DeKalb County Golf Team Looking To Rebuild After Losing Seniors

There’s two different states in sports: competing and rebuilding. In order to make it to one state, you have to go through the other as a team or program.

Currently, the DeKalb County golf team finds itself in rebuilding mode after losing three seniors, including standout Isaac Walker who graduated and enrolled at Cumberland University. A state tournament participant in three out of the four years he was at DCHS, Walker’s absence will be the toughest to replace.

“He was a strong number one for us for four years,” said Head Coach John Pryor. “I had some other seniors that contributed. Chance Mabe, Conor Wright and Ethan Jenkins played a lot of golf for me last year, but they all graduated.”

It is certainly a tall task for Pryor, as he will now have to replace not just talent, but also experience and chemistry. Amongst his returners, it is a rising senior on the girls team that will look to take over the reigns of leadership that Walker left behind.

“Anna Chew also went to state,” Pryor said. “She was All-District and All-Region, as was Isaac. She went to state and finished 20th, but she has really worked hard and I’m expecting her to have a big senior year.”

With Chew and the other returning five seniors, including Jaden Young and Justin Wagner among others, making up the entirety of the team, the program is in for a rebuild as they hope to get other kids in the area interested in playing golf. Pryor is taking the owness on himself to increase the interest in the sport in the area, though he knows that it will be a long process to do so.

“This is my fourth year to coach, and this is by far my smallest team,” Pryor said. “For one reason or another, there’s just not a lot of kids playing golf … it’s a great sport because it’s a lifelong sport that they can play for a long time.”

“I’m trying to be a proponent for youth golf in DeKalb County, but right now, we have five on the boys team and one on the girls team.”