Finding fairways
Cody Beyer looks to hit straight and utilize his short game.
Cody Beyer is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses on the golf course.
The left-handed senior from Siloam Springs has started on varsity since he was a freshman and has been one of the best players throughout his time with the Panthers.
Beyer thinks he can be even better, too, if he can find a way to get his driver and three-wood on track off the tee box.
“If I can find the fairway, I would shoot low every time I play,” said Beyer, while holding his three-wood club. “But this club and my driver go both ways. If I can straighten that out, I’ll be good.”
Beyer will get one, at least one, last chance as a member of the Panthers starting Monday when Siloam Springs begins play in the Class 6A State Boys Golf Tournament at Big Creek Golf and Athletic Club in Mountain Home.
“My game from 150 (yards) in is really good,” Beyer said. “I just need to get down the fairway instead of getting in trouble on the first shot every hole.”
The good news for Beyer is that he’s very familiar with Big Creek, having played it a lot over the years with the high school team.
“Mountain Home’s a course where you can get on the fairway a little bit easier than some on a lot of the holes,” added Siloam Springs coach Michael Robertson.
“There’s no doubt that’s what’s keeping him from scoring (even lower),” Robertson said. “Cody has a great short game. What’s really hurting him has been an issue the last year or two where he’s struggled off the tee. He’s been working really hard to try and pinpoint the problem the last few weeks. It seems like he’s getting closer.”
Robertson said from a technical standpoint, Beyer sometimes tends to over-swing.
“And he knows that. It’s just a matter of staying within himself,” Robertson said. “This is a problem a lot of them have. They grow up, they get bigger and stronger and they start hitting it farther. They want to hit it farther and farther. He’s just got to keep that in his head and remember that and go through his swing. He’s got a great swing. He knows his swing. If he can find the fairway, he’s going to score really well because his short game is really good.”
Robertson remembers when Beyer joined the team as a freshman in the fall of 2013. He finished that season with an 18-hole stroke average of 81.7.
“When he came in as a freshman, I made the comment that he’ll be the best one we’ve ever had,” Robertson said.
Beyer averaged a 78 as a sophomore and was back at 80.18 as a junior. This season he’s shot an average of 78.42, giving him a four-year cumulative average of 79.53 — the lowest of any Siloam Springs boys golfer since Robertson took over as golf coach in 2009.
“He has been one of our best — off and on for four years — regardless of who was ahead of him or who he was playing with or who we were playing against,” Robertson said. “He’s more than held his own. He’s been steady for us and he’s been one of those guys we’ve always been able to count on.”
Beyer makes no secret that he would like his golf career to
continue at the collegiate level. He hopes to really start working hard on that in October after he takes the ACT.
But for this week, Beyer is not quite ready for his high school career to be over yet. And it won’t be if he finishes high enough this week and qualifies for the Overall Tournament on Oct. 13 at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Beyer said. “Coach (Robertson) is a good coach. He motivates us to do well, and I’m not ready for it to be over.”
6A State Tournament
Beyer will be joined on the Panthers state team by seniors Noah Karp and Will Gambill, sophomore Chase Beyer — Cody Beyer’s younger brother — and sophomore Karson Clement. Sophomore Josh Johnson will be the team’s alternate and also make the trip to Mountain Home after beating out freshman Luke Baker.
“We’ll be pretty young,” Robertson said.
Siloam Springs finished sixth at last year’s state tournament while Jonesboro won its sixth consecutive state title.
“Here’s the thing. Jonesboro’s the favorite,” Robertson said. “We know that — they’re the favorite every year. There’s a lot of reasons for that. But from what I know and the people I’ve talked to and the scores I’ve seen, we can compete with anybody that’s going to be there. There’s nobody that just blows you away this year. The key is we’ve got to have four solid scores. … If we can put it all together we’re going to be right there in the end.”