Golfers to play at regional

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions golf team is 36 holes away from a return to the state tournament.

The Lions will tee it up Monday-Tuesday, April 17-18, for the Region II-2A tournament at Old Brickyard Golf Course in Ferris.

A year ago, Albany finished second at the regional tourney to earn the program’s first team berth at state since 1994. The Lions finished fifth at state and return all five golfers returning.

Albany claimed the District 10-2A title by two strokes over Haskell last week after finishing second in district in 2022. The one question is whether sophomore Ty Richards or freshman Huffman Heatly will join juniors Ayden Balliew, Houston Heatly, Luke Marshall, and Lute Wheeler in the lineup.

Coach Tate Thompson said the last year’s experience will be a key factor, as will the fact the Lions held on in a tight district tournament.

“I think that helped us beat Haskell at district,” Thompson said. “We were able to hold it together.”

The experience also helps in knowing how to play Old Brickyard.

“The guys are going to have to really study the course,” Thompson said. “We’ll go play our practice round and figure out how to be conservative. We don’t have to do anything crazy, just put together a good first day, see where we sit, and make a plan based on that.”

The coach said much of that will be a matter of refreshing lessons learned last year.

“The guys know what to expect and where the danger is,” Thompson said. “They know what to stay away from and what they can go for.”

Thompson said he sees five teams capable of finishing in the top three to earn a state berth.

“(Defending champion) Lindsay is really good,” he said. “They shot 297 in their district round and their second team shot in the 330s. There are a few others that put up some good team scores.”

Thompson said that each district determining its own format and using so many different courses makes handicapping the regional field difficult.

“Some schools only played one district round and some played two,” he said. “There are also a lot of variables on what course they played, how challenging it is, and what the conditions were.”

One final point Thompson made is that Albany needs to approach the tournament with the proper mindset.

“It’s good for the guys to see we’ve got a shot, but it’s also good to see if we don’t play well, we’re not going to make it,” he said. “It’s going to put some good pressure on them. I love that we’ve got guys who are confident after we finished fifth at state last year, but they also need to understand they need to humble themselves a little bit and make sure we take care of business so we can get back.”