Paul Laurence Dunbar has a new superstar after junior Will Bishop won the Champions Tour’s Wal-Mart First Tee Open over Labor Day weekend at Pebble Beach, California.
"Will competed at a national level, and proved to himself that he can win," said boys’ golf coach Mr. Seth Young.
"He had to go through a lot of qualifying exams and interviews, as well as a qualifying match, to play. He’s a good student and a good athlete."
Bishop teamed with golf pro David Eger over the course of the weekend to finish 17 under par, and he also placed first by one shot.
The Open was televised nationally, allowing Bishop’s friends and family to watch and cheer him on.
"We saw Will golf on TV," said sophomore Trey Cox, a fellow member of the golf team. "It’s pretty cool when one man on your team gets so far; it’s a real inspiration."
The team is continuing to show support for Bishop, and they hope that he will continue to do well over the rest of his career at PLD.
"Will is our best man, and he still manages to be a humble, friendly kid," said Cox.
The Dunbar boys’ golf team did well last year, taking first place in a highly competitive region, and coming in fourth place at state.
"We’re expecting another good season this year," said junior Parth Parekh, the three man on the team. "We have really good players returning like Will Bishop and [senior] Eric Prince, and I think everyone got a little better this year."
This year has been good to the team, with a fifth place overall team score at the GRC invitational.
Senior Nick Grounds also had a strong personal finish at the Lafayette invitational, as well as at other tournaments.
"We are having a pretty good year," said Mr. Young. "We are in the top four to six competitors in each match, and I think that the trend will continue."
The state tournament began on October 5 and continued through October 7, but Dunbar was absent from the competition.
"We didn’t make it through regionals, but we had a pretty good final tournament," said Parekh.
The team finished fifth in the region, tied with rival GRC high school.
"This was my first regional tournament," said Cox. "The team will do better next year, and so will I."