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Friday, August 1, 2008
Hunter’s Summer Run
Western Arkansas, AR
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By: Gary Smith
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Photo(s) By: Tom Ewart
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Rogers golfer kicks off his team’s defense of state title with solid tournament slate
If Hunter Mobley was looking for a good way to jump-start the 2008 Arkansas High School golf season, he found it. And he couldn’t have picked a better spot to do it.
Mobley, a senior -to-be returning to the Rogers High School team that won the 7A state championship last year, fired a two-day 142 including a final-round 3-under 69 to claim the Lost Springs Club championship June 21-22 at the Rogers course.
His last-day score was his personal best at Lost Springs, and his two-day total of 2-under par made him the club’s youngest Championship winner ever.
Mobley, who played in the second-to-last group during the final round Sunday, said he had an inkling from the 11th hole on that he might have a shot at the club title.
“But no one was going to tell me I was leading, and I didn’t want to know,” Mobley said. “I was sort of playing in a bubble, just thinking about my game.”
Mobley has spent most of the summer thinking about his game in some far-flung locals. After spending last summer playing in state junior events, he and his family decided he was going to have to take his game on the road if he was going to catch the eye of college golf coaches.
As a result, Mobley has been playing American Junior Golf Association events throughout the South this summer.
He’s been to events in Texas and Oklahoma, left the week after his Lost Springs win for a tournament in Alabama and will play in Missouri and at the AJGA event at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas Razorback golf team, before returning to school in the fall.
Mobley said he attends the events with one or both of his parents. His father, Duke is the defensive coordinator at Gravette High School while his mother, Pam, is a teacher in the Rogers School district.
“The travel has been an adjustment,” Mobley said. “And I’ve had to get used to the idea that I’m playing with some of the best golfers in the country. But I think it’s been good for me.”
It’s certainly been good for his college prospects. Mobley said he’s already spoken to coaches from Sam Houston State, Central Oklahoma and Eastern Oklahoma State, and would like to hear from coaches a little closer to home.
He’d also like to use his Lost Springs win and the summer’s tournament schedule to kick off Rogers’ defense of its 7A state title, and take a shot at qualifying for state overall tournament play.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good chance this year,” Mobley said. “We’ve got most of the team back from last year, and from the other players I talk to, a lot of teams will be down from last year.”
It doesn’t appear the Mounties will be suffering much drop-off this season, what with golfers like Mobley and all-state performers Matt Keller and Jes Sanders returning. Keller was the team medalist at the state 7A tournament last year, while Sanders led the team in scoring average last season as a freshman.
“A lot of teams have two or three very competitive golfers, but we’ve really got about seven who can compete for those varsity spots,” Rogers coach Marcus Alexander said. “We’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”
Alexander said he encourages his players to compete in tournaments during the summer, but said his team was made up of a group of self-starters.
“They all seem to live out there (at Lost Springs, the team’s home course),” Alexander said. “If I want to find them, I just have to go out there. They’re always there.”
The Rogers coach said he also asks his players to give him a few scorecards during the summer, just so he can see what progress they’re making.
After the Lost Springs Club Championship, Hunter Mobley has two he likes his coach to see.
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