By Rubin E. Grant
Mountain Brook boys golf coach Alex Lockett has run out of superlatives to describe Spartans senior golfer Gordon Sargent.
“I don’t know if I can say anything about him that hasn’t been said,” Lockett said. “He’s as good as I’ve seen at this level. He will be missed around here, that’s for sure.”
Sargent capped his high school career by shooting a 3-under-par 68 to earn low medalist and lead Mountain Brook to the Class 6A state title in the 71st AHSAA State Golf Championships May 10-11 at the RTJ Magnolia Grove Golf club in Mobile.
Inclement weather shortened the final day of competition with only two classifications able to finish nine holes. The Class 4A boys and Class 6A girls teed off early and were able to finish nine holes – settling the state championships in those two classes covering 27 holes of play.
The tourney champions were crowned in the other classes based on first-day 18 holes of play after foregoing the final round on the par-71 course. Among those champions were the Mountain Brook boys in Class 6A (284), the Vestavia Hills boys in Class 7A (296) and the Spain Park girls in Class 7A (223).
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 AHSAA championships, Mountain Brook came back to extend its streak of consecutive state championships to four, with the other three coming in 7A. The Spartans dropped down to 6A this year.
“Our guys played great,” Lockett said. “They were determined and brought back the blue (championship) plaque.”
Sargent, who is headed to Vanderbilt to play in college, was the low medalist for the second time in the AHSAA tournament.
As a freshman, he and Mountain Brook teammate William Wann tied for the low medalist honors with 36-hole totals of 11-under 133. Both tied the state tournament record for 36 holes while leading the Spartans to the 2018 Class 7A state title.
In the 2019 AHSAA state tournament, Sargent tied teammate Reynolds Lambert for second at 1-under 143, while leading the Spartans to the title.
With Sargent leading the way, the Spartans ran away with the Class 6A title. Their 284 total was well ahead of second-place Spanish Fort (303). Homewood finished third (305).
Mountain Brook had the top three individual leaders; Evans Gross was right behind Sargent with a 69 and Will Feagin with a 71. Tom Fischer (73), Coe Murdock (76), Cole Imig (76) and Harrison Sims (76) also finished in the top 10. Imig (UAB) and Feagin (Rhodes) also will play in college.
Homewood’s Jack Craddock shot a 75 to finish seventh.
Lockett would have liked to complete the final round, even though the Spartans were well ahead when play was halted because of the weather.
“The last guy in our lineup had gotten through six holes when they called us in,” Lockett said. “We had a pretty commanding lead, but I am sure the other two behind us (Spanish Fort and Homewood) would have liked to battle it out for the second spot.”
Vestavia Hills Boys
Vestavia Hills had finished the first day with a two-shot lead over Enterprise, 296 to 298 in the Class 7A boys field. Auburn (299) was three back and Hewitt-Trussville (300) four back.
But Rebels coach Stephanie Meadows said it didn’t detract from her team’s title that weather canceled the final round.
“They told us on Sunday before the tournament that the weather didn’t look good,” Meadows said. “They said instead of two 18-hole rounds, we would play four 9-hole rounds. We had played two hours on Monday when it started pouring down rain. But then it stopped, got hot and it was sunny when we finished.
“On Tuesday, we had all teed off and our last golfer was on hole No. 2 when they blew the horn to stop play. I was looking at the radar and because of all the lightning I knew we wouldn’t be able to finish.
“I don’t think it takes anything away from the championship. We were really playing good when play was stopped. Our first kid who teed off, Pierce Becker, was at 1-under. The next one was at even par and third kid was one over and our fourth kid was even par. So we were confident that we were going to win.”
The Rebels’ Wade Harris and Parker Moelinger both shot 73 to tie for fourth among the boys Class 7A individual leaders, and Jay Clemmer shot a 75 to tie for ninth. Auburn’s William Streit was the low medalist with a 68.
The state title was the third in Vestavia Hills’ school history but the first since 1994. It came in Meadows’ first full season as the head coach. She had taken over during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Meadows starred on the Rebels’ 1987 girls basketball state championship team and compared the experiences by saying, “It’s an awesome feeling, just on a different side.”
Spain Park Girls
Spain Park’s 223 total was one stroke better than Huntsville (224) and two better than Auburn (226) after the first day in Class 7A girls action and that stood up, giving the Jaguars their third state title. The others came in 2009 (6A) and 2017 (7A).
“We played our best golf of the season at the end,” Spain Park coach Kelly Holland said. “We won section, sub-state and state. We have never won all three in the same season before, so that’s a first.”
The Jags had two eighth graders, Polly McCrackin and Carmen Britt, among its top four players.
“We’re a very young team,” Holland said, “but they’re awful good.”
Jags freshman Courtney Johnson shot a 70 to tie Hewitt’s Molly Davidson for second among the individual leaders. Auburn’s Kate Hu was the low medalist with a 69. Spain Park junior Taylor Tribble had 76 to finish tied for ninth.
“We didn’t count Courtney’s score at sub-state, so that shows how balanced we were as a team,” Holland said. “At state, she played with so much confidence and made great shots and putts. She birdied No. 17 and No. 18 on the first day, so that was the difference since we won by only one stroke.
“When we lost the second day because of weather and we were ahead by one after the first day, it makes you think how important each stroke is for everybody.”