Chase Taylor has played golf long enough to know doing things too quickly doesn’t help his game.
Taylor decided Monday to apply that same thinking to his college decision when he signed a scholarship to play golf at Meridian Community College.
“I have been looking forward to this for years,” Taylor said. “It is finally starting to pay off now.”
Taylor said he set the date to commit to MCC about three weeks ago. He said he liked the schools, the players at MCC, and coach Clinton Hales. He said he developed a relationship with Hales and feels he cares for players as more than just golfers. He plans to use the experience to grow as a players, as a student-athlete, and as a man.
“I can see it leading to me going to a really good school in two years,” Taylor said. “I considered (going to a four-year school). I didn’t feel I was ready to go straight to a four-year college. Going to a junior college is a perfect step.”
Taylor admits his golf game and his academics probably are good enough to have helped him secure a scholarship to a Division I school. But he said he preferred taking a “smaller” step was the better choice because it will ultimately help him to get where he wants to go.
MCC has finished in the top 15 in the nation the past three seasons, including No. 2 last season. Hales is excited to work with a player like Taylor who loves golf. He said two more years of experience will give Taylor a chance to learn so much more that will make his next step to a four-year school even easier. He said his game is “good” right now, but that he wants to improve his putting and all aspects of his game to prepare for his senior season and for his next step at MCC.
As a junior, Taylor led New Hope High to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state title. He also was named All-District and All-State.
Last summer, Taylor qualified for the 64th United States Junior Amateur Championships in Bremerton, Wash. He also finished third at the Mississippi Junior Amateur Championship and made the cut at the Mississippi Men’s Amateur Championship, and has qualified twice for the Optimist International Junior Golf Tournament in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Big I Boys Junior Championship. Both of those events are international tournaments.
“With his tournament experience and his résumé through junior golf, he is a guy we identified early on as a guy we thought would be able to help us,” Hales said. “He should be able to come in right away because we are losing three sophomores.”
Hales said Taylor is one of the best players in the state, so he called his decision to recruit Taylor a “no-brainer.” He said Taylor is a good kid and a good student and that additional two years should help prepare him in other aspects than golf.
New Hope High boys golf coach Drew McBrayer started coaching Taylor in ninth grade. He said Taylor’s dedication to his craft will serve him well at the next level.
“He does a good job focusing on what he needs to get accomplished to go out and be successful,” McBrayer said. “He is a good kid. He comes from a good family and works hard at what he does.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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