Stick and Ball: Brooks Finishes Off Anniston City Championship Victory in Grand Fashion

By Joe Medley

It’s not every weekend that Alexandria 11-under all-star Anderson Brooks gets to watch his father and head coach play golf. Often, it’s the other way around.

The younger Brooks said he and his dad don’t play golf together often, but he and his dad have at least this much in common … they’re both really good at sports that involve hitting a ball with a stick.

With his family watching from the gallery, Andrew Brooks sank a 25-foot putt on No. 18 Sunday to finish off a five-stroke victory in the Anniston City Championship.

The elder Brooks shot 7-under 137 (69-68) for the two-day event at Cane Creek to score his second Calhoun County Golf Tour points victory in the past five tournaments, including last year’s county championship.

He fended off consistent contender Kevin Daugherty, who closed to within a shot when Brooks bogeyed No. 13. Daugherty shot 71-71— 142 to take second place.

Brooks and Daugherty were the only players in the field to shoot under par both days.

While explaining his bookend successes at the end of the 2022 county tour and fourth event of the 2023 tour, Brooks looked at his son.

“The more you put yourself in these situations, the more you’re prepared for them,” Brooks said. “It’s like I tell him with baseball. It’s all about reps. It’s all about doing the same thing over and over again the right way.

“There’s good reps, and there’s bad reps. It’s all about doing the same thing the right way over and over again, and you can get better.”

Andrew Brooks typically skips the Anniston City Championship because it tends to fall on weekends when his son plays. The Alexandria 11-under all-stars didn’t play this weekend, so Andrew got to play.

He shared the first-round lead with Gary Wigington, and the Brooks family — wife Leigh, 13-year-old daughter Jaycee and Anderson — came to see the finish. Andrew Brooks saw them in the distance on No. 18, his son wearing an orange Alexandria all-stars shirt and black-and-orange cap.

“I really wasn’t expecting it,” Andrew Brooks said. “When I came up, I didn’t even realize from the fairway that they were here. When I was running for my third shot, I saw them over there. It’s always cool, just to see them come out and support me.”

Anderson Brooks called seeing his dad win a tournament “pretty cool.”

They’ve shared quite a few pretty cool weekends on a baseball diamond. The Alexandria All-Stars won USSSA state and World Series titles in 2022. They were state runner up this year and qualified for the World Series, with opening ceremonies set for July 12 at Gulf Port, Miss.

“I hope we can do like we did last year,” Anderson said.

Anderson plays center field, first base or pitcher. He plays a little left field, as well.

“He’s a good baseball player,” Andrew said. “We’ve got a really good group that’s been playing together since they were 5 years old, a bunch of really good baseball players.

“Sometimes, we don’t let them really believe how good they are, because we want them to keep driving to be better.”

When Andrew Brooks hit the 25-foot putt to finish, with his family watching from the side? Pure zen.

“Honestly, I was just trying to lag it down there,” he said. “I wanted to lag it down there to make the tap-in easy, and it happened to go in.

“It’s a pretty cool way to end the round.”

Daugherty’s group finished ahead of Brooks’ group, and his consistency showed through again. He didn’t play in the Wilfred Galbraith Invitational but has a second- and two third-place finishes in this year’s other three tour events.

Daugherty entered the Anniston City Championship ranked fifth in tour points.

“I’ve been hitting it good,” Daugherty said. “For some reason, I’ve not been scoring as well as I’m hitting it. All you can do is keep putting yourself there, and eventually, they’re going to fall for you.”

Final scores