Photo by Erin Nelson.
Homewood’s Jack Craddock tees off at hole 1 during the 15th annual Bradley Johnson Memorial Tournament at Greystone Founders golf course March 30. Craddock is a junior who has been solid and steady for the Patriots.
It has been a season of transition for the Homewood High School boys golf team.
After three consecutive Class 6A state runner-up finishes, in which the Patriots had multiple college golfers in the lineup, and a pandemic-shortened season last spring, that lineup is a mixture of young and old.
“The last few years, we’ve had a pretty set lineup of upperclassmen, and right now, we just have a mixture, and we’re trying to figure out which ones work best together,” Homewood coach Rick Baguley said.
Josh Peters is the lone senior on the Homewood squad this season, and he will play college golf at Centre College in Kentucky. Harrison Sims, a junior, has been playing with the varsity team since he was in eighth grade. Those two lead the way for an otherwise youth-laden squad.
Peters and Sims were able to observe and play alongside the likes of Ford Goldasich (Lipscomb), Jack Goldasich (Alabama) and Trey Rouse (Jefferson State), who are all now playing golf in college, as well as solid players like Ren Riley.
“They were able to learn from them, watch them and how they handled themselves,” Baguley said. “They learned a lot about how to balance it and competing and never giving in, whether it’s one stroke or one hold, but also balancing the fun of high school sports.”
Jack Craddock is another junior who has been solid and steady, while a pair of eighth graders, Kaman Rouse and Palmer Heard, have impressed and given the Patriots an exciting glimpse into the future.
“It’s a little bit of a revolving door to find our fourth, fifth and sixth best golfers, but right now, we really love the excitement that these kids have,” Baguley said.
Baguley said all of the young golfers are competing as much as they can and improving with every step.
“When you watch the younger kids, every tournament they play, the experience they’re gaining is invaluable,” he said. “I encourage them to take notes, and some are journaling and learning from it all.”
It is no given the Patriots will make it to state once again this year to defend their runner-up trophy, but with the amount of progress Baguley sees with every tournament, he believes it to be not out of the realm of possibility for the team to return to the state tournament and make some noise.
“Last year stung for a lot of teams, and we felt like we had a pretty good chance to be top three in state. We had a chance to have a special season. We’ve got a chance to maybe surprise some people at the end of the season,” he said.
Baguley also gave ample credit to Jason Haithcock, who leads the boys and girls golf programs along with Baguley.
“We try to balance each other out and support these kids as much as we can,” Baguley said.
Mountain Brook appears to be the clear favorite in Class 6A, dominating the competition in nearly every tournament. In late March, the Spartans won the Bradley Johnson Memorial Tournament at Greystone Golf & Country Club by 23 strokes over second-place Auburn.
But anything is possible for the Homewood golf program.
“It’s an exciting time for Homewood golf,” Baguley said.
