Richey to coach golf program

Lakeside's top sports team of the past two years lost its coach this summer when Jay Gilstrap stepped down as the boys golf head coach.

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Gilstrap moved to Arkansas with his family this summer, but the Lakeside golf program is already under new leadership.

Longtime Lakeside coach Bill Richey will take over the golf team. Richey has coached at the varsity level in girls basketball and cross country since coming to Lakeside 10 years ago, and has served as an assistant football coach for the past five years.

Gilstrap said the choice wasn't a hard one.

"I felt like personality-wise he'd be a good fit for them," Gilstrap said. "He enjoys the game."

The Panthers won the Class AAAA state championship each of the past two years.

They will lose only one se-nior from last year's state title team and two of their top returning golfers, rising junior Brian Carter and rising senior Graham White, are preparing for this week's U.S. Junior Amateur in Missouri.

That type of returning firepower led Richey to announce a hands-off approach to coaching the boys.

"I've got enough sense to realize that I'm not going to coach on mechanics and try to change anybody's swing," he said. "I'll be their biggest cheerleader and just try to keep them focused."

Gilstrap said that's the same coaching philosophy that brought back-to-back golf state championships to Lakeside.

"That's the same kind of coach I was," Gilstrap said. "I didn't work much with mechanics. You've just got to prep them right and keep them focused."