Of all the fall sports at Greenwood High School, only one has already gotten underway with classes opening this week. Head coaches Ronnie Sockey and Tyler Woods and their respective golf teams have already traveled to Danville, Mountain Home, El Dorado, and Springdale to kick off their 2021 campaign.

The Lady Bulldogs look to be tough once again with their top two players returning from last year in seniors Hallie Jones and Grace Woody, along with returning junior Maggie Leonard. The GHS ladies should be in the mix once again to win both at the conference level and state. They finished as runners-up in both conference and state competition last fall.

The GHS boys finished third in the state last year, but graduated almost the entire starting lineup except for Chris Daggs, who has inherited the mantle of senior leadership this season. The Bulldogs are short on experienced players, but not on potential, and should improve steadily throughout the season.

Bulldogs

“This is my third year coaching golf and my fourth year here [overall],” said Head Coach Tyler Woods, who came to Greenwood as the new boys’ soccer coach in 2018. With the retirement of longtime golf coach Ronnie Williams a couple years ago, Athletic Director Dustin Smith wanted to divide the duties of golf coach between two head coaches.

“I’m officially the boys’ head coach and [Sockey] is the girls’ head coach, but we coach both teams,” explained Woods. “We assist each other and make decisions for both teams. We do a pretty good job collaborating on things. In tournaments it’s always nice to have two coaches. It’s been really good working with [Coach] Sockey. He’s been awesome and I’ve learned from him the last couple years.”

As for his team this season, Woods said, “We have six seniors, which is crazy, because we graduated five or six seniors last year. Chris Daggs was in our top five last year. He was our four-bag and comes back as our most reliable and consistent player, and it’s been that way so far. We’ve had a couple of tournaments and his average is about 82 right now, and that’s good. We’ve played some really tough courses.

The boys opened play this summer with a practice round at Chamberlyne in Danville, a difficult course to say the least. “That course was really tough,” said Woods. “It was long and really fast, and it was the first time some of [our guys] had walked 18 holes, and it was hot.” The Bulldogs also traveled to Mountain Home, Springdale, and El Dorado. “We took six boys and four girls to Mountain Home,” said Woods, “but Springdale was the best [the boys] have played so far.”

At Mountain Home on August 2nd the Bulldogs were led by Daggs with an 81, followed by fellow senior Matt Parker (93), sophomore Aiden Sockey (99), and senior Deacon Drennan (99) accounting for the next best scores.

A week later the Bulldogs played much better at Springdale, with four of their six players shooting in the 80s, led once again by Daggs’ 81. Jack Spoon (84) was followed by Sockey (87) and junior Harrison Adams (87).

On August 11th both GHS teams boarded a bus at 5 a.m. and made the long trip south to El Dorado and Mystic Creek Golf Club, one of the finest courses in the country. It was a long drive, a hot day, a tough course, and it showed in the scores. Daggs led Greenwood with a 91, one stroke ahead of Spoon (92) and senior Joe Russell (92). Adams (96) was fourth.

“We had four seniors join the team and that’s made it more competitive,” said Woods. “We’re really happy with the guys that have come out, because competition makes [us] better. They are competing with each other for a spot, which makes sure no one is comfortable, which is good for the team. I’m thrilled that we have some guys challenging each other.

“We’ve probably got about eight [players] right now for those top five [spots]. We will just have to see who is going to be more consistent and start pulling away. Who’s playing their best when we get to the conference tournament and state is what matters most,” added Woods. The conference tournament will be held at Cypress Creek in Cabot on September 21st.

“Deacon Drennan and Jake Spoon have played JV the past few years and have gotten a lot better. It’s kind of week-to-week and things are changing every time we play. I think Jake Spoon has just taken over the two-bag spot,” revealed the coach.

“We’re asking Chris [Daggs] to be in the low 80s and high 70s, and if we can get something in the 80s from the other four, then we’re probably in a pretty decent spot. If we can be [around] 340 or better, then we are doing pretty well. The team last year was slightly better than that, but they had a lot more experience,” he added.

One player that Woods has high hopes for is junior Harrison Adams, who was just released to play golf after recovering from a second knee surgery. “He’s a pretty good player,” said his coach. “He’s shaking the cobwebs off, but I’d say he’s probably our three-bag with potential to be our one-bag. Right now, it’s probably Daggs, then Spoon and Adams, then a toss-up between the next four or five guys.

“Joe Russell is mixed in there along with Aiden, Coach Sockey’s son. I think he’s even surprised himself so far. Jay Wright and Matt Parker are both seniors who have never played before, but have played on their own. They’re a little bit behind, but they still have a chance to compete for some varsity time.

Ben Bryan is a sophomore and a first-year player. [Sophomore] Railn Jordan is returning and has made a lot of improvement in his swing. [Junior] Jack Golding is also a first-year kid,” added Woods.

Of course, no preview article about GHS golf in 2021 would be complete without mentioning the tragic loss of sophomore linkster Landry Gamble, who was killed in a horrific automobile accident in June, along with his dad, Aaron, who had just been appointed as the new GHS principal. Coach Woods provided the following statement about Landry, age 15, who was expected to be a part of the team this season.

“Landry is very missed on the golf team this year. He was a kid who always had a smile on his face and loved the game of golf. [He also] had a great sense of humor. I loved [it] when he came to practice one day wearing a shirt that said, ‘Talk birdie to me.’ To remember Aaron and Landry, we had their initials printed on the side of our hats this year. Their loss is a wound that is still not quite healed, but we take solace knowing they are both in heaven looking down on us.”

Lady Bulldogs

While the GHS boys are still searching for their identify and trying to figure out their top five players, the GHS ladies offer very little in the way of intrigue this season. Head Coach Ronnie Sockey is blessed to have Hallie Jones and Grace Woody returning for their senior seasons, among the best one-two combinations in the state.

Jones and Woody have led the way to consecutive state runner-up finishes the last two years and are poised to make another deep run into the 5A state tournament to be held at Glenwood Country Club in late September.

Coach Sockey will add junior Maggie Leonard to the mix to fill out the mandatory three scores for most if not all matches this season. Six other girls, including five sophomores and one freshman, will compete for playing time with the varsity while learning and gaining valuable experience and building for the future.

“Right now, we’ve got a top three and we’ve got six other girls competing for that fourth spot,” said Sockey. “We’ve got two really experienced golfers (Jones, Woody), and Maggie is going to be our third this year. She started last year and we’re hoping to get her score down to 90-95 before the end of the year.” That means shaving 5 to 10 strokes off her current average, added the coach.

Greenwood’s top two ladies displayed their skills in the season’s first official match at Mountain Home on August 2nd, finishing one-two in the medalist standings for the tournament. Jones shot a round of 76 on day one, then followed with a one-over-par 73 on day two. Woody had rounds of 83 and 77 to finish as medalist runner-up.

“Both our #1 and #2 girls played really well up there,” said their coach. “We had the medalist and runner-up medalist for the tournament, [and] there were four other girls’ teams [there].” Maggie Leonard had scores of 103 and 99, while sophomore Maleigha Carney carded consecutive rounds of 114.

“[Sophomores] Maleigha Carney, Jessica Williams, and Addison Curtis are probably our next three with the best chance to earn that fourth [varsity] spot. We’re going to rotate and give them all a chance to get that experience,” offered Sockey.

“We’ve got one freshman [Lauren Oler] on the roster and sophomore Aliana Garcia, who also plays tennis and wanted to play golf as well. She has a good swing for not ever playing before. Our freshman has a good swing too. [Sophomore] Laci Cox has been playing softball all summer and she’s adjusting from a softball swing back to a golf swing. We’re trying to build for the future. We’re trying to get them as much experience as we can for the next few years.”

Asked to describe his top two players, Sockey said of Hallie Jones, “She’s been in our top four since her freshman year. That was her first year to pick up a club, and she’s really enjoyed it and gotten better and better every year. She’s [already] committed to play [college golf] at Arkansas Tech University.

“She’s just got a really pure swing,” he continued. “It comes natural to her, and she’s been hitting the ball farther and farther. She [also] puts in the time to get better. She’s a super hard worker.” The senior has also improved her putting and the mental side of her game, observed her coach.

Regarding her work on the greens, Sockey said, “She’s really improved and made a difference in her score. We’ve [also] seen a big improvement in the mental part of her game and staying focused.” A recent tournament at Mystic Creek in El Dorado provided a good example of Jones’ tenacity and grit.

“It was one of the toughest courses we’ve ever seen,” described her coach. “Playing the defending state champs on their home course was a good experience for [us]. They’ve got everybody back and will probably be our biggest competition for the state championship [this year].

“Grace was sick and had to withdraw, [but] Hallie showed a lot of guts that day. She sucked it up and made it through all 18 holes [in the heat]. She ended up shooting a 91, but all the boys and girls had high scores that day. El Dorado’s best girl only shot an 86.” Leonard shot a 102 for Greenwood.

Switching gears, Sockey spoke of his other senior leader. “Grace is tall and lanky and she’s really been working on her swing. She’s hitting the ball well right now. She gets off the tee box really well and makes that second shot a little shorter. She’s getting her iron game going and has a lot of confidence in her chipping and putting so she can make par. Grace has had a few schools calling her about college golf [too].” Both Jones and Woody use the same professional coach in Bentonville.

Maggie Leonard is the team’s lone junior and will complete Greenwood’s top trio of players. “Our goal is to try to get her down to 90-95,” said her coach. “She just needs more experience. She didn’t play a whole lot of matches until late in the season last year, because she was so new to it. [But] she hits the ball straight and keeps [it] in the fairway.” Her weaknesses right now are “Figuring out the distances she needs to hit the ball and hitting it a little farther off the tee. She’s decent on the greens,” concluded Sockey.

The Lady Bulldogs finished second in the state to El Dorado (2020) and Hot Springs Lakeside (2019), and hope to be right in the mix for a state crown again this fall. But first they must navigate their way through their ten remaining matches this season before the conference tournament in Cabot. Sockey sized up some of the league’s top competition.

“The Mountain Home girls won the conference last year and they’ve graduated quite a few. Russellville will be a lot better. They have two sisters that are good players. So Russellville and Mountain Home will be our toughest competition.”

The GHS ladies are on course for another competitive run at both the conference and state titles, led by the stellar tandem of Jones and Woody, with an improving Maggie Leonard offering needed support. The GHS boys have returning senior Chris Daggs followed by half-a-dozen players hungry to fill out the varsity roster, including newcomer Harrison Adams and returning senior Jake Spoon. The Bulldogs will be competitive and could be surprisingly good if a couple of players hit their stride early and make significant improvements throughout the season. It should be fun.

Both GHS teams will play Thursday at Ben Geren Park in Fort Smith in the first of three Ryder Cup matches against Fort Smith Southside. Thursday’s event will be a 9-hole round. They travel to Siloam Springs next Monday before hosting their first home match at Vache Grasse Country Club next Wednesday against Ozark and Springdale Har-Ber.