Boys golf: Freshman Justin Myers’ preseason ace a good omen for a promising Monarch team

Justin Myers’ prep golf career at Monarch is off to an auspicious start.

The freshman hasn’t even played a varsity match yet, and likely won’t do so this fall, but he accomplished something on Tuesday that few golfers ever get to experience ­– a hole-in-one.

During a practice round at Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville, Myers casually approached the par-3 fourth hole. The sign read 149 yards but with the pin placed near the back of the green, Myers judged the distance to the hole to be more in the 153-156 range. Either way, Myers admittedly wasn’t overly concerned about the practice shot’s outcome.

He certainly wasn’t expecting what happened next.

“I wasn’t having a good three-hole start, so I had decided to just have a chill round and have a good time with my friends,” Myers recounted. “So when I got to the fourth hole, I wasn’t thinking about going at the hole at all. My friends were just standing around talking, so I thought I would just go ahead and hit. When I hit, I thought at first it would go long. But when I saw it land on the front of the green, I started thinking it might actually have a chance. So, I said to my friends, ‘Uh, guys.’

“Then we all watched it go in and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ Everyone went crazy. That was probably one of the coolest moments of my life.”

Myers’ family is a golf family with a history at Monarch High School. His eldest brother, Grant Myers, is currently studying in the PGA Golf Management Program at Mississippi State University. The middle Myers brother, Garrett Myers, is currently the senior captain for the Coyotes golf team.

But Justin Myers, who has been playing golf as long as he can remember, is the first in his family with an ace to his name. Justin Myers’ shot on Coal Creek’s No. 4 is also the first hole-in-one Monarch coach Geoff Findley has ever seen from one of his charges in 10 years with the program.

“As long as I’ve been at the school, and I’ve watched a lot of golf between boys and girls, I’ve never seen a hole-in-one,” Findley said.

With more than a half dozen golfers on his roster capable of shooting in the 70s, Findley has a lot of confidence in his team heading into the 2021 campaign. Varsity players like Caleb Michaels, Jackson Harberts, Ian Henderson and Talan Gover are all likely to perform well at this fall’s state championships.

Then there’s Justin Myers, who likely won’t be able to crack the Coyotes’ deep varsity lineup as a freshman. But if sub-80s is the standard on the Monarch boys golf varsity team, and it appears that it is, then having ninth-graders holing out from the tee box in preseason rounds certainly bodes well for the program’s future.

On a personal level, Myers hopes Tuesday’s miracle shot is a good omen for what’s to come in his high school career.

“Hopefully, that’s not the last one,” Myers said.