Cabot peers take pride in showdown
Blaine Calhoon and Connor Gaunt did something together they do all the time Friday afternoon at Eagle Hill Golf Club in Little Rock.
They played golf.
“We’ve been playing golf together since we were maybe 5 years old,” Calhoon said.
But this was different.
Instead of bragging rights, Calhoon and Gaunt were playing to have their name engraved on the trophy celebrating the Arkansas State Golf Association Junior Boys Match Play champion.
Last year, it was Gaunt who had his name added to the trophy.
Friday, Calhoon made the list of champions with a 2-and-1 victory over Gaunt, his lifelong friend, golf buddy and former Cabot High School teammate.
It took 17 holes for Calhoon to prevail in a match that fittingly came within inches of reaching the 18th hole.
“Every time we tee it up,
it’s a flip of the coin as to who is going to win,” said Gaunt, the 2018 champion and the tournament’s No. 1 seed. “I know Blaine’s not going to make many mistakes. We’re not going to make many mistakes. So whoever makes the first mistake is usually the person who loses in match play.”
Calhoon, already No. 1 in the ASGA Junior Player of the Year standings, kept the trophy in Lonoke County, where both Calhoon and Gaunt reside.
He did it by leading for 16 of the 17 holes, after posting a birdie on the 544-yard par-5 second.
An errant tee shot on No. 3 led to a bogey for Gaunt, and Calhoon took a 2-up lead from the fourth hole all the way into the back nine.
“At the end of the day, he’s a great golfer, I’m a great golfer,” said Calhoon, who is headed to the University of Central Arkansas in the fall. “Someone’s going to have to win. And I tried my hardest to make it me.”
One possible advantage for Calhoon came about during the semifinal matches in the morning.
Calhoon played 14 holes in his 5-and-4 victory over Palmer McSpadden, giving him about an hour more rest time than Gaunt, who needed 18 holes to defeat Ben Brogdon, the tournament’s No. 5 seed.
Calhoon, who won six matches over 88 holes of golf since Wednesday, shrugged at any possible advantage he may have had.
Gaunt would not use being tired as an excuse.
“We go through the same workout program,” Gaunt said. “We’re built to walk 36 holes.”
Gaunt, the defending champion and No. 1 seed, said he thought it was possible they could meet when he first saw the 64-man draw.
“When I saw I was on the other side of the bracket and that I could potentially play him, I thought it would be pretty fun to play against him,” Gaunt said.
What was really fun, both players said, was having two golfers who learned to play at Cabot’s Rolling Hills Golf Club battling it out for the state championship after competing for the club’s junior championship less than a decade ago.
“Rolling Hills has produced some real good players,” said Gaunt, who will play college golf at Arkansas Tech University. “And we’re glad to be part of that elite group.”