PREP GOLF: Lee-Scott’s Garner signs with Troy

With his senior football season at Lee-Scott ending in a 17-13 loss to Bessemer in the first round of the AISA playoffs last week, Will Garner is free to hit the links.

But Garner won’t be on vacation. He’ll be continuing to hone his skills so he’s ready to step in and contribute at Troy next year, after signing a letter of intent to join the Trojans’ golf team Thursday.

“I’ve been waiting for this day a long time,” Garner said. “Now that I know it’s over, I can take a deep breath and relax and know that I’ve got it done.

“The plans are set.”

Garner said Troy wasn’t one of his top choices when he started the recruiting process, listing Auburn and Memphis as his early favorites.

But the Warriors’ golfer soured a little on Auburn when former coach Mike Griffin stepped down in May, and the Trojans staff offered him on Sept. 18, the night Lee-Scott scored a 14-0 win over Morgan Academy in football.

It was over with one campus visit.

“I really liked the coach, the team, I knew several of the guys on the team when I went down there. I had played with them before,” Garner said. “I liked it when I went down there, and I didn’t feel like I needed to look around anywhere else.”

Garner will join former Auburn High golfers Taylor Beebe and Alex Barnes at Troy next year.

The senior was part of a trifecta of Lee-Scott teams that won state titles in 2006, ’07 and ’08 before finishing runner-up to Pike Liberal Arts last year.

Leaving Garner with a little unfinished business before he leaves Auburn.

“We just didn’t play well,” Garner said. “Everybody on our team knows we can beat Pike. We’ve done it before. We definitely have the motivation to come back this year and put it to them.”

Two of the Warriors’ seniors from last season — Matthew McLeod (Faulkner) and Austin Murphey (Montevallo) — signed on to continue golfing in college.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Garner was also the Warriors’ star running back for the past two seasons, running for more than 2,000 yards over that span while also being one of their leading tacklers at linebacker as a senior.

And while Garner is not quite over the disappointment of Lee-Scott’s early exit yet, he said he was still a little grateful for some extra time to work on that short game.

“I wish I was still playing football right now,” Garner said. “But it’s kind of nice knowing that now that football’s over with, I can get concentrated on golf, and I got nothing else that’s gonna be in the way.

“I’ll just get ready to go down to Troy and hopefully get to play when I get down there.”

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