A year ago this spring, a group of parents from Straughn’s middle and high schools got together and thought it would be a good idea to form a golf team.

On March 15, that idea will become a reality when Straughn competes in its first ever golf match against Andalusia at the Andalusia Country Club.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Straughn coach Scott Kinsaul said about the first ever match. “Enterprise and Elba will be there. It will be a new experience for me, and a new experience for our players, too.”

Straughn’s golf team is comprised of one senior, one sophomore, three eighth graders and two seventh graders.

“Obviously, it’s a young team,” Kinsaul said. “We had our first practice (Wednesday) and I watched them all hit balls and they all looked good hitting them.

“It’s just going to be a matter of gaining experience and playing,” he said.

The Tigers are currently practicing at the Lurleen B. Wallace Community College golf course and Kinsaul said he is grateful to the City of Andalusia for allowing them to use the course.

“They were gracious enough to let us use their facilities,” he said.

Kinsaul said he decided to become the golf coach because the parents came to him with the idea.

“I told them we’d see what we could do,” he said. “I asked Mr. (Shannon) Driver, our high school principal, and Mrs. (Cassandra) Scott, our middle school principal, and she didn’t mind. So, that’s how it all started basically.”

Straughn is in Class 3A, Section 1 with Bayside Academy, Beulah Cottage Hill, Daleville, Headland, L.A.M.P., Montgomery Academy, Slocomb and Trinity.

This season, Straughn will not host any tournaments. After March 15, the Tigers will travel to play Elba on Thurs., March 18; Enterprise on Tues., March 23; Troy on Thurs., March 25; Andalusia on Mon., April 5; Elba on Tues., April 6; and Dothan on Thurs., April 22.

Having such a young team, Kinsaul said the focus this season is just gaining experience on the golf course.

Does the new Straughn golf team have any goals this season?

“Our goal is just to go out there and play our best every time we go out and see what happens,” Kinsaul said. “Obviously, we would like to qualify for sectionals. We’ll just have to see where that lands us.”