Spain Park’s Chase Kyes’ two-day 9-under par 135 was the best of all six divisions in the state tournament. Kyes’, left, credits Chip Thomas, right, his coach at Blackburn Golf Academy at Greystone, for helping him develop his game.By Rubin E. Grant
Chase Kyes had designs on winning an individual state golf title in each of his four years at Spain Park High School.
“I thought it would be cool,” Kyes said.
But Kyes’ hopes were dashed in 2022 during his freshman year when he finished second in the Class 7A field, three strokes behind Jack Mitchell of James Clemens.
The two dueled again two weeks ago at the 74th AHSAA State Golf Championships at the RTJ Grand National Golf Course in Opelika.
This time, Kyes came out on top. The Spain Park sophomore trailed Mitchell by a stroke after the first day of the tournament, but he followed up his first day 3-under-par 69 with a blistering 6-under 66 to capture the low medalist honors in Class 7A.
Kyes’ two-day 9-under par 135 was the best of all six divisions in the state tournament. Mitchell carded a 71 on the second day to finish with a five-under 139, four shots behind Kyes.
“Last year I lost, and I couldn’t let that happen again,” Kyes said.
Kyes figured the best way to win was to stick to his game plan.
“It was really all about putting the ball in the right spot and not actually letting the ball just fly,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of marsh and bunkers on the course, so it was important to land the ball in the fairway and then attack the pin to give myself the best shot.”
Kyes has been playing for the Jaguars since he was in the seventh grade. He won the first high school tournament he ever played in that year, beating older players, a few who wound up at Alabama and Auburn.
“He’s been our No. 1 since then,” Spain Park golf coach Keat Litton said. “He’s obviously very talented. He hits every shot and he has a very good short game.
“He’s always working on his game. He’s a competitor. Every time he goes out on the course, he expects to win.”
Finding His Love of Golf
Kyes began playing golf when he was 11. He initially was a baseball player, following in the footsteps of his dad, Ryan Kyes, a 2001 baseball All-American at Ohio University.
“I enjoyed baseball,” Chase Kyes said, “but I got burned out because I was playing it so much. I started playing golf just for fun and then fell in love with it. I like that it’s one-on-one with me versus you instead of a team aspect, and it’s win or lose. You’re also playing against the course and you’re playing against yourself, trying to do better than you did your last time out there.”
His family lives near Greystone Golf and Country Club, so Kyes works tirelessly on his game.
He credits Chip Thomas, his coach at Blackburn Golf Academy at Greystone, for helping him develop his game. “Chip’s a great coach,” Kyes said.
Kyes was listed as the 78th-best golfer in the Rolex American Junior Golf Association Rankings. This summer he plans to compete in a number of tournaments while attempting to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship and U.S. Amateur Championship. He said he wants to win the USJAGC so his name can be up there with the likes of Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.
“I try to model my game after Tiger, just because of his competitiveness,” Kyes said. “I don’t think that there’s a lot of people that have the competitive drive that I have.”
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