All the way over in Tunica this week, two New Hope golfers were in midst of a heated battle on the greens in a qualifier for the opportunity to play in the FGC Callaway World Championship in Palm Desert, Calif.
Representing the Trojans at Tunica National Golf & Tennis were rising freshmen King Edge and Lee Stockton, who both left it all out on the course, but couldn’t nab the elusive first-place in their respective age categories and punch their tickets to the championship. Stockton finished just five strokes behind first place with a two-day total at 17-over, and Edge finished in sixth-place at 22-over.
Nonetheless, it was an exciting and challenging few days for the burgeoning golf duo, two members of New Hope’s high school squad, one that will only help lead to better days on the course in the future.
For Edge, he started off Day 1 hot on the front nine and headed to the back of the course at just 2-over thanks to some strong showing from his iron game – but then the course began to wear him down. Edge’s 15th birthday on Sunday moved him up to the 15-18-year-old age group, which primarily featured high school seniors with college offers, and also moved him to the longer tee boxes. In all, his birthday added over 1,000 extra yards of golf for him, and he still managed to finish Day 1 in second place at 6-over.
“I got off to a really good start,” Edge said. “I played probably some of my best nine holes. … Just toward the end I got tired and made some mental mistakes. (Playing) in those conditions and that far back will expose your game.”
The new challenges showcased their weight even more on Day 2 as Edge slipped in the standings, but he chalked up his slide to much more than just difficult greens.
“Also, there was just a lot of pressure going on,” he said. “You know, you are playing and you’re five shots back and you want to win. There’s a lot on the line, a lot of nerves, a lot of pressure, and also I was playing with somebody who is a lot slower than me. So instead of playing at their pace and just realizing that it’s just going to be a little slower of a day I tried to speed up and didn’t really stick to my process of what I really like to do. That kind of threw me off, led to some poor shots, which led to some dumb decisions that cost me shots.”
Stockton started his qualifier for the 13-14-year-old flight with a birdie on hole No. 1 and went on to meet par 11 more times for a Day 1 score of 6-over – just one stroke behind first place. That left him right in the mix of competing for first place on Day 2, but like Edge, the pressure of chasing something he really wanted caused some misfires – despite his eventual second-place finish.
“I was proud of myself,” Stockton said. “Obviously I wanted to win it, but looking back on it with it being a big tournament, especially around here, I’m not mad at all for (finishing) second. For the most part it was pretty fun. … Day 1, the main thing that was different about it was the pressure. As soon as I got to Day 2, I was like, ‘Oh, I have a chance at winning it,’ and the pressure that you feel whenever you know that you have a chance at winning it is a whole different story. The first day I was just expecting to get the top three or something and play good, and by the second day I looked and I was down by one and I was like, ‘Dang, I’ve actually got a chance at this.’”
Of course, Stockton made sure to cheer on Edge, his friend and teammate, during the tournament, when he got the chance and even threw in a little tease about Edge’s birthday moving him up in competition.
“It was awesome,” Stockton said. “I always enjoy getting to play tournaments with him and keeping up with how they’re doing and encouraging him before his round and everything.”
The qualifier wasn’t the tandem’s last taste of summer golf action, in fact it was just the beginning of many stops on their summer tour. On Monday, Edge and Stockton will be back competing on the course, although much closer to home, in a Coca-Cola Junior Tour tournament at Elm Lake. It’s a spree of golf geared toward learning to play under pressure and getting better at the game they love come before the high school season tees off.
“I’m just going to keep practicing and getting ready for the high-school season, which starts in two-and-a-half to three months, so I’m just trying to lock into that,” Edge said.
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