The 2024 4A state champion Bridgeport boys golf team, consisting of Colten Paradise, Brady Mann, Zach Kehoe, Collin Moody, Casen Lanfear and Aiden Green, will compete at the PGA National High School Invitational July 1-3 at Frisco’s Omni PGA Resort. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
Following their run to claim the program’s first state title, the Bridgeport Bulls will now compete against a field of the best young golfers in the country.
Bridgeport’s Aiden Green, Zach Kehoe, Casen Lanfear, Brady Mann, Collin Moody and Colten Paradise will tee off the Professional Golf Association (PGA) National High School Invitational July 1-3 at the Omni PGA Resort in Frisco.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity to go and compete,” Bridgeport coach Alan Green said. “It really didn’t come as a surprise for us. I feel like from a scores standpoint, we can compete with those at the higher levels of high school golf.”
According to the tournament roster on PGA’s website, the Bridgeport squad is one of 10 Texas high school golf programs represented in the tournament, along with reigning 6A and 3A state champions Lake Travis and Lubbock-Cooper Liberty, Wimberley, John Paul II (New Braunfels), Dallas Covenant, Dallas Home School Athletic Association (HSAA), Fort Worth Christian Life, Geneva School of Boerne and Tomball Rosehill Christian.
“With it being hosted in Texas, the state is going to be well represented,” Alan Green said. “To be selected, you have to go through an application process, and then a committee selected which state champions would be included in the tournament… One of my good friends — Coach Randy Romines at Callisburg — played at it last year, and he told me about the experience they had. So when we won state, one of the first things we did was try to reach out and do what we needed to do to get into this tournament.”
The coach believes the experience of playing at a highly-renowned facility against tough competition will be a benefit to his program and players.
“Our expectation is to go there, compete and do our best,” he said. “We’re viewing the opportunity to play in this tournament as a reward for the state championship. Getting to play and stay at the Omni Resort is going to be the experience of a lifetime for us. I know it’s in our backyard a little bit, but the PGA headquarters is the epicenter of it — it’s a brand new facility. They’re going to host a PGA championship and Ryder Cup out there, and have already hosted a senior event. In the future, the golf world is going to hear and know more about Field Ranch Golf Course and PGA Frisco.”
In the Bulls’ second 4A state tournament appearance April 29-30, the Bulls finished 13-over-par and carded a two-day team score of 589 (291-298) to clinch the team’s first state title at Legends Golf Course in Kingsland.
The Bulls outswung runner-up Wimberley (607) by 18 strokes to claim Bridgeport High School’s first state golf title since the Sissies won the 2002 3A tournament. Andrews took the team bronze with 611 — two strokes ahead of fourth-place Bullard.
The state golf title was Alan Green’s second overall at Bridgeport. He led the Bulls (33-4) to a 4A boys basketball title in the program’s lone state championship appearance.
“When I think about [the state title], I just smile and think about how proud I am of these boys,” he said. “Nobody in 4A works harder than they do, and it’s awesome to see them reap the rewards. This team has a lot of individual talent, and they understand that it just doesn’t happen — they know they have to work for what they get. Looking back at it, one of the things I’ll always take away from it is seeing all of their hard work pay off.”
Kehoe (144) led the team in the second round with 70, finishing at even par to claim the silver medal behind Wimberley’s Jaxon Donaldson (68-68-136).
Mann shot a two-day 145 (72-73), tying for third place with Beeville’s Deacon Bauerschlag (74-71), Davenport’s Kyle Doolittle (73-72), Fredericksburg’s Shepherd Findley (75-70), Monahans’ Konner Iglehart (68-77) and Kingsville King’s Noeh Resendez (71-74).
Moody (77-73 — 150) tied for 14th with Livingston’s Brayden Akers (72-78), and Mabank’s Gunnar McGilvra (79-71).
Leading the Bulls in the first round with 71, Aiden Green — the coach’s son — shot a second-round 83 and tied for 26th (154) with Wimberley’s Hollis Eckols and Livingston’s Brandon Munson.
Paradise (74-82 —156) finished in a five-way tie for 32nd with Bullard’s Matthew Elliott (80-76), Livingston’s Jackson New (156), Mabank’s Lawson Shackelford (80-76) and Andrews’ Tucker Smith (74-82).
Lanfear served as the Bulls’ alternate golfer for the 2023-24 campaign.
With the team’s entire roster returning to the links next season, Alan Green expects the Bulls to use their experience gained during the offseason to continue to grow.
“All of these guys have had a full schedule this summer, so they’re going to come back as different people and golfers,” he said. “The big thing for us is to keep making sure we’re getting better each day. It’s really easy for us to just sit down and think about the future — and the future is coming — but we’ve got to make sure we take care of business and be the best that we can be today. Our region just got a lot tougher with [Lubbock-Cooper] Liberty and Brock moving up, so we know it’s going to be a challenge. We’ll see where the cards fall when the spring gets here.”
