JCHS golf beats Pioneers, loses to Trailblazers

With only one week left in the regular season, golf is beginning to wind down in Johnson County. This week the Longhorns participated in only one match taking on Daniel Boone and David Crockett at the Graysburg golf course. Johnson County continued to have a respectable showing beating the Pioneers 170 to 219, but coming up short against Trailblazers at 163.
The match put Johnson County’s record at 16-6, which places the team as one of the top contenders in the conference. Yet the success of the season has been most significant for the team’s two seniors, Blade Hampton and Nathaniel Graybeal.
“I think we have played really well as a team,” Hampton said.  “We’re probably the second best team in the conference after Sullivan South. South is obviously is the best, they’re really good, but I hope going into districts everybody plays well and maybe we can get second or third as a team.”
Both Hampton and Graybeal have remained consistently in the top six this year, with Blade starting out in the number one position and maintaining the number two spot over the past few weeks. Hampton’s best score so far has been a 39 he earned against Happy Valley, but many other members of the team have come in right behind, including Graybeal, who has remained in the low 40s all year.
“My game has been consistent but not quite as good as I planned and hoped for,” Graybeal said.  “My biggest problem has been my short game, mainly because of the more mental aspect of it. It’s more pressure than just walking up and landing a shot down the fairway.”
The match at Graysburg signified one of the last this season and fortunately both Hampton and Graybeal did well.  The Longhorns played at home the following Monday and are now facing the last three matches before districts. Speaking about their time on the team, both seniors seemed excited about their success while at the same time saddened that it is about to end.
“It’s weird,” Hampton said, “Definitely weird to know that I’m on one of my last home matches. I’ve definitely had some great memories. I’ll never forget Nathan Timbs falling into the pond down there on number two.”
Graybeal had similar sentiments about his time on the team. “I only played my sophomore through senior years,” Graybeal said. “It’s hard because I’ll really miss it. Golf is a game where one day you can be amazing, right on top, and the next day do terrible, but I’ve had a lot of fun. It’s an individual game and you can go and improve by yourself. I can come out and play here 18 holes everyday and get better but its not like that in baseball.”
While the season has been strong, the real effort will come in the next few weeks as the team prepares for the district tournament. Until then the Longhorns can hopefully continue the path of success they have seen so far.