys in blue shot a season worst 349 on Monday and were in fifth place.
Coach Jared Espy, in his first year as head coach said, "I knew they were too good of golfers to do this two days in a row."
Smithville, according to most golfers, is a difficult course. On top of that, Monday was rainy and Tuesday was windy. So they went out on Tuesday, in fifth place with the wind blowing. Two years ago, Cole Camp led on both days, so this was new territory for the Bluebirds.
Junior Spencer Godwin shot an 87 on Monday but came back with a 79, good for sixth place to help lead the dramatic comeback for all the marbles, as they say.
Bright moved up 36 places shooting a 91 on Monday and a 78 on Tuesday for 11th place.
Asked if he did anything differently on day two, he replied, "Not really, I just played aggressive both days and it happened to go a lot better on day two."
Not surprising, for Bright was clutch on the football field at a tight end and as a defensive ace as an undersized center on the basketball court.
Junior Gage Oelrichs finished in a six-way tie for 12th. He shot an 86 on Monday and an 84 on Tuesday.
Senior Tyler Howard, tied for 20th, shot an 85 in round one and an 87 on day two.Together they had a two-day total of 677.
With all of that, it was not over just yet. Willow Springs golfers were still playing. So the boys sat and waited.
"(It was) Probably the most stressful moments of my life. We knew it was really close so it came down to their last kids on their final few holes," Bright said.
Cole Camp won by three strokes.
When the team arrived back at Cole Camp on Tuesday night, much like two years ago, the community lined the streets greeting the newly crowned state champions.
Benton County congratulates the state champions; Howard, Bright, Oelrichs and Godwin and the entire program and we wish them the best on the links in the future.
