Lakeside seniors Gracen Blount and Ryan Camras surged past their competition, making huge strides in their final high school seasons and becoming The Sentinel-Record's 2017 Co-Golfers of the Year.
Both players made significant improvements to their game from their junior seasons to this year. Blount's average improved by more than a dozen strokes to 75 in her senior season.
"I played a lot better this year because I practiced a lot more through the winter," Blount said. "Last year, I wasn't as good. I wasn't as into it as I was this year. Last year, it was still a process of changing and becoming better. This year, it was more polished."
Blount shot a 94 in the Class 5A girls state tournament a year ago on her own home course at the Hot Springs Country Club. She improved to shoot a 72 in this year's tournament at the Paragould Country Club in September.
The 72 was good for second place in 5A. She was only denied a state title by Forrest City's Elizabeth Moon, who shot a blistering 64. Moon signed last month to play for Central Florida.
A 72 was good enough to earn Camras the 5A boys title, two and three strokes ahead of Little Rock Christian's Chase Venn and Tucker Teague, respectively. Camras said the accolades were a long-time coming as he and Blount worked to refine their games over the past several years.
"No matter how hard you practice, it does not make it a sure thing you are going to play really well on the course," Camras said. "Both of us have been working really hard and we haven't shot the scores, but they have been coming around."
Camras previously focused more on baseball, but began golf as a freshman in high school. He credited the help of Leonardo Di Marino, director of instruction and junior golf leader at the Hot Springs Country Club, for helping he and Blount make significant strides throughout the high school career. Di Marino is a graduate of West Florida.
"He is extremely knowledgeable about the game, swing, technique and everything, because he played on tour for a while," Camras said. "We both got a lot better really quickly. With him, he motivated us, and we made high goals to achieve. We have been working really hard to achieve those."
"Ryan came to me as a junior. Ryan and Gracen worked side by side those two years," said Lakeside golf coach Gary Don Smith. "Leo, the club pro, gave them workouts that they completed faithfully during those two years.
"Ryan leads by example. He saved his best round for the end."
Camras shot an 83 in 2016 and did not qualify among the top 11 golfers at the 5A tournament at the Hot Springs Country Club. Hot Springs' Zach Brown and Lakeside's Caleb Lloyd tied for ninth place at 78.
Moon improved from 75 to 71 to 64 in the past three years. Blount began at 84 as a sophomore. Blount said she had mixed expectations coming into the season as she increased her work rate and participated in more Arkansas Stage Golf Association and American Junior Golf Association competitions.
"I was not expecting it because it was my first experience of shooting lower scores, but I definitely was expecting it because I worked hard for it," Blount said. "I practiced a lot, and I wanted it really bad."
Blount said she felt accomplished after placing second at state.
"It felt like my hard work had paid off and all of those mornings being at the golf course by 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and not leaving until dark every day," Blount said. "It paid off, and it felt good."
Most top golf prospects began playing at a younger age. She said she began to take the sports more seriously about a year and a half ago with this summer being her first to compete in a number of more competitive tournaments.
"Just playing in more competitive tournaments and playing in so many tournaments really helped me gain a lot of experience," Blount said. "I learned so much from just playing in tournaments."
"Gracen was the hardest worker I have had in the program over the last 13 years," Smith said. "The last two years were her hardest. She always stayed after practice for extra work.
"In the summer, she would get to the country club around 9 a.m. and stay to about 7 p.m. She is a great example of what hard work will do for you. She wanted to go to UCA, and she made it happen."
Blount signed last month to sign to play for Central Arkansas and coach Natasha Vincent. She is the daughter of Al and Susan Blount.
"I love the campus, and I think they have really good academic programs," Blount said. "When I met the coach, I was like, 'Oh, yeah.'"
Camras finished the season with an average round of 76. He is the son of Rob and Cindy Camras.
The desired results took a long time arrive as Camras said he was disappointed not to meet expectations sooner. He said he hoped to score even better than the 72 that won him state.
"It felt like a payoff, but a start to more, bigger goals to achieve," Camras said. "I have won in ASGA before, and I have won the state tournament, but I have higher goals. It was kind of a relief I finally did shoot a good enough score."
Camras said he is now deciding whether to play golf at Arkansas Tech or West Florida. He said West Florida coach Steve Fell helped him to enter a tournament next month in Florida.
"Obviously, I want to be one of the best," Camras said. "Improving the most is one of my big goals. That will help me be the best in later years in college."
Blount said she strives to continue to lower her scores as she prepares to start college.
"Of course, I want to keep improving," Blount said. "I am going to keep training and practicing really hard like I did last year, so that I can be the best player I can be for the UCA team and help contribute."
"I love to learn more about the game," Blount added. "I cannot wait to learn a lot more from different people and different experiences I will have in college."
Blount and Camras credited their teammates for working with them and pushing them further the last two years. The group is able to go to the country club during seventh period and practice.
Abby Lea Huett placed sixth at state with a score of 75 as a freshman. Junior Griffin Wuensch tied for ninth place at state with a score of 79. Nathan Ahlers averaged 79 throughout the season and earned all-conference.
"We are all shooting for big goals," Camras said. "They are definitely important, because we have all pushed each other to get better."
Sports on 12/24/2017