By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — In roughly a month, Colin Phelps will have completed his time as a Pioneer. In less than six months, he will become a Falcon.
There was undoubtedly a point in the Watauga High School senior’s young life that he dreamed of going to college on a baseball or football scholarship. A football injury sidelined those ambitions but it turns out that he is still going to be “playing at the next level” — as a college golfer. He signed a commitment letter to Pfeiffer University on April 6, in an after-school ceremony with friends, teammates, coaches and family members looking on.
Life takes many twists and turns — differently for different people. The injuries, plus the impact of COVID-19 and all served to help Phelps take golf seriously.
“I played golf off and on when I was younger, but not competitively,” Phelps told High Country Sports after his signing ceremony. “Competitively, just the last two and a half years.”
Serving as emcee of the signing ceremony, Watauga head coach Klay Anderson recalled Phelps’ journey to golf for the estimated 50 fellow students, teammates, coaches and family members in attendance.
“When I met Colin, he and his family (father Jason Phelps is on the Health and PE faculty at Watauga and he serves as an assistant football coach) had just moved back here. I think Colin was in the 7th grade when he came up to me and asked if they could go play golf at Boone Golf Club sometime. He rode around with Jason and me after a football practice (both men were assistant coaches), asking questions. He didn’t know what club to hit, which one to pull out of the bag. He was just learning the game and hit it around a little bit that day but here, four or five years later, he is going to college on a golf scholarship.”
Anderson affirmed Phelps’ style of play.
“If you have never seen Colin hit a golf ball, from where he came not knowing what club to hit, well now the old school ‘grip it and rip it’ mentality applies to him,” said Anderson. “It is his nature and I mean that in a very complimentary way.”
Talking more about Phelps’ golf journey, Anderson was quick to add, “Colin is an old school baseball guy and didn’t want to play golf until his sophomore year. Then COVID-19 hit and football got moved to the spring. Because football was going at the same time as golf, he got to play just in the very last golf match his sophomore year.
“Then, as many of us in this room know,” continued Anderson, “he dealt with some football injuries his junior year and those kept him out of the entire golf season last year. So he had to get recognition in golf by going out and playing on the junior circuit around North Carolina, last spring, summer and fall…”
For Anderson, Phelps’ burgeoning success in golf has some personal significance.
“This year, Colin played No. 1 for us and we hope his successful seasons continue… I am really proud of him. This is a big deal for me, too. I have been coaching here for a long time. When I was the women’s basketball coach, we had some athletes go on to play at some smaller level schools, but it wasn’t as big a deal as it is now. This is my first time getting to see one of my own players have this signing ceremony to celebrate their accomplishments and development. I look around at my golf team members here in the room and I hope this is the first of a string of these signings. I hope we have a number of golfers wanting to sign (in the years to come) and go on and play at the next level.”
Jason Phelps, Colin’s father, was very appreciative of everyone in the room who came out to support Colin in his signature event, as well as all of the teachers, coaches and friends who supported him and his family.
“I have been to a lot of these signings as a coach,” said Jason Phelps, who is also an assistant golf coach, “but I have never had MY son do this before. So this is different. It is special for me and our family. I am here today more as ‘Dad’ than I am as a coach. I am very proud of him. I love him and looking forward to his going to the next level and doing the best he can. I’ve told him that it doesn’t matter what you do, you need to enjoy it. It needs to be something you have a passion for. if you do that you will never work a day in your life.”
Phelps admits that a “grip it and rip it” mindset suits him, even while acknowledging the old line, “Drive for show and putt for dough.” His favorite club is his driver, which he says he hits about 350 yards, consistently pretty straight. His putting is an area that still needs a lot of work, he said.
In choosing to attend Pfeiffer, Phelps credits several friends who went there, including his former baseball coach, Ethan Greene.
“Coach Greene played baseball at Pfeiffer,” said Phelps about his introduction to the school. “I didn’t want to play for a big school because I want to have fun playing golf and I didn’t like the big school pressure. Pfeiffer is a great fit for me, especially for my education. I just love it. It is also close to Boone and my family.”
Among everything else, Phelps finds golf relaxing.
“I just enjoy it, being out in nature, walking in the green grass,” he said.
For Watauga’s golf program under Anderson, Phelps receiving a golf scholarship to attend college could light a few fires among his younger Pioneer teammates.
“We have a bunch of young guys on the team, so being that kind of foundation leader for them… I hope they see it and hope they can run with it,” Phelps said. “We have a lot of young talent. They want to get better. I don’t know how many are interested in playing at the next level but I hope this encourages them, that they can do anything they want and to never give up.”
Already in his young career, Phelps counts the historic Pinehurst courses as among his favorite.
“I have played two Pinehurst courses,” he said. “Man, I love it down there. I would love to play Augusta some day.”
Not surprisingly, perhaps, Phelps’ current favorite player on the professional circuit just happens to be one of the game’s hottest names, Scottie Scheffler, who is No. 2 currently in the FedEx Cup standings, behind Spain’s Jon Rahm. Rahm won the Masters over the weekend, while Scheffler, the defending champ of the event, finished in a tie for No. 10.
Although he is a bit too young to have personally witnessed Tiger Woods’ impact on the golf world, the significance of what Woods brought to the game in helping broaden the appeal — and attract even more dollars to the sport — is not lost on Phelps.
In describing Pfeiffer University, Phelps said, “It is not very big and pretty quiet. The people there are so cool. They are pretty laid back and the campus is about five minutes from one of my favorite places, Badin Lake. And the head golf coach, Chris Jones, is a really gool guy. He wants to build the program, but is all about the team. Playing football here at Watauga, Coach Habich developed a culture. We have brothers, not just teammates. I am really excited about being part of a program with similar values.”
Although Phelps has been the No. 1 player on Watauga’s team, he acknowledged that, as the NCAA marketing tagline suggests, most college student-athletes “go pro” in something other than sports. And yet, he is still uncertain where his career path will take him except, “it probably will have something to do with sports.”
Now with 20-plus student athletes participating on the golf team, Watauga’s high school program is enjoying a resurgence.
“Coach (Klay) Anderson is certainly a big part of it,” said Phelps. “He is a great coach. And the middle school golf program is helping, too. A lot of guys started looking at it and started playing. I think a lot of younger guys started playing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of my friends came out this year and started playing just because we enjoyed being together.”
Phelps explained that 45 student-athletes came out for the golf team this year, competing for the 19 spots on the official team.
“We have one varsity team,” said Phelps, “but we have a practice team and a travel team. There are eight or nine guys on the travel team and the guys on the practice team have a chance to make it onto the travel team.”
With Boone Golf Club closed for the winter and early spring, most of Phelps’ and the Pioneer team’s time on a course right now is at Lenoir Golf Club, Cedar Rock Country Club (Lenoir), Oakwoods Country Club (Wilkesboro), Mountain Aire (Ashe County) and Brushy Mountain Golf Club (Taylorsville).
