Coale to play golf at Mo. Southern State

Ever since he burst onto the scene as one of the top high school golfers in Northwest Arkansas, Brandon Coale has known he would have a chance to play golf in college.

The only question was where?

Coale, an All-State golfer for Siloam Springs, provided the answer to that question on Thursday of last week when he signed a letter of intent with Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo.

"I went up for my official visit and fell in love with the campus," Coale said. "My aunt works there. I've got cousins and everything like that are alumni and graduated from there. I've been told that it was a great campus. After I played with the team and got along with them really well, I just knew that this was the place for me. It was almost like a second home."

Coale led the Siloam Springs boys golf team in scoring in each of his four years on the varsity team. As a senior, Coale helped lead the Panthers to a third place finish at the Class 6A State Boys Golf Tournament held at Jonesboro Country Club in October.

He's currently shooting an 18-hole average of around 73-74, but would like to drop that mark below 70.

At Missouri Southern State he'll definitely get his opportunity.

Before college matches, there will be qualifying rounds among his team to determine who gets to play in matches. The top scores will be the ones that get to compete, he said.

"It's never going to be a favorites thing because numbers don't lie," he said, "and I've got to perform if I want to play."

Coale said he played Eagle Creek Golf Club in Joplin with the team on his visit.

"I had never played it," he said. "There's a couple of others on the schedule that I've never played before. Some of them are going to be a little new for me."

For Siloam Springs it's the fourth golfer in recent years to sign a letter of intent to play in college along with Jake Onnen and girls golfers Emery Rakestraw and Shelby Crawley.

"I was just telling somebody this is starting to become a yearly tradition that we hope to continue," said Siloam Springs golf coach Michael Robertson. "All of the kids that have signed recently all had the same character traits -- High character, great work ethic and that's really why they kind of got to where they were."

Robertson said Coale is going to continue to improve as a golfer.

"I don't think there's any doubt about that," Robertson said. "He's finally grown into his body, and I can't imagine what he's going to look like as a man and as a golfer in two to three years."