Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Freshman phenom Saxon Chastain is just getting started with the LaGrange golf team but is already making a name for himself. He is already the top golfer on the team despite his youth.

He has consistently been the low scorer for the LaGrange golf team and took it to another level at the Granger Shootout, taking home his first tournament victory as an individual.

“That was really fun, and it felt good to get a win under my belt,” Chastain said. “The playoff was fun. It was challenging, but it was a good experience to have.”

It was a special feeling and despite playing in dozens and dozens of tournaments over the years, this was the first time he ever went to a playoff. It was a riveting experience for Chastain and has given him an added boost of confidence. 

Chastain has been around the program since he was in seventh grade. He practiced with the team and got the chance to watch his future teammates and competition battle it. All this has just given him more confidence.

“I have been playing with most of these guys my whole life, so it has been an easy adjustment,” Chastain said. “Not much has changed. We have had a bond since we were little kids playing together.”

There have been a ton of highs for the young Granger, but there have also been some lows. Chastain struggled at the Lowndes Viking Invitational Tournament and was unhappy with his performance. 

“I’d never played the course before, and the greens were super fast and hard to read,” Chastain said. “It happens. We play on a lot of courses I don’t have experience on.”

What has got coach Ben Thrasher and all those involved with LaGrange golf so excited about Chastain is the fact that he is far from a finished product. He is still working to get better off the tee, which he described as his biggest weakness right now. 

On the green is where he can catch up strokes he might have lost off the tee. His short game is bread and butter. It is something he has worked to perfect since he first started playing golf, which he says was around the time he first started to walk. 

“Even when I’m not hitting the ball well I can make up for it with my short game,” Chastain said. “I can get low scores with my play around the greens.”

He played t-ball and other youth sports but that is it as when he turned eight he honed in his abilities at golf. It was an easy decision for a young Chastain, who set aside the bat for good. 

His home course at the country club is practically his second home. He grew up on the greens and now gets to compete against high school golfers there as a Granger.

Chastain enjoys being a part of the Granger team but the individual aspect of golf is always what has stood out for him. He wants the pressure and responsibility entirely on his shoulders. So far, his shoulders have been more than up to the task to carry the burden of being the Grangers no. 1 golfer at such a young age. Chastain already has one tournament victory under his belt, and he is hungry for more over his next three and a half years at LaGrange High.