CORBIN — The Corbin Boys’ Golf team recently held a three-day qualifier for the upcoming golf season.
Head Coach Joe Roberts referred to the last day as mimicking “a day in the life of Tiger Woods.” While the weather got in the way of the full day’s plan, it did not interfere with the 70 grueling holes of golf to decide their final qualifications.
“Robert Gray, my assistant coach, and I formulated Tiger’s daily non-tournament routine and planned to put our kids through that type of test. We had planned to start the day at 4:30 am, like Tiger did, and spend about 12-14 hours of nothing but golf,” Roberts said.
Blending the PGA Tour FedEx Cup, LIV Golf, and the Race to Dubai, the coaches got the competition they were looking for.
Two days of qualifying, cut their field from 13 to nine players, and everyone’s scores reset, like the Tour Championship contested at East Lake Golf Club, which set up an epic battle between Ethan Mott, Will Freeman, and Bradyn Parmon.
“My wife, Crystal, and I attended East Lake for eight straight years,” Roberts said. “We have donated to the East Lake Foundation. Our love for that place encouraged me to use the Tour Championships style to create a competitive formula for our Redhounds.”
Due to the reset, Will Freeman, who played the most consistently the first two days, started TigerMania with a 2-shot lead over Ethan Mott and a 3-shot lead over Bradyn Parmon. Freeman and Mott found themselves down 2 shots through nine holes.
“Parmon had a really good front nine.l,” Roberts said. “He was taking it to them for sure.”
As the back nine proceeded, Freeman found the consistency he had displayed the whole time, but Mott found the torch and lit it on fire.
At the end of 18 holes, Freeman found himself trailing by one shot to Mott, and Parmon trailed by two.
Things were tight for the final 16 holes of the Chip and Putt course, but in the end, Mott not only prevailed at the top in the qualifier but also won the day, resulting in winning TigerMania.
First-round leader Hayden Webb seemed to never catch the fire he displayed on Day 1, and Brody Faulkner had 4-6 hole stretches of good golf but never could find the consistency needed to get to the top of the leaderboard.
“Seeing Hayden torch them on Day 1 was great to see,” Roberts said. “He puts in tons of time on his own. Brody is so close to touching good scores that I expect it anytime.”
That wasn’t the only thing that impressed the coaches.
“Seeing Parmon through that front nine at TigerMania was glimpses of the days when we were battling with or against his dad, Joe Parmon, out at Tri-County Country Club,” Roberts said.
“Rounding out the rest of the team, we expect Ethan Gambrel and Cruz Cima to be neck and neck all year. They will each be filling in during two of the first three tournaments for our top five players who can’t attend those tournaments. “Reed Phillips, Clay Botner, Brant Begley, and Ryder Mills will fill the rest,” he added. “These guys have made huge strides since we began preseason. They are very young and like to play golf. So do their coaches. That’s a good recipe for the next few years.”
As far as Coach Roberts’ expectations for the season are concerned, he says, “I have two main expectations. Players progressively improving and understanding not just the game of golf, but their own game. And second, I want them to build meaningful relationships and have fun. I’ve been playing this game a long time. If the only success I gain from coaching is having one of these guys call me 20 years from now and invite me to go play golf with them, I have succeeded. The game of golf has provided me with endless opportunities and friendships. I want the same for my team.”
What might be the most unique qualifier in High School Golf, Coach Roberts really hopes it educates his players, saying, “Until you experience what it takes to be good, you will never know.”
The Corbin Boys Golf Team opens the season at Houston Oaks on Tuesday and Eagles Nest on Friday before traveling to take on the No. 2 ranked Lee High (VA.) the following week.
