The Waldron golf season is officially underway and it was as if the Bulldogs never left. In the first match of the 2021 season, Waldron shot a 114 at Cherokee Creek Country Club in Booneville. That score was good enough to lead them to a tie for first place with the Bearcats. “We return a ton of experience on the boys’ side this year,” stated Coach Josh Atchley. “These guys have been working all summer in hopes of three-peating as conference champions and improving upon their third-place finish at the state tournament from a season ago.”
The Bulldogs graduated all-conference golfer Jaden Hutchens, but return all-conference players in Drew Owens and Lane Metcalf, as well as all-stater Lane Tallmadge. In addition to those returnees, Noah Patrick, Will Solomon, and Josiah Plummer round out the squad. Following a year without any female golfers, freshman Macey Owens breaks that trend and is ALL-IN on Bulldog golf. Coach Atchley has big expectations for this year’s team. “These guys set themselves apart because of their commitment to the game without me having to ask or push them to find ways to add value. They are the ones who push each other and hopefully, that gets us over the hump at the state level this year.”
Lane Tallmadge finished tied as the match medalist with a 35(-1), Drew Owens added a 39(+3), and Noah Patrick finished with a 40(+4). A 114 team total is the lowest score Atchley’s squads have ever recorded in his five years as head coach. “We turned in a really good score as a team and we have a great level of competition in conference with Booneville also shooting well. It’s just the first match so we hope to improve on that score as the season progresses.”
Lane Metcalf shot a 41(+5), Will Solomon scored 45 (+9), and Josiah Plummer added a 62 (+26), while Macey Owens finished with a 70 (+34). “Outside of a few tough holes we all played better than normal for the opening match of the year. A couple of our freshmen had some nerves to work through which is pretty standard, but they will get over that.” The Bulldogs will be back in action on August 4th as they host a ‘Mega-Match’ at the Waldron Country Club at 4 pm. Booneville, Charleston, Dardanelle, Elkins, Lincoln, Mansfield, Mena, and Waldron will bring their talents to Scott County as they all showcase some top-notch high school golf!
