The sun beats down, the crowd goes silent, junior Ricky Barrett says one last prayer in his head that all his hard work wasn’t wasted. The crowd hears the clank of the of Barrett’s driver against the ball, the ball goes flying, crowd members heads follow it down the green.

He stares anxiously in awe as the others tee off, knowing he has to sink this at par to make it to state. Regardless of the outcome, he feels blessed to have even made it this far.

“My grandpa bought me mini clubs before I could even walk, and that’s when my career began,” said Barrettt.

Barrett played from his childhood up until he was seven, took a break to play baseball for a couple years, but realized he missed the mental aspect of golf.

“Golf is all a mental game, you have to keep your emotions straight,” said Barrett. “Nobody understands that it’s not just putt putt,”

At the end of the day Barrett came out one stroke under the cut off to make it to state, a 79.

This Monday and Tuesday he will be vying for the state title at RIverCut Golf Course in Springfield Missouri, and FHCtoday will keep you up to date the entire time.

On Monday overall, he scored an 82.
“I feel like I did okay, hoping to do tomorrow,” said Barrett.

On Tuesday overall, he scored an 80.
“I did okay, I tripped up on one of the holes, I think I’ll place somewhere in the middle,” said Barrett.