Golf at South Forsyth has seen many accomplishments this season. Boys Varsity golf finished 3rd in the Johnny Paulo Invitational out of 20 teams with a score of 302. They finished 1st among public schools ahead of Lambert, West, Milton, and North. They also placed 1st at the Big Red Stableford Tournament out of 16 teams. Ronnie Davis, the coach, explained how his team achieved this and why golf is special to his heart.

Q: Which accomplishment are you most proud of this season and why?

A: Probably seeing an improvement in kids’ self-confidence while playing golf. Because golf is so mental in being able to overcome mistakes and not letting them improve your performance. Being able to forget about it and move on, be positive and use the experience to improve your repetitions.

Q: Which players are the most valuable to you the most and why?

A: They’re all valuable because there are very few. We only have 5, and in girls’ golf, you have 4 players when you play a match or a tournament. The three lowest scorers make up the team score. We’re all valuable because we’re low in number, so we all have a place in the program.

Q: What makes golf one of your favorite sports to coach?

A: The mental challenge that it possesses. The mental side of it something we as a team can control as humans, and some of us do it better than others. Sometimes, even the student-athletes do it better than us coaches. It’s that and helping build confidence in some type of adverse situation. And it’s not always adversity. Sometimes, it’s when you have success, and you have to recognize where you’ve plateaued. Success can have the same effect that adversity does, where doing good prompts players to be even better. Sometimes when you’re playing really good, you do things you weren’t previously capable of doing. It’s all about finding where that threshold is and overcoming it.

Q: What has been something the team has struggled with and how are you working to improve on it?

A: I would say a struggle we’ve had is consistency. Golf is a game where the more consistent you are, the more chances you have to shoot a low score. And that ties back to being able to overcome mistakes and not let it landslide and have an impact on future shots.

Q: How do you prepare for matches and condition players?

A: It’s all about being in the moment and instilling confidence. We evaluate what our situation is, our best shot, take all our resources, and create our target. And once we decide what our situation is and what club we’re going to use, to just be committed. Once you get the club in your hand, don’t doubt it. Go for it and perform that repetition with confidence.

Coach Davis believes that there are many aspects of golf that make the sport special to him. The small team has helped him build a bond with each of the players, and he feels that the learning curve of instilling confidence is one of the most important aspects of this mental sport.