FAYETTEVILLE — Luke Long believes there is such a thing as a hot streak in the game of golf. Anyone who doubts him can look to Long’s own play in the high school boys golf season as proof.
“You look at Tiger Woods, he’s probably the best golfer in the world right now,” Long said. “And when he’s playing well, he usually wins a bunch of tournaments in a row.
“So I do think golfers have hot streaks.”
Long, a sophomore at Fayetteville, spent most of the high school season in an intrasquad battle of friendly competition. With the Bulldogs stacked with a deep and talented roster, Long settled in as Fayetteville’s third-best scoring average golfer heading into the Class 7A state tournament.
But once the state tournament arrived, Long’s game hit another level.
A pair of even par 72’s gave Long a 144 total at the Class 7A tournament at Lost Springs in Rogers, and guided Fayetteville to its first boys state golf title since 2004. But if that wasn’t enough from the young sophomore, a trip the the overall state golf tournament at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock the following week showed he was just getting started.
Against the state’s top competition, Long continued his amazing run with a 1-under par 71 at Pleasant Valley for a three-stroke victory to cap his season with another title in the overall championship.
“I wish I could tell you that I saw it coming, but I didn’t,” Fayetteville golf coach Scott Williams said. “Luke is a great young golfer but he just kind of got on a hot streak.
“Pretty much all year long he was our number three guy behind Mason Adams and Matt Cole. And when I say number three, it was within tenths of a stroke average. And the other guys didn’t play bad at the state tournament. Luke just cranked it up a notch.”
For his efforts, Long has been named the All-NWA Media Boys Golfer of the Year.
“I hit fairways and greens,” Long said of his wins at the 7A state and overall state tournaments. “I kept it in the short grass. That was the key.”
Long played as a freshman for Fayetteville and gained valuable experience, even earning a spot on the roster in the state tournament. But to come out and crush the competition to close out his sophomore year was something few might have seen coming.
Few, of course, except for Long.
“I expect to shoot scores like that,” Long said. “I know I can play that well.”
Williams was most impressed with Long’s ability to handle the pressure with a lead at the state tournament, then follow that up with more pressure of being the 7A champion at the overall tournament.
“Once he saw he could take that number one spot, he kicked it into another gear,” Williams said. “He’s played in a lot of tournaments and he was our No. 5 guy at the state tournament the year before. But he thrived off that position he was in and it raised his game to another level.
“He goes down to the overall tournament against arguably the best of the best. And Pleasant Valley is not an easy golf course, and Luke is just ripping it apart. He’s 1 or 2-under before the turn and by the 12th hole he’s even increasing his lead. That was really impressive.”
Long returns to Fayetteville next season as the defending state champ and a clear ace in the Bulldogs’ stacked deck. But while there might be high expectations next fall to keep up the hot streak displayed at the end of this high school season, Long takes it all in stride.
“I just have to go out and do what I’ve been doing,” Long said. “There’s no more extra pressure. I just have to play my game.”