The boys golf regular season may have ended at the District Tournament, but no one will call the past year a failure. Only the top two teams at Districts move on, but the Knights finished third with the team shooting 324 behind FZW at 312 and FHH at 316.

We had a very successful season,” Coach Mark Wright said. “We talked all year about wanting to play our best at the end of the year, and I feel we accomplished that. We finished third in Districts, but we’re proud of that because we’re in one of the toughest districts in the state.”

Only one player from the team moved past Districts and Sectionals to advance to the state competition. Senior A.J. Porter shot a 75 at Districts (Par 71) and an 81 at Sectionals (Par 72) for 3rd and 8th places, respectively. This means that Porter will compete at Sedalia Country Club next Monday and Tuesday, May 18 and 19.

“It’s exciting to be the first golfer from FHN to qualify for State since 2011,” Porter said, “but there is still a lot of work to be done at State. I hope to continue playing well and see what happens.”

There wasn’t a lot of golf to be played early in this season due to the immense amounts of rain that soaked courses and prevented meets from being held. The entire team was able to push past the rough start to finish the season strong. Porter, especially, has trained and pushed himself with the help of his father and coach to become the best golfer that he can be.

“This season was tough,” Porter said. “I started out very slow. I kept working on different parts of the game with my dad and Coach Wright’s help. I’m peaking at the right time.”

The same sentiments were given by Wright, and he has nothing but praise for Porter’s work ethic and current play.

“He’s progressed very well,” Wright said. “We have high hopes [for Porter]. Going in, he has good momentum. His short game is great, and he’s striking the ball well. He has a good chance to do well at State. It’s been fun to see everyone’s hard work pay off. It’s been great to watch and see results from A.J.”