HUMBOLDT – Nolan Smith has put together a quality season so far for the Jackson Christian golf team.
He’s been the low medalist at the majority of events he’s played this season, and he’s a big reason the Eagles have been as successful as they have been this season – and last.
He’s now a sophomore, but two years ago, he qualified for the Division II-A state tournament as an eighth-grader.
Last year, he and a group of younger golfers led the Eagles to the state tournament.
And since the bulk of the Eagles’ talent are currently in the younger classes, Smith is cautiously hopeful last year could be the start of a dynasty for the program.
“My brother and I are sophomores, and we’ve got a couple of good freshmen playing too,” Smith said. “And with the four of us and a few players that are coming up after us, we’re hoping to make trips to the state tournament a regular thing for our program.”
The Eagles appear to be in contention to make that happen this year as the little bit of golf they’ve played against teams in the other district in the region in Shelby County appears to have everything going in the positive direction for the Eagles.
Smith has put in the work to become as good as possible at the game of golf.
He was a multisport athlete for the Eagles when he was in middle school, but he elected to give up basketball to focus on golf more.
And he has focused on golf more.
“I remember one Saturday in February, it was 35 degrees out with the wind blowing, and he asked if I could take him to Humboldt Country Club,” said Jared Smith, Nolan’s father and one of the Eagles’ coaches. “It was so cold that morning that I thought they’d be out there an hour and then want to head back after getting cold.
“But that never happened. He had a teammate out there, and they were just out there working while they had the course to themselves.”
“I love playing the game,” Nolan Smith said. “Just the strategy and process of figuring out the best way to get into a golf ball into a hole from the tee box and then actually trying to execute that plan is the best part of any day for me.”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
