Apr. 16—The Aiken High boys’ golf team had its good moments to start out the spring season. The Hornets have had some rough ones, too.
They’re still trying to iron out their consistency as a team, especially with a lot of their younger players getting their first taste of playing high-caliber varsity competition.
Head coach Luke McClure has seen the improvement over the last several weeks, and this week and next will be key to shaking off some of the Spring Break rust as the most important stretch of the season awaits once the calendar turns to May.
A match Tuesday against South Aiken and Mead Hall was one of those opportunities to work on that consistency, which will be needed for a gauntlet that includes the Region 4-AAAA championship, Southern Cross, the Lower State qualifier and, potentially, a trip to the Class AAAA state championship tournament.
“I think, if everybody can play to their potential and what I know they can and to their averages, I think we have a really good shot to compete in 4A,” McClure said of his team, which is ranked eighth in Class AAAA in the most recent poll. “It’s tough, because our division is the SEC West of 4A high school golf, but it should make for a good challenge and should make us pretty well-prepared for Lower State, if we qualify.”
Like in practically other sport, Region 4-AAAA is brutal for boys’ golf. The league is responsible for spots 5-8 in the state rankings, with Gilbert, Gray Collegiate, North Augusta and Aiken occupying those spots, in order.
The Hornets have leaned on veterans and newcomers alike this season as they’ve navigated those choppy waters, and McClure pointed to the top two players in his lineup as the ones who have set the example for their teammates to follow.
“Benton Orr has kind of been that for us, it seems like ever since his freshman year. Ever since he got that out of the way, sophomore year, junior year, now as a senior, he just has one of those personalities everybody gravitates to,” McClure said. “He leads these younger guys along. He’s been huge.
“Evan Crooks is a younger guy that’s starting to fill that role, as well, starting to emerge as a leader and a guy who, he’s kind of quiet but his play and the way he carries himself and all, he leads by example. I think that’s really huge for our team. He’s always even-keeled, doesn’t get too high or too low. I think that’s huge for you, especially with that being your top guy, your No. 1 guy, just having that personality and that level-headedness, it can be huge for you in bigger moments, bigger tournaments, things like that.”
There were big shoes to fill at the top of the lineup following the graduation of Richard Anaclerio, now a member of the golf team at Presbyterian College. Crooks and Orr have stepped up, and Jack Tucker and Ryan Anaclerio have, too, as those four are all back from last year’s lineup that finished second at region. Joining them in the lineup is Nolan Still, a sophomore like Crooks and Tucker, who has put in the work outside of team practices to earn his spot.
“He’s one that last year played JV for us and had really great moments and just needed to get a little more consistent,” McClure said. “He was one, I couldn’t count the number of days I would get texts from co-workers that play, and they’d say, ‘Hey, I saw Nolan at the range today.’ Or, ‘Hey, I saw Nolan playing over the summer.’ It just seemed like every day he was out there working and trying to get better, and it definitely showed this year and he made the jump to being in the top five and has been a really big contributing factor.
“Jack Tucker’s another younger guy. He played a lot with us last year and got a better as last year went on, and he’s returned to that form this year, as well. We have a really good young crop, and even the guys who haven’t quite cracked the top five, they’re going to be able to help us a lot in the future, as well. It’s nice to have young pieces that you know are coming up.”
It’s something that bodes well for the Hornets to have so many young players who will be able to accumulate more and more varsity experience, but those top-five spots are hardly written in ink — McClure has several players behind them fighting for those spots moving forward, and potentially even as soon as the coming weeks. He’s counting on that daily competition in practice to keep everyone sharp heading into the year’s most important events.
“It’s definitely a huge piece to it, and everybody knows when they come out and play they have to put up a good score and be on their ‘A’ game,” McClure said. “I know, really, from 5 all the way to the 8-9 spot guys, there’s only a couple of strokes between each of them, so everybody has to be on their ‘A’ game every day to maintain their spot. It pushes these guys to make sure they’re playing their best. If somebody doesn’t have their best, it helps us to be able to kind of cover up that score, just knowing that we have that depth.”
The Aiken High boys’ golf team had its good moments to start out the spring season. The Hornets have had some rough ones, too.
They’re still trying to iron out their consistency as a team, especially with a lot of their younger players getting their first taste of playing high-caliber varsity competition.
Head coach Luke McClure has seen the improvement over the last several weeks, and this week and next will be key to shaking off some of the Spring Break rust as the most important stretch of the season awaits once the calendar turns to May.
A match Tuesday against South Aiken and Mead Hall was one of those opportunities to work on that consistency, which will be needed for a gauntlet that includes the Region 4-AAAA championship, Southern Cross, the Lower State qualifier and, potentially, a trip to the Class AAAA state championship tournament.
“I think, if everybody can play to their potential and what I know they can and to their averages, I think we have a really good shot to compete in 4A,” McClure said of his team, which is ranked eighth in Class AAAA in the most recent poll. “It’s tough, because our division is the SEC West of 4A high school golf, but it should make for a good challenge and should make us pretty well-prepared for Lower State, if we qualify.”
Like in practically other sport, Region 4-AAAA is brutal for boys’ golf. The league is responsible for spots 5-8 in the state rankings, with Gilbert, Gray Collegiate, North Augusta and Aiken occupying those spots, in order.
The Hornets have leaned on veterans and newcomers alike this season as they’ve navigated those choppy waters, and McClure pointed to the top two players in his lineup as the ones who have set the example for their teammates to follow.
“Benton Orr has kind of been that for us, it seems like ever since his freshman year. Ever since he got that out of the way, sophomore year, junior year, now as a senior, he just has one of those personalities everybody gravitates to,” McClure said. “He leads these younger guys along. He’s been huge.
“Evan Crooks is a younger guy that’s starting to fill that role, as well, starting to emerge as a leader and a guy who, he’s kind of quiet but his play and the way he carries himself and all, he leads by example. I think that’s really huge for our team. He’s always even-keeled, doesn’t get too high or too low. I think that’s huge for you, especially with that being your top guy, your No. 1 guy, just having that personality and that level-headedness, it can be huge for you in bigger moments, bigger tournaments, things like that.”
There were big shoes to fill at the top of the lineup following the graduation of Richard Anaclerio, now a member of the golf team at Presbyterian College. Crooks and Orr have stepped up, and Jack Tucker and Ryan Anaclerio have, too, as those four are all back from last year’s lineup that finished second at region. Joining them in the lineup is Nolan Still, a sophomore like Crooks and Tucker, who has put in the work outside of team practices to earn his spot.
“He’s one that last year played JV for us and had really great moments and just needed to get a little more consistent,” McClure said. “He was one, I couldn’t count the number of days I would get texts from co-workers that play, and they’d say, ‘Hey, I saw Nolan at the range today.’ Or, ‘Hey, I saw Nolan playing over the summer.’ It just seemed like every day he was out there working and trying to get better, and it definitely showed this year and he made the jump to being in the top five and has been a really big contributing factor.
“Jack Tucker’s another younger guy. He played a lot with us last year and got a better as last year went on, and he’s returned to that form this year, as well. We have a really good young crop, and even the guys who haven’t quite cracked the top five, they’re going to be able to help us a lot in the future, as well. It’s nice to have young pieces that you know are coming up.”
It’s something that bodes well for the Hornets to have so many young players who will be able to accumulate more and more varsity experience, but those top-five spots are hardly written in ink – McClure has several players behind them fighting for those spots moving forward, and potentially even as soon as the coming weeks. He’s counting on that daily competition in practice to keep everyone sharp heading into the year’s most important events.
“It’s definitely a huge piece to it, and everybody knows when they come out and play they have to put up a good score and be on their ‘A’ game,” McClure said. “I know, really, from 5 all the way to the 8-9 spot guys, there’s only a couple of strokes between each of them, so everybody has to be on their ‘A’ game every day to maintain their spot. It pushes these guys to make sure they’re playing their best. If somebody doesn’t have their best, it helps us to be able to kind of cover up that score, just knowing that we have that depth.”
