POLSON — Last weekend in Shelby, a familiar face topped the podium as Max Milton took home another individual state title.
Milton’s first championship was a walk in the park compared to this year’s, as he was being chased down the entire tournament by last year’s reigning champ.
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“It was really close. I mean, I don't think I was ever comfortable until maybe the last hole,” Milton said. “Like it was really close. It's good to be in those situations, but glad that I came out on top.”
On top of the competition, Milton had more on his mind than his individual performance, given that in his first year he was the only player who qualified for state from his school.
However, this season the rest of his team qualified, intending to take home a team state championship to go with Milton’s individual.
“Playing for your school and everybody with their team stuff, it's a little bit of added pressure,” Milton said. “I would say just because more people are paying attention to this one than anything else, so that was kind of like my mindset. I wanted to win, obviously, and try to give my best my team the best chance they could.”
Although the Pirates fell five strokes short of first place in the tournament, Milton believes his team can use this as something to build on next year.
“We didn’t bring our best, I would say, and so to still be up there and be pretty close, then come home with second was still pretty special even though we didn’t quite get it done," Milton said.
With those expectations on himself, Milton hopes to keep putting himself and his team in high-pressure situations.
“No matter if I would have won or not, it kind of just makes us better,” Milton said. “Like being able to play in the pressure situations and make important shots like that just kind of makes you better as a player.”
