Published: May 07, 2008 12:15 am      

‘We had a blast’

Huntsville’s LeNorman earns second-place medal; Hornets finish sixth in team standings

AUSTIN — Caleb LeNorman waited, and waited, and waited some more before finding out he would be wearing a medal home from the Class 4A state golf tournament.

The clubhouse leader for more than an hour, Huntsville’s No. 1 player and a recent Sam Houston State signee sat nervously after turning in his scorecard that read “71” on a steamy Tuesday afternoon at Jimmy Clay Golf Course.

Scores kept going up on the board, and LeNorman, who shot a 74 on Monday, continued to hold onto the lead.

Finally when the last totals were posted, LeNorman, his parents, coaches, teammates and supporters breathed a sigh of relief. The soft-spoken senior who now carries an awfully big stick didn’t win the championship, but he did finish second.

LeNorman finished five shots behind Cody Gribble (70-70 — 140) of Dallas Highland Park and one shot ahead of Frisco Centennial’s John Darden and Richard Kalteyer of Highland Park.

The Hornets dropped from fifth to sixth in the team standings after following their opening-round 312 with a 318 Tuesday. After the long wait, that didn’t seem to matter much to the Huntsville players, who were happy for their friend LeNorman and excited just to be competing in the state tournament as a group for the first time since 1985.

“Second place, that makes me extremely happy,” a visibly exhausted LeNorman said after sitting in the shade for a while, then heading out to the driving range to stay sharp in case of a playoff.

No playoff was necessary. Thanks to five birdies Tuesday, LeNorman gladly accepted his second-place medal.

“Number two in the state, I guess I played really well because there are a lot of really good players here,” he said. “It’s kind of cool.”

LeNorman’s head coach, Marcus Evans, agreed. It is kind of cool to see someone rewarded for years of practice and dedication.

“Caleb put in a ton of good and hard work the last few years,” Evans said with a smile. “He also listened and learned what it takes when it comes to strategy, thinking and will power. All of those things he took to heart and became a complete player.

“This is a great honor not only for Caleb and our program, but it’s a great honor for our community and Sam Houston State because they signed him to be a Bearkat for the next four years. They signed a good one when they got Caleb.”

Playing alongside the defending 4A state champion, Adam Wennenstrom of Austin Lake Travis, LeNorman started with a bang early Tuesday morning. Birdies on Nos. 1 and 4 had him poised to make a run at the leaders, but he found some serious trouble after his ball ballooned in the wind at the short par-4 sixth hole.

“I had a dum-dum on number 6,” LeNorman explained. “I was right at 95 yards and I tried to hit my 58-degree wedge. I hit it right at the front of the green but it spun back in the water. Smart me took off my shoes and tried to hit it. ... I ended up tripling that hole.

“I went from 2-under to 1-over but I hung in there and grinded it out. I birdied the next hole, then made pars on 8 and 9.”

LeNorman birdied holes 10 and 13 before making his only bogey Tuesday on the par-4 15th hole. He finished with three consecutive pars, making a 25-foot putt on the closing hole, a treacherous 474-yard par 4.

“Caleb had a mission today,” Evans said. “He wanted to shoot a red number today, he wanted to be under par. That kind of determination helped him get back to under par after he made triple bogey on number 6. And he was also able to overcome the defending state champion and beat him before it was all over with today. That’s quite a good story within our story.”

Alone in fifth place, but only two shots out of second in the team standings after the opening round, the Hornets may have pressed a little too hard, Evans said, when they hit the course Tuesday morning. Sophomore Brent Baker and junior Nathan Watson played fairly well on the front side, but sophomore Ryan Bennett and senior Jake Bradley struggled like crazy.

Bennett shot a 45 on the front with a triple-bogey 7 on the same hole that hurt LeNorman. Bradley began his round with a pair of three-putts, then made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the third hole.

Watson (78-78 — 156) recovered from a front-nine 42 and shot 36 on the back with a pair of birdies. Baker bettered his opening-round 82 by one stroke Tuesday, but Bradley and Bennett both turned in 88s.

“The only thing disappointing about today is this wasn’t our best round,” Evans said. “We discussed last night in our team meeting certain things we wanted to avoid. We avoided some of those problems, but we didn’t avoid all of them.

“All of our guys, even Caleb, had a big hole today. At this level, playing against state championship-caliber players, you can’t do that. You’ve got to keep your round clean.”

Evans said he would chalk up most of the mistakes to inexperience. None of the Hornets had ever played on a stage this big.

“A couple of our guys tried too hard to shoot the rounds of their lives,” Evans said. “They started forcing their golf swings and that got them into trouble. It also led to big numbers that they had to live with.”

Still, Watson said the Hornets had the a big time for four days. They played a practice round Saturday afternoon, then went to the Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Hyatt’s Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop for a fun scramble Sunday.

Monday and Tuesday they tested their skills against the best players and teams in Texas.

“What a great season. We made it to state,” said Watson, who will take over the team’s leadership role later this fall. “We wanted to medal and we’re disappointed as a team. But this was a blast. We enjoyed every minute of it.”