FALL ALL-AREA: Minson named LCR's Golfer of the Year

Lance Minson grew up on a golf course, so the sport came naturally at a young age.

What started out as just some chipping and putting in his free time with his dad at the Country Club of Lake City quickly because a sport Minson took seriously in middle school. He even won a couple of tournaments on the Gainesville Junior Golf Tour in the eighth grade.

“I noticed I was putting up some pretty good scores so I just kept taking it serious,” Minson said.

So seriously that he’s now leaving Columbia as one of the best golfers in school history.

Minson helped the Tigers win the District 2-2A title and led them to a third-place finish in Region 1-2A, good enough to send the team to its first state tournament appearance since 1999. It was there that Minson placed 15th overall to help Columbia finish seventh in Class 2A out of 16 teams.

It ended a stellar season for Minson, who finished with a team-best 36.72 nine-hole average as a senior. His accomplishments are why he’s the Lake City Reporter’s Golfer of the Year.

“One of my main goals was to obviously make it to state,” Minson said. “That was the main goal for me because we were in a new region so I knew that I had a lot better chance of making it to state. And at the beginning of the season I never thought we would’ve made it as a team but we did so well. We started believing we actually had a chance and when it finally rolled around and we made it as a team, that was amazing for us.”

Minson was a model of consistency during his career at Columbia. He was the team’s No. 1 golfer for all four seasons on the course and he finished his senior year by helping the Tigers to a 45-12 record.

Being a team’s No. 1 golfer is no easy feat. It’s even harder when you’re a dual-sport athlete. Minson also had to balance his time with baseball, a sport he’ll play in college at Embry Riddle.

“He set the bar for everybody else to reach,” Columbia coach Shayne Barber said.

Minson entered to state tournament hoping to place at least 20th, but he exceeded expectations in the field of 96 golfers. He shot a 76 in the first round and was tied for 12th just three strokes off the lead.

Then came Day 2 and Minson finished with a nearly identical round, shooting a 77 to fall a few spots on the leaderboard. He was just one stroke away from finishing tied for eighth.

“He played really well,” Barber said. “The course was not set up easy and you had to do a lot of shot shaping. You had to have a bunch of good approach shots and he played really well. He hit some really solid shots. There’s always room to make a couple of putts or to say you could’ve hit a different shot than what you did, but overall I don’t think you can really look back and say there was a shot, in my mind, that I wish he would’ve done a little bit different.”

Minson says he walked away from the state tournament satisfied with his performance. Outside of a couple of double bogeys, he felt he played two solid rounds of golf and showed he belonged amongst the state’s best.

Howey-in-the-Hills is a tough golf course but Minson never allowed the pressure of the moment to get him throughout the two days.

“I knew the course going in was going to be really hard so I knew something around par was probably going to win eventually,” Minson said. “So when I ended up shooting 76 the first day and saw my name right in the middle of contention, I was super pumped about that. I went out there not feeling super nervous and not feeling super pressured and I ended up pretty much shooting the same score with a 77 the second day. 

“That just told me I can definitely hang in there and I can definitely play this sport without being super nervous or anything along those lines, even if I didn’t win the entire tournament. It just told me I can hang with the top players of our state.”

There’s no doubt about that.

ALL-AREA TEAM

Reece Chasteen, Columbia

Had the county’s best nine-hole average for girls (44.92) and placed sixth in District 2-2A (86). The junior went on to finish tied for 26th in Region 1-2A (95).

Ty Folsom, Columbia

Had a 41.38 nine-hole average as a sophomore and was fifth at the District 2-2A Tournament (79) before finishing tied for 38th in Region 1-2A (90). Was tied for 63rd at the Class 2A state tournament (89-83).

Payton Gainey, Columbia

Had a 45.07 nine-hole average as a sophomore and had team-best finishes of fourth in District 2-2A (83) and tied for 21st in Region 1-2A (93).

Spencer McCranie, Columbia

Had a 40.40 nine-hole average as a freshman and was the District 2-2A runner-up (75) before finishing tied for seventh in Region 1-2A (75). Was tied for 48th at the Class 2A state tournament (86-80).

Zach Shaw, Columbia

Had a 42.14 nine-hole average as a sophomore and was tied for ninth at the District 2-2A Tournament (79) before finishing tied for 38th in Region 1-2A (90). Was tied for 59th at the Class 2A state tournament (86-83).