The Stratford Boys Golf Team played in the State Golf Championship Monday, April 29 and Tuesday, April 30 at White Wing Golf Course in Georgetown, TX.

On day one, Lake Travis HS took the early lead with a 9-under team total. For the Spartans, Junior Caleb Lumpkin led the way with a 3-under round with Junior Andrew Molina and Sophomore Noah Bahrami both shooting a 1 over par, and Senior Ben Potter shooting a 2 over par round, to put the team 1 over par and in 6th place for the championship.

On day two, Senior Ben Potter started the round hot with 3 birdies and then added 2 more birdies to shoot 5-under on the front nine. Ben’s hot start and the steady play of the team advanced the team into a tie with 3rd place San Antonio Johnson after the front nine.

As the championship continued on the back nine, The Woodlands and Memorial teams had several players get hot. This caused the Spartans to slide back down the leader board to finish 7th overall for the State Championship.

At the scoreboard, a UIL representative reminded me that the 12 teams at the State Golf Championship represent the best of the best teams from all over the State of Texas. After hearing this statement, I realized that Stratford Golf finished 7th place out of 256 teams from the State of Texas. The team accomplished a lot over the season, and I am so proud of them for advancing to the State Golf Championship for the second year in a row.

I would like to take a moment to recognize Senior Ben Potter for completing his golfing career at Stratford High School. Ben has been a member of the golf team for all four years at Stratford. As a freshman, he won the first two JV Tournaments to earn the ability to start playing on the Varsity B Team. Ben continued to grow as a player and lower his scores throughout his sophomore year and even made some appearances on the Varsity Team. As a junior, Ben solidified his spot on the Varsity roster and started moving up positions on the team.

Ben started his senior year off by winning the Lufkin Invitational at Crown Colony Golf Course, which earned him a purple sport coat for the win. Over his senior year, Ben had many great rounds and wins to finish the year strong at the State Golf Championship. Ben will continue to play golf in college at Dallas Baptist University. Ben is an outstanding young man, and it has been a privilege and an honor to coach Ben at Stratford High School.