Golf in North Oconee has been thriving for years, coaches explain why

Combined, the North Oconee girls’ and boys’ golf teams have won seven GHSA state championships in the past four years.

In most sports, coaches get a good dose of credit for how their teams and players succeed. There is an equal component, between the coach giving advice and the player following that advice.

But in golf, everything is individual, which means North Oconee coaches Rob Melton and Jackson Huckaby don’t really have much say in how their kids perform on the course. They’re not the kids’ only coaches, since many play year-round in the southern warmth and have swing coaches who are already attuned to their flow.

The fate of the children lies in their own hands.

“First of all, you have to know that this has nothing to do with me,” Melton said.

Melton has been the head coach of North Oconee’s girls golf program for a decade and has won five state championships: one in 2015 and then four from 2021-24.

“There are things we do throughout the year that can only help us succeed, but what I’ve really done to build the program is a combination of a lot of other external factors,” Melton continued. “The first is we’re in a really good area for golf. There’s a lot of great courses and clubs here. The second is the youth programs in the area. One of the guys, his dad, runs a driving range and he has a lot of camps and clinics for kids to attend. … We’re blessed to be where we are.”

By the time the students reach high school and are ready to play for Melton or Huckaby’s rosters, they already know how to play golf. They know what they’re doing, they understand the etiquette and have developed the necessary skills. All they’re doing, Melton said, is creating opportunities for them with North Oconee’s name attached to it. They’re building the competition, the camaraderie and the culture, bridging the gap between the individual and the team aspect.

Huckaby has coached the North Oconee boys for six years, four as an assistant and the last two as head coach. He has won two state titles as an assistant, and this year was his first win as head coach after finishing seven strokes behind Lovett in 2023 for second.

“Yeah, golf is a little different,” Huckaby said. “I don’t really do swing coaching. They all have their own instructors for that. So I’m definitely not coaching them in a way that I’m influencing their swings. I’m more here to give them opportunities to compete. I’m encouraging them and being more of a mental support for the guys.”

Putting together a high school golf roster can be a challenge. Huckaby said they could have had nine varsity players, but only six were on the roster, so there was a lot of rotation when it came to deciding who would play what events and why, just to give everyone the opportunities they deserve.

“It’s really tough because you can have a player that doesn’t make the varsity lineup, but honestly would be the best player two miles away at another school,” Huckaby said. “But the guys have handled it really well. They grow from it and it really pushes them to be better. They know if they don’t get better, they’re going to lose their spot. That kind of competition every day really makes them even better than they would be on their own.”

For some kids, like senior Freddie Chappell, the high school season is the least pressured season he’ll experience this year, Melton said. Chappell, who plans to attend Georgia Southern in the fall, was one of the leaders of the boys’ program this season, always there to cheer on the younger boys, though he led quietly. He was always working. After practice, Huckaby said, Chappell would head to the driving range to hit more balls. Sometimes he’d show up an hour early for practice just so he could have time to focus on himself.

“The younger guys would see that and they would realize that’s what they have to do,” Huckaby said. “They would say, ‘If I want to be as good as Freddie is now, that’s what I have to do.’ That’s just what it takes to be elite, and that’s the culture we’ve had since I took over, that it’s going to cost you anything. Not everybody is willing to do that.”

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Golf in North Oconee has been thriving for years, coaches explain why

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