Last shot

By Justin Graves
jgraves@cullmantimes.com

May 07, 2008 11:26 pm

— GOOD HOPE — When Nathan Brown played in his first AHSAA state golf tournament, he felt like he didn’t belong on the course.
Knowing he was playing against the state’s elite prep golfers, Brown was overwhelmed by pressure. In fact, the Good Hope High golfer’s nerves were in such bad shape, he couldn’t even use his driver.
Things have changed a lot since then. After all, Brown was an eighth grader at the time.
Now preparing to make his fifth consecutive appearance in the state golf tournament, Brown says his nerves are no longer out of control. The only thing the Good Hope senior is concerned about this year is how he’s going to help the Raiders win the event.
“My first state tournament was rough,” Brown said. “I was a mess. The only thing I knew was that everyone was good. I felt out of place. “It’s not like that anymore. This is just another day at the golf course. We know this is where we belong, and we actually feel like we can win this thing this year.”
Brown has played a lot of golf since his eighth-grade season. Along with four trips to the state tournament, the senior has participated in several big tournaments at Good Hope along with a few events in the summer.
As one of the top prep golfers in the state, Brown has caught the attention of several college programs. But he has already decided to continue his golf career at the University of Montevallo — where he signed with the golf program earlier this year.
Even though Brown knows his golf career won’t be over after next week’s state tournament, the senior still wants to end his playing days with the Raiders on a high note — preferably with a Class 3A state title.
“We all feel like this is our year,” Brown said. “We really believe that.”
Brown may sound confident, but he has good reason to be. Good Hope won the north sub-state tournament last week — which means the Raiders have already defeated two of the five teams they will face in Muscle Shoals next week.
Another source of confidence for Brown is how Good Hope closed out last year’s state tournament in Opelika. After struggling on the first day, the Raiders shot the low round on day two.
“Sub-state gave us a lot of confidence heading into this thing,” said Brown, who was the tournament’s low medalist. “We always have a bad first day at state, and our bad day was sub-state. I think we’re ready to play.”
Since Brown has known the state tournament would be held at the Robert Trent Jones course in Muscle Shoals for over year, the senior has taken advantage of the location’s close proximity.
“Some of us have went over there and played this year,” Brown said. “I played in a few tournaments over there this summer, too. It’s a great course and I like it.”
After winning the north sub-state event in Muscle Shoals last week, Good Hope has been preparing for the state tournament. And according to Brown, the Raiders are ready to play what he calls “tournament golf.”
“It’s hard to prepare for a Robert Trent Jones course,” Brown said. “There’s really nothing else like it.
But I think we’re ready to play. This team is a completely different team — it’s a team that’s better from top to bottom.
“We know what we want, and we know what we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to go over there and do it now.”