Like many residents of Fair Oaks Ranch, Kyler Parnell enjoys our neighborhood’s beautiful golf courses. Along with playing golf recreationally, Kyler attends the Geneva School of Boerne where he is a member of the golf team. Golf became a competitive sport for Kyler at the beginning of his freshman year, but he is now a sophomore in high school, ready for what the next season has to offer. He’s only been competing for over a year but has enjoyed golf for as long as he can remember due to his dad’s love for the great game. 

Most of the Geneva golf team are members at Fair Oaks Country Club, where the team usually practices. Along with Geneva’s head golf coach, Coach Riggs, some of the club’s golf pros, such as Berny Wise, assist with the practices. Sometimes the head coach cannot be at practice, or there are too many members on the team for just one person to handle, so Fair Oaks’ is happy to lend a hand to this avid team. During the regular season (the spring), the team almost always practices at Fair Oaks’ facilities, however, there are less people during the fall since they don’t technically practice for school. So, the “fall team” enjoys playing at courses scattered all over the Hill Country on weekends. Most claim that Fair Oaks’ “Black Jack” course is their absolute favorite due to its scenic qualities and level of difficulty. 

The fall season is mainly just an opportunity for players to sharpen their skills before the spring season starts up. There are fewer tournaments, and they compete in “match play state” instead of “stroke play”. The difference between the two is that match play aims to win individual holes, whereas stroke play aims to have fewer strokes overall. Kyler’s favorite golf memory happens to be his first high school match play game. 

Kyler and the Geneva team have been tremendously successful. The two seniors, Jace Hullet and Jack Walker Harden, have been “role model leaders” as Kyler would say, and have led “The Eagles” (Geneva’s mascot) to victory. For example, this fall they won state match play for TAPPS 4A in Waco, Texas! Along with that fantastic feat, senior Jace Hulett won back-to-back state stroke play tournaments during spring golf. 

Most members of the team, including Kyler, spend their weekends on the course. Kyler said, “My favorite part of golf is how you always have something to work on to get better and improve.” The sport is tremendously difficult and requires mental along with physical skill to be successful. Kyler loves to practice any chance he gets to prepare for the upcoming spring season. 

Living in Fair Oaks Ranch has been a blessing for Kyler and his golf teammates, and he is “so grateful to live close to such beautiful golf courses.” He hopes to continue perfecting this sport throughout high school and possibly compete at the college level.