ALLENDALE – In only his second varsity season, Shelby sophomore Titan Carter qualified and competed in the D3 golf state finals Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at The Meadows Golf Course in Allendale. Carter walked away tied with five other athletes for 14th place.
Carter didn’t have the picturesque performance he may have wanted, but finishing in the top 15 among a field of 106 competitors is impressive in itself.
The first round of golf on Friday started with a rough two-hole sequence for Carter. A double bogey and a bogey on his first two holes were remedied with pars on the next two, however. Carter notched six consecutive pars, putting a pair of bogies on either side of that stretch and finished his first day with an 81 (+10).
The biggest detriment to Carter’s performance on Friday was his long game, where he struggled to find the greens. Fortunately, the Shelby sophomore was on point once he got to putting, recording nine one-putt holes.
Saturday proved to be a major bounceback for Carter, as he showed precision with his tee shots. After hitting just four greens in regulation on day one, Carter tripled that number to 13 on day two.
That led Carter to 12 pars and a birdie, with just four bogies and a lone double bogey.
“At age 16, Titan has increased his power, accuracy and touch around the greens,” Shelby Head Coach Fred Inglis said. “(Carter) said Saturday was one of his worst rounds of putting he had all season. He had set a goal of finishing in the top 10 of the individual leaders, but overall was happy with his patience and how he regrouped to shoot one of the best rounds of the second day.”
Finishing in the top 15 golfers in the state at the D3 level is just another feather in the cap of Carter, who has been crowned the WMC Rivers Division Medalist in each of his first two seasons.
Carter doesn’t plan to put the clubs down either. Over the summer months, he’ll train with PGA teaching pro Tim Foster, while also attending several golf camps around the state.
