After an 11-year drought, O’Neal Varsity Boys Golf won the NCISAA Division 2A Championships at the Country Club of Whispering Pines with a final score of 587 beating the 2-time defending state champs, St. David’s School by 16 strokes.
The individual medalist was O’Neal’s 7th grade team member, Tommy Morrison after extra holes in sudden death (twice) against St. David’s senior member, Andrew Wilmoth when both were tied at 140. O’Neal’s freshman, Jackson Van Paris was 3rd place by one stroke with a 141.
Fulton Smith, Jackson Van Paris and Tommy Morrison all earned All State recognition.
2017 Medalist Jackson Van Paris greets teammate Tommy Morrison with a friendly body slam after Tommy’s winning putt for the 2018 medalist victory.
“The boys have worked incredibly hard to get to this level and earn this success,” exclaims O’Neal Athletic Director James Franklin. “They have faced numerous obstacles and today was the culmination of a lot of hard work as golfers and young adults. There is so much that goes into building a team of this caliber and we are very proud of them. Coaches, Matt Vick and Jeff Haarlow are credited for their guidance and incredible leadership of this team.”
A golf state championship is not unusual for O’Neal with this being the 12th time since the School was founded with 2007 being the last. Since 2007, Westchester Country Day School has by far held the championship title the most in Division 2A.
Fulton Smith at Hole #1
Based on NCISAA archives starting in 2003, O’Neal has claimed the individual medalist in 2003 and 2005 by Jack Ulrich ’06, 2006 and 2009 by Michael McGowan ’09, in 2017 by Jackson Van Paris ‘21 and in 2018 by Tommy Morrison ’23.
O’Neal Varsity Boys Golf Team Members are: Fulton Smith, RJ Jackson, Bennett Moore, Jackson Van Paris, Joseph Dailey, Jack Morrison, and Tommy Morrison. The team’s head coach is Matt Vick, assisted by Coach Jeff Haarlow.
Article and picture courtesy of The O’Neal School
