BOYS HIGH SCHOOL GOLF: Andrews ready for state tournament

After finishing third last year, the Andrews boys golf team returns back to the state championships with their eyes on another top three finish.

The Mustangs, who finished third at the Region I-4A title, will look to add another successful chapter to their rich program’s history when they head to Kingsland next week for the Class 4A UIL State Championship.

The two-day tournament will begin Monday and finish Tuesday.

The Mustangs’ last state championship came in 2014.

Andrews finished with a team score of 595 at regionals while Canyon Randall was second at 588 and Bridgeport was first at 583.

Despite finishing third, it must be noted that the Mustangs play in one of the more difficult regions in the state each year.

“I’m very pleased with us qualifying.” Andrews head coach Jeff Williamson said. “We played really solid all year. Uh, we had the toughest region in the state in four a. You know, it’s tough. Probably five or six teams are in that region so it was a battle down to the end and we were we were very fortunate to get out, and we’re really excited.”

Last year at state, Bridgeport ended up winning the championship while Andrews took third. Wimberley finished second.

This season, the Mustangs added a fourth consecutive district title.

“They’re just a good team,” Williamson said. “They work together and they pull for each other. They work tirelessly. They’re out here, even when we don’t have practice. That’s what it takes to be good at this game.”

For Andrews to have success at state, however, it’s going to have to come from improving on their short game.

“Short game’s got to get a little better,” Williamson said. “That’s what we’re going to keep working on this week, see if we can get there.”

Andrews senior Riley Ellison will be among the golfers competing at state this year after going as an alternate last year.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Ellison said. “I’m pretty fired up to go this year.”

Senior Caden Fields is another golfer who’s looking forward to competing next week.

“It feels awesome, especially being a senior with it being my first time to go there and to see the amount of work that this team has put in,” Fields said. “It’s really starting to pay off. It’s a great feeling.”

He also knows that whoever wins state is likely coming from the same region as Andrews and that competing in a tough region has only made the Mustangs more battle-tested.

“We know that whoever wins state is coming out of our region is coming out of our region,” Fields said. “So it’s definitely a confidence-boost to see us go up against what we know are the strongest teams in the state We know we can compete against those teams at the state tournament.”

For Williamson, it’s been hard to pick a standout golfer from this year’s team, saying that the number five golfer could finish first on the team at any tournament.

“They’ve all been our leader in a tournament this year,” Williamson said. “We have Caden Fields and Joe Barnes and Tucker Smith and Michael Huffman and Riley Ellison. They’ve all done really well in different tournaments. That’s what the strength of our team is. Our number five might be our number one that week. We just never know.”