You don’t get good at golf without spending hours and hours of time practicing. And for some of us, all the practice in the world doesn’t help.

The Loyd Star golf program has a dedicated group of Hornets who put lots of time on the links, working on their respective games.

On Tuesday, Loyd Star again showed that they’re a MHSAA small-school golf powerhouse. The Hornets shot a 659 two-day total at Starkville Country Club to win the Class I State Championship, the third state title for a program that also won championships in 2021 and 2022. The Hornets were also runners-up in 2023, a year when the state association put on two state championships, one in the old traditional time of year, in the spring, and in this new cycle of playing golf in the fall, losing by one stroke in one of those tournaments and four strokes in the other.

This time the championship was a 10-stroke win over Eupora High. Freshman Jackson Knight of Eupora was the low man of the tournament, shooting a 72 in round one and a 74 in round two to finish with a 146, one shot better than sophomore Eli Edmonson of Vardaman.

Junior Brody Thibodeaux led the charge for the Hornets, finishing with 74 and 76 to card a 150. Every stroke mattered for Thibodeaux as his third-place finish came with one golfer just a stroke behind him and another one two strokes back.

The fifth placed finisher that was two strokes back was Thibodeaux’s teammate, junior Riley Case. Case shot 74 and 78 for 152.

“We’ve got some dedicated guys,” said first year head coach Jonathan Breakfield. “Brody plays soccer and Riley pitches for the baseball team, but they’re both really committed to golf. They play so many rounds throughout the year because they really love the game.”

Next on the leaderboard for the Hornets was sophomore Phillip Ross Spencer with 179 after shooting 88 and 91. Spencer also quarterbacks the Region 7-2A champion Hornet football team, which beat Franklin County on Thursday.

Freshman Brooklyn Lee shot an 87 on day one and then followed it with a 94 on the second day to card a 181, which had him tied for 27th. 

Junior Casen Easterling finished in 29th place with 182 and senior Kayne Case shot 186 to finish 35th in a field of 78 golfers for the Hornets.

Sophomore Sherman Hyer of West Lincoln was another local golfer in the event. He finished tied for 38th with a 187

“We’ve got a deep team, and you only get to start six players with the top five being scored,” said Breakfield. “We’ve had some times this season where those third, fourth, and fifth placed guys have helped carry a big load. Kayne is our only senior and he played well in his last tournament for us. We’re excited for the future, for both of our teams. Our girls’ team had a great season too.”

Last week, Kaylin Hester finished second overall in the girls’ state tournament for the Hornets while the team finished in fourth place overall for Class I.

Loyd Star has a reputation for small school golf excellence that they now carry with them yearly at the state competition after finishing first or second over the last five years.

“Chris and Lydia King really built something great with this golf program and I’ve just tried to come in and uphold that success,” said Breakfield. “What makes it easy is how awesome the kids are. I could seriously go on and on about how refreshing it is to be around young people with their character. They have great chemistry and enjoy competing together.”