Rebels come home runners-up

OPELIKA – The Vestavia Hills High School boys golf team assumed a role at the Class 7A state golf tournament that it has been in more than a handful of times this season.

The Rebels finished runner-up to Mountain Brook for the third week in a row in the two-day tournament, held Monday and Tuesday at the Robert Trent Jones Grand National Golf Course in Opelika.

Even though that fact was slightly disappointing, it took nothing away from what Vestavia accomplished in Kent Fullington’s first season with the team.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” he said. “What we’ve done this year is set a culture and expectation. Now we’re going to go into the summertime and evaluate what worked for us and what didn’t work for us.”

Mountain Brook posted a phenomenal 279 on the first day of the tournament, to Vestavia’s 293. That 14-stroke lead was enough for the Spartans, even as the Rebels carded an even-par 288 on Tuesday, six strokes better than Mountain Brook.

Mountain Brook finished with a two-day total of 573, eight strokes better than Vestavia’s 581.

“We’re going to get better from there every single day and we’re going to be back here,” Fullington said. “That’s the standard and the expectation. Now we need to win it. I know these guys are going to put in the work.”

Ryan Eshleman’s two-day total of 143 was good enough for the low medalist runner-up trophy, as he shot a 71 on Monday and 72 on Tuesday.

Senior Chris Hughes finished with 71 on Monday and followed that up with a 74. Jacob Maze went 74 and 75 over the two days, while Austin Coggin rebounded from a 77 on Day 1 to post a 67 on Day 2. Cole Hunt shot 79 and 82.

“They did great,” Fullington said. “They did everything they were supposed to.”