School of Golf: Year away at academy helps Kellogg junior Stephen Paul bag another state title

By JOSH McDONALD

Staff writer

KELLOGG –– Stephen Paul isn’t your average high school athlete.

Last week, Paul wrapped up his junior season of golf with an individual championship performance while also leading the Kellogg High golf team to a third-place finish at the state 2A golf championships at Sage Lakes Golf Course in Idaho Falls.

But it wasn’t necessarily just winning that was so eye-opening, it was how he did it.

Coming off of a red-hot finish in a tightly contested district match, Paul carried that play into day one of state.

The par-70 course presents plenty of challenges for experienced golfers and there was likely not a single golfer with more experience than Paul.

Many people reading the box score after the first 18 holes had to do a double take to make sure their eyes weren’t deceiving them.

Paul, 62, 8-under par.

A six-stroke lead over his nearest opponent and a new amateur record at Sage Lakes.

“I was in more of a zone during districts, I thought, Seth (Swallows of St. Maries) had a two-stroke lead on me with four holes left,” Paul said. “At state, I was more comfortable and it felt more natural.”

On day two, he shot an even-par 70 — winning the individual title by a comfortable 10 strokes.

Paul won the 3A championship (individual and team) as a freshman in 2021 – then he took a hiatus – not from golf, but from the KHS team.

He enrolled in a San Diego-based golf academy for his sophomore year.

“It was school from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. and then golf,” Paul said. “There were coaches everywhere, it was super competitive, and I definitely got better — but it wasn’t always fun.”

After that, he made his way back home and re-enrolled in the Kellogg School District as a homeschooled student.

During this time he took a trip to Scotland, to spend time with his grandparent and play golf in the sport’s birthplace.

“The weather is brutal in Scotland,” Paul said with a laugh. “Everyone assumes that it’s so nice — and it is cool to be there. But it’s really cold and on the golf courses the grass doesn’t always grow.”

Learning to play on the unforgiving courses of Scotland, accompanied by a year of golf academy — Paul has a foundation unlike most for the sport.

Upon returning, he re-donned the purple and gold to be the Wildcat’s lead man.

Kellogg dropped from 3A to 2A this year, and perhaps no sport was put at more of a disadvantage with that move more than golf.

The ranks of the 2As are rife with small charter and private schools that tend to have stronger golf programs than even some of the state’s biggest schools — and that level of competition was felt almost immediately.

“Team-wise and player-wise, I thought 2A was better than 3A,” Paul said. “At 3A I wasn’t really concerned with the individual score — it was more about the team. And at 2A it was still about the team, but the competition was tougher as an individual.”

All season long, Kellogg got to battle solid teams from the Central Idaho League, including St. Maries and Genesis Prep — both of which offered stiffer competition than what the Wildcats had experienced for the better part of the past few decades.

So it was no surprise when the Jaguars were involved in the three-way sudden-death playoff for the third-place trophy.

“We had competition all year,” Paul said. “The best thing that came from this season was that I had never been good in the clutch. I’ve always missed those putts, I’ve always missed those shots, coming down that stretch in districts gave me the confidence going forward.”

Kellogg didn’t have senior boy on the team this season — so head coach Simon Miller will be returning a team that should be right in the mix for another state trophy – with Stephen Paul leading the way, there’s a good chance the one they come home with is blue instead of green.