Langford earns top five finish at state

Lafayette boys place ninth overall

As the son of Lafayette High School boys’ golf coach Tom Langford, Grant Langford has been following his dad’s teams all over the state for the last several years, waiting for the day that he could tee it up at the state tournament as a Rambler.

COVID-19 delayed his championship debut by a year, but the sophomore finally got his chance to shine this time around and he made the most of it.

Playing at the Cateechee Golf Club in Hartwell, Langford shot a very nice round of 2-over-par 73 last Monday and followed up with another 73 a day later to finish in fifth place in the Class AAA boys’ individual standings at 4- overpar 146.

It was the highest individual finish for a LaFayette boys’ player since P.J. Shields won a share of the individual title in 2009, and it was the first top 10 finish for a Rambler at state since Gage Smith, now one of the top players at Valdosta State, enjoyed back-to-back top 10 showings in 2017 (eighth) and 2018 (tied for ninth).

Junior Brady Mullaly finished in a tie for 30th after rounds of 80 and 90 gave him a two-day total of 170. Freshman Mason Thompson carded rounds of 90 and 92 and finished at 182.

Another junior, Junior Barber, ended the tournament with a score of 213 (106-107). Scott Smith, the lone senior on the roster, finished at 226 (102-114), while another freshman, Jackson Brewster, ended his first state tournament at 254 (124-130).

The Ramblers placed ninth overall in the team standings as rounds of 345 and 362 gave them an overall total of 707.

Westminster, a perennial powerhouse in the classification, followed up an opening round 295 with a 303 on Tuesday to finish at 598 and take the state crown by 27 shots. Richmond Academy was second at 625 (320-305) and Dawson County placed third at 660 (324-336).

Harris Barth of Westminster fired rounds of 69 and 72 to finish at 141 and was the only player in the field to finish the tournament under par (1-under). Christopher Saul of Richmond Academy was two shots back at 1-over-par 143 (72-71). Third place went to Perry Austin Kilburn of Monroe Area at 2-over-par 144 (73-71), while William Love of Westminster finished fourth at 3-over-par 145 (74-71).