Two weeks ago, in what would be the last tournament for three seniors, the boys’ golf team traveled to San Angelo looking for a repeat trip to state at the regional 1-4A golf tournament.
Led by seniors Logan Leggett, Blake Fulton, and Colin Ward, the Raiders were a team with a solid mix of experience and youth, with freshman Justin Jennings and sophomore Cody Antwine also hitting the links for the team. After a successful season in which the Raiders won the district tournament and had all three seniors sign with colleges, the team came up short in regionals, finishing eighth and missing the cut for state. The three seniors have brought a large amount of success to Randall’s golf program, and despite the loss, the next era of Randall golf is on the horizon.
“Our seniors have been successful because they have tremendous work ethics,” golf coach Paul Jolley said. “They have committed themselves to playing golf competitively year round. They have been extremely coachable over their four years at Randall.”
The seniors undoubtedly made their mark on area golf, as they earned three district titles and a trip to the state tournament over the course of their careers.
“We are very proud that we defended our district title for the third consecutive year,” Jolley said. “We were very excited going into the regional round because we believed that our performance throughout the year gave us a very good chance at earning a return trip to Austin, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.”
Despite not qualifying for state, the Raiders still maintained a solid year, winning six out of the nine tournaments they entered.
“Randall High has been one of the premier golf programs in the state over the last few years,” Jolley said. “This year, we experienced a tremendous amount of success, but just picked a bad time to have a bad tournament.”
While Leggett and Fulton anticipate playing golf next year at West Texas A&M, and Ward at Odessa College, Jolley said it is clear that the group brought new acclaim to golf at Randall.
“These seniors have been not only the leaders but also the top performers over the past three years,” Jolly said. “This is a special class of seniors that served Randall High well.”
So as Ward, Fulton and Leggett prepare to move on to golf at the college level, Jolley said he is very optimistic that golf at Randall will continue its success.
“We have many young players that have been working hard on their games,” Jolley said. “They have been waiting patiently to get their opportunity to play at the varsity level, and their time is near. They are very excited for the chance to fill the big shoes left by our graduating seniors.”
