By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The rain is relentless and the temperature is unseasonably cool, but 15-year-old John McCoy is like a mailman.

Nothing can deter him from his appointed rounds. He’s at the golf course.

“Well, just practicing in the rain, not playing,” explained McCoy. “But I’m out here.”

That determination and dedication helps explain why McCoy is the Post’s Rowan County Golfer of the Year.

The county is blessed with stout high school golfers now.

The tradition of Rowan golf is in good hands. Four schools boasted golfers who could break 80 in their sleep this season, but McCoy was the most consistent from beginning to end. He was the one who was good every time he walked to the tee box, whether it was the county tournament where he shared medalist honors with East Rowan junior Landon Merrell, or the state tournament, where he finished in the top 10 on the grandest and most daunting stage.

McCoy would shoot 38s in the basic nine-hole conference events, but he could pick up his game under pressure and challenge par in the meatier matches that stretched to 18 holes.

“I get butterflies for the big tournaments, like everyone does, but I’ve played in enough tournaments now that I can pretty much control the nerves,” McCoy said. “Even at state, you have to go out and play. You have to treat it like it’s just a normal round of golf.”

Is McCoy the next Nick Lyerly?

You never want to drown a 15-year-old in an ocean of great expectations, but it’s possible, and Lyerly,a 2015 state champion in his days at East Rowan, is about as good as there’s ever been.

“This is a very talented kid,” Salisbury coach Josh Brincefield said. “Most people know that his dad is Christopher McCoy, who was the first individual high school state champion from around here. “So John comes from very good stock and he has a ton of family support, and that’s really helped him. But that being said, he is so good, so young, mostly because of how much he loves the game. He puts in the time and he works on it constantly. He’s out there practicing golf when most kids aren’t.”

Christopher McCoy’s individual state title (70-71 — 141) came in 1995 at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill. That was the same year that Salisbury won its third straight team championship.

McCoy’s earliest golf memories are from age 5, riding on the course with his father. Mostly he watched and learned, but he also was allowed to hit a shot now and then.

“By the time I was 9 or 10, I kind of knew golf would be what I focused on athletically,” McCoy said. “Then I started playing in competitive tournaments, and I loved everything about it.”

McCoy plays regularly at the Country Club of Salisbury and the Revival Golf Course at Crescent, but he’s played on a lot of courses in a lot of places for a 15-year-old. His career best is a 66.

He made a splash this season as a Salisbury freshman, the top gun for a youthful, seven-deep team of freshmen and sophomores that could be a factor in 2A for years to come.

McCoy was the Central Carolina Conference Player of the Year and led the Hornets to the team championship.

“We kind of knew we would win the conference,” Brincefield said. “So the biggest match of the year for us was the Rowan County Championship because that’s where we were going to see some very tough competition from East Rowan. And that’s the way that you want it. You want championships to be tough to win, to really mean something.”

Salisbury shot 306 (top four scores, that’s an average of 76.5) at Crescent to win the county championship by two strokes over East. There was a time when the Hornets always ruled Rowan, but this was the first county crown for the Hornets since 2019.

“The great team success we had made everything more fun for me as an individual,” McCoy said. “We’ve got a lot of good players.”

McCoy and East junior Merrell, a two-time Rowan County Player of the Year and three-time county champ, shared medalist honors in the county event with even-par 72s. To finish deadlocked with Merrell, McCoy had to birdie both No. 17 and No. 18, where he calmly made a lengthy putt of at least 20 feet.

The team scores posted by Salisbury and East were the best in the county tournament since the Mustangs won the event with an even 300 at McCanless in 2018.

There are so many good golfers around the county now,” Brincefield said. “Rowan County golf is a generational thing, a family thing, and a lot of older golfers have taken an interest in all these kids and have helped these young guys be as good as they are. I believe golf is different here than it is most places.”

McCoy kept it rolling with a 73 in the 2A Midwest Regional played on the tricky and unfamiliar Pilot Knob course in Surry County.  Salisbury fought through some major adversity there, including serious injuries to No. 2 player Warren Fesperman. The Hornets placed third and qualified for the 2A State Championships as a team.

Then McCoy shot 73-76 — 149, 5-over, for eighth place individually in the 2A State Championships. He stayed calm on the big stage at Longleaf and was a par machine. He made four birdies. He had one shaky hole, a double bogey, out of 36.

McCoy’s impressive game is built around his drives.

“I usually can hit it pretty far and pretty straight,” he said. “But I know I can get better as far as chipping and putting.”

Brincefield evaluated each of the Hornets after the season and texted them with plans for off-season workouts. He assessed their individual strengths and weaknesses and told them what they needed to focus on as they tried to improve their games.

“When it came to John, it was pretty tough figuring out a weakness,” Brincefield said. “His drives are his strength, everyone agrees on that, but he really does everything well. I guess he could get better on his bunker play, but he’s not going to be in a bunker very often.”

McCoy told Brincefield that he was looking to improve on his long irons over the summer months, was looking to get the ball closer to the pin.

Brincefield got a kick out of that one.

“For most of us who play, if we’re hitting a long iron, we’re just trying to put it on the green somewhere,” said Brincefield, a strong golfer who was half of a championship team in the 2022 Labor Day Four-Ball Tournament. “But John is 15 and he’s thinking about getting it close. That tells you something. He’s a special talent, and he’s got the work ethic to match it.”

•••

By tradition, the All-Rowan County team is determined strictly by finish in the county tournament.

The Post’s Player of the Year is based on the season.

Coaches of the Year

Josh Brincefield, Salisbury and Tinsley Merrell, East. Both coached conference champion teams. Both took teams to the state tournament. East finished fifth, while the Hornets were sixth. Salisbury edged East for county honors.

All-Rowan County

John McCoy, Salisbury —  Rowan County Player of the Year, County co-champion, Central Carolina Conference Player of the Year.

Landon Merrell, East — County co-champion, led East to the SPC championship, shot 2-under 70 for medalist honors in SPC Championships.

Jaden Sprinkle, East — Shot 76 for third place in the Rowan County Championships. Led East in the 3A Midwest Regional with a 73.

Brady McIntyre, East — Shot 77 in the county event. Shot 78-77 — 155 to tie for 20th and lead the Mustangs in the 3A State Championships at Foxfire.

Cade Cranfield, Carson — Shot 77 in the Rowan County Championships and shot 78-79 — 157 in the 3A State Championships.

Tyler Kepley, West — Shot  77 in the county event and was a state qualifier.

Warren Fesperman, Salisbury  — Shot 77 in the Rowan County Championships to tie for 4th. Salisbury missed him in the regional and state events.

Jackson Sparger, Salisbury — Shot 77 in the Rowan County Championships to tie for 4th. All-round athlete juggled golf with baseball this spring.

Drew Aron, Salisbury — Not one of the standard top five for the Hornets, but he came back from a broken wrist to shoot 77 in the county tournament.