Clarke Central High School golf coach Stephen Howard coaches during golf practice on Feb. 17 at the University of Georgia Golf Course. This is Howard’s first year as the CCHS golf coach and he has been playing golf since high school. “Well, I’m from Augusta, so like that’s where the Masters is played. Golf is pretty big there. I grew up in Augusta (and) played baseball most of my life,” Howard said. “(I) broke my leg freshman year and then switched to golf my junior year of high school, and then since then I’ve been playing for coming up on 10 years now.” Photo by Luna Reichert
Clarke Central High School golf coach Stephen Howard is new to the CCHS golf team for the 2020-2021 season.
“I love golf, it’s kind of my main sport, it’s the one I enjoy the most. (I got) a lot of lessons out of it. I think it’s really cool it’s a lifetime sport,” Howard said. “When I saw the Clarke Central golf position was open, I thought it was a great way to kind of help some kids get better at golf and also just learn to love it (and) be able to play their whole life.”
CCHS senior and golfer Walker Bradberry, a returning player, has high hopes for Howard.
“It was hard to hear that Mr. (Andy) Dean was gonna leave because I liked him and he was a good coach, but obviously, at the end of the day, he (had) to do what’s best for him and his family. But I really like Coach Howard,” Bradberry said. “He’s younger and he can connect with us on some things. He and I are very similar, having a baseball background and getting into golf midway through high school, so it helps to have him kind of be in the same shoes, or for me to be in the same shoes that he was in.”
Howard hopes to help the team improve at golf this semester.
“I just want them to, wherever they’re at, I want them to all improve and I want them to enjoy their time out there, have some fun and fall in love with the game,” Howard said.
Bradberry believes that Howard’s attitude will have a positive impact on the team.
“I think that he’s gonna keep it really really fun with us, but also we’re gonna try and be as competitive as we can,” Bradberry said. “I definitely think that he wants us to not only win matches and tournaments and stuff but he wants us to have golf as something that you can play and enjoy for the rest of your life. He wants it to be an enjoyable thing on top of being competitive.”
