Sophomore Toby Corriston had the opportunity to advance to states for golfing this year. This was a big deal for Corriston, as he is still a sophomore and this is his first year playing golf for the school. 

“It was pretty awesome [to advance to states], especially as a sophomore. I was happy with my performance and how I got [to that level]. I wish I had done better [at states], but I’m really glad to make it there sophomore year. [How far I made it] also sets the bar high for junior and senior year,” Corriston said. 

Going to states was one of Corriston’s goals for some point in his high school career and now that he made it this year, he hopes to be able to go to states going forward these next few years of highschool. 

“I don’t know if I’d say [going to states] was one of my major goals, like it wasn’t going to be a bad season if I didn’t, but I definitely knew that it was something I wanted to achieve at some point in my high school career, and making it this year was pretty exciting and I hope to make it these next two years,” Corriston said. 

Along with going back to states in the next few years, Corriston also set other goals for himself to help him continue to get better in golfing. 

“Obviously getting back to states is a big goal. I also want to place better next time and play better just in general, but that’s kind of the end point for the season so it’s just getting back there each year and doing better,” Corriston said. 

Corriston didn’t have to do anything different before states, other than continue to go to practice. 

“I wouldn’t say I did anything extra or different, I just had to practice for longer than the regular season, it interfered with baseball a little bit but other than that it wasn’t anything special I just stuck with the normal routine,” Corriston said. 

At the actual states competition, Corriston was pretty happy with the results and how he placed, but still sees room for improvement. 

“States was really fun. I didn’t play very well there, it was a tough course and it also just wasn’t a good day. I believe I came in at 11 over with an 83, so kind of in between somewhere. This year wasn’t very good towards the end of the year, but I’m happy with how I placed at states for how poorly I played,” Corriston said. 

The environment of states and being around other really good golfers was a really exciting atmosphere for Corriston. 

“It was pretty awesome. The atmosphere of knowing that you’re going someplace to compete for your school is pretty awesome. The course was a little bit bigger than here and just having a bunch of other high school students that you’re competing against in a sport is a really exciting atmosphere, and you know that everybody’s trying the hardest and is going to try and beat you and trying to beat some of them as well,” Corriston said.

Going to states, made Corriston’s family and him really proud and knowing that he could achieve that was really amazing for Corriston. 

“My family was pretty excited. Going to regionals is something that was in the back of our minds that we kind of knew I could go to states if I play well. I hadn’t thought of it all the way through and all of a sudden regionals happened, the Tuesday before states, and states was Monday so it was a very abrupt turnaround. That was kind of hectic, but they were really excited. Everybody was pretty proud of me after going to states and even though I didn’t play well, they were all pretty proud of me,” Corriston said. 

Corriston has several areas where he sees he could improve and with more of a normal season, Corriston believes he could have a better season. 

“Obviously playing better the day of states, I definitely hope to improve next year. I could beforehand get out to the course, just to see it and understand the course because that’s always really helpful when you go to golf to understand the course and know how you want to play it beforehand. [Overall], I don’t think I would really change anything from what I did this year, other than just play better,” Corriston said. 

With all the improvements, Corriston believes he did many things well, especially being a sophomore and never going to states or playing golf for the school before. 

“I felt like I stayed calm under pressure. Playing well in the golf season means you’re playing with a lot of other really good golfers, and that can sometimes be tough, especially since we have a really strong district, so staying calm and not getting too worried about [other] people [also competing],” Corriston said. 

For next golf season, having a normal season, not affected by COVID-19 is something Corriston is most excited about. 

“I’m really excited to have warmer weather for the golf season next year, because some parts of it were really cold, but just knowing how the season works, and knowing how high school golf works because this was my first year, and it, it kind of started and ended very abruptly so going into it next year, having a good idea of what [it will be like] will be nice,” Corriston said. 

Playing in March, because the sports seasons have been moved around due to COVID-19, was one of the hardest parts for Corriston, and being able to have a normal season is something he looks forward to. 

“The hardest part was the cold days playing golf in March, which was kind of tough. We definitely had some fun practices. We had a great group of guys but it was also hard to stay in the mindset of golfing when it was snowing outside because I think we had three practices where we were playing in the snow, so that was always tough,” Corriston said. 

Along with practicing for golf, Corriston’s baseball season just started which interfered with some of his practicing for states. 

“[Managing baseball and golf] hasn’t been too hard so far, because I can golf whenever I want. Baseball practice is at a set time and it’s at three so generally I would go to school, go golfing and then head straight to baseball, so that wasn’t too bad. And then the coaches were great, so I could miss practice a couple times when I needed to,” Corriston said. 

A normal day, the week of states for Corriston was busy, as he had golf practice, baseball practice and helped coach the middle school cross country team at Thomas Harrison Middle School. 

“A couple of days were school, golf and play nine holes. Then, head right over to baseball. Golf was from one to three and then baseball was from three to five. It only happened for one week so it wasn’t too bad, but then I also had a couple of days where I was helping coach middle school cross country. I would go school, head over to cross country, go to baseball and then play golf. So [definitely] some busy days in the week leading up to [states],” Corriston said. 

Preparing for states and making it to states was a lot of work and required a lot of dedication from Corriston to practice and refine his skills. His golf coach, Coach Sorber, really helped him achieve this.

“We had an interesting season this year, and Coach Sorber made it feel pretty normal and is just really encouraging and didn’t let me get so down on myself like I would sometimes,” Corriston said.