Milton's Patrick Grahek is glad the weather forecast looks promising for Monday's state championship golf tournament.
Last year in heavy rains, Grahek had the best 18-hole round of his high school career, shooting a 4-under-par 68 to win medalist honors at the Class AAAAA championship.
"My coach was joking about that the other day; he said, ‘Patrick, are you hoping for another rainstorm? It may produce the same results,"' said Grahek, who signed a golf scholarship with Notre Dame over Northwestern, Vanderbilt and Georgia.
Grahek said weather conditions were so bad he took off his rain gear after five holes because he was already soaked. Officials used a roller squeegee on the back nine because "streams of water were running" through the greens.
"Despite the rain, I was very relaxed and focused," Grahek said. "But, no, I think I will take the state tournament on a nice day this year. That would be better to have the same results with my score, but not with the weather."
Monday's golf championships will be spread across the state. The tournaments for boys and girls will be held at 10 different sites.
Milton is a favorite for the team championship at the Class AAAAA tournament, which will be held at Snellville's Summit Chase Country Club. Defending champion Harrison, Centennial and Lownes are other top contenders.
"Milton is the team to beat," said Harrison coach Billy Peek, who has four golfers from last year's championship team playing at the collegiate level.
"We lost a lot from last year, but this year's team has stepped out on its own," Peek said. "We're playing very well right now, and you never know what can happen in an 18-hole tournament."
No team is playing better than Milton, which carded a team score of 8-under 280 at the region tournament to set a school record. The Eagles are so loaded that Grahek's score of 73 at region was fourth best on the team, preceded by John Russo (67), Sanders Park (68), and Zack Jaworski (72).
"I feel great about our chances," Milton coach Peter Vajda said. "We have a veteran team and a deep team. I have six kids on the roster who are capable of shooting par or better.
"The only thing is with playing only 18 holes -- instead of 36 or 54 like other states -- anything can happen if a team gets hot. But we play anywhere near like we did in the region tournament, then I like our chances."
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