After the first tee shot at state, Anthony Russell felt good.

The North Callaway sophomore made his first state appearance in the Class 2 state tournament on May 19-20 at Sedalia Country Club and finished 13th to become North Callaway’s first all-state golfer. Russell shot a 163, or 19-over par, to finish in the top 15 to win a medal.

Russell’s first impressions of the course and state atmosphere was that it was “fun.” That doesn’t mean there weren’t any nerves, but he said those subsided when he started playing.

“The first day, we had a couple rain delays, which is always kind of nerve-racking,” Russell said. “Once I got that first tee shot out the way, I was feeling pretty good.”

Russell said baseball was his primary sport until a couple years ago. He started golfing at 7- or 8-years-old at his local country club with his family and ramped up his golfing in competitive tournaments when was 11- or 12-years-old.

When Russell is asked why he likes golf, he said overcoming those difficult stretches that frequently happen in golf is a reason he enjoys the sport.

“I really started to like playing golf,” Russell said. “It is fun.”

Russell recalls having a good day at districts by shooting an 80, or eight-over par, at Norwoods in Hannibal to finish ninth in a field that produced nine of 15 state medalists and top two teams at state — Palmyra and South Shelby. He said he played better through adversity this time to usually finish with a good round.

Head coach Jason Smith, who started the golf program in 2007 and coached for a decade before returning last year, said Russell had the ability and track record to play at state. He only missed qualifying last season by six strokes, after all, and then senior Tyler Huddleston missed by one stroke. There were no Thunderbirds at state last year, but Smith knew that would change this year.

“I knew he was going to take his lessons from last season and put them into practice this season,” Smith said. “Naturally, because he works on his game, he was going to be a little bit better at some little things, which is all he really needed to be a state qualifier.”

Smith said Russell has always been able to limit “unnecessary mistakes” like penalty strokes or having small mistakes turn into big ones, such is the case with putting. Russell didn’t need many putting attempts a lot of the time, and Smith said he was putting the ball more 30-40 feet close to the hole on the second day.

While Russell doesn’t make a big deal of the state atmosphere, Smith said it is impressive how Russell performed considering the larger numbers of people who flock around the course. Even if all eyes aren’t necessarily on one golfer, it definitely looks like a bigger deal.

“He played a really steady round the second day,” Smith said. “He played the same ball the whole round. He was in and around the fairway almost all day long. Around the greens was the difference.”

This factored in Russell’s better second day that secured him a medal. After the first day, he shot an 85 to sit in a tie for 35th but shot up the leaderboard with a 78, or six-over par, the next day. 

“The second day, my short game was quite a bit better,” Russell said. “I had eight less putts. That’s eight less shots right there, and that was about the difference between the two days.” 

Russell said he was more comfortable with the Sedalia course greens on the second day. He only needed two putts on birdie attempts and even had a crucial birdie on a par 5 that put him in 10th place. 

Smith said he is glad to have Russell in the program another two years because “the sky’s the limit.” It means even more to have him return with the program’s first state medal in what he called “a proud moment” for him, Russell and all the boys that came before Russell.

“Golf speaks to his nature and his attention to detail with things,” Smith said. “It comes out with his schooling, too. He’s a very good student as well. That thinking game and long game of you have to be thinking one shot ahead, it speaks to him.”

Russell said he was surprised he was the first North Callaway all-state golfer because of the talent that walked the halls before him. The most recent Thunderbird that came close to medaling, for example, was Andrew Crum in 2022 when he was shy by three strokes.

Through whatever rough stretches await him, Russell is going to do his best to be a state medalist again.

“Everything all-around could be better,” Russell said. “I need to make sure I work hard this offseason to get better every day and be a lot better next year.”