Lamar’s golf team earned an MAIS championship banner for the seventh season in a row at Brookhaven Country Club on Tuesday. Pictured from left: Kellan Kerley, Aydan Cooper, Brady Lagendyk, coach Kyle Carpenter, Gray Davis, Cooper Gordy and Will Thames.

The tee boxes at Brookhaven Country Club’s golf course were moved back before the start of Tuesday’s MAIS 5A Championship, and the holes were placed in challenging locations on the greens.

Lamar stepped up to the challenge, and the Raiders brought yet another trophy back to Meridian. They shot their way to a team score of 309 to edge out Bayou (314) and Starkville Academy (316).

“It’s definitely rewarding for these boys,” said Kyle Carpenter, who has now led Lamar to three of a string of seven straight championships. “We put in the work. We started optional practice in January, and we’re definitely excited to win, and hopefully next year get our eighth.”

Carpenter said his team was largely unaffected by the increased distances to the holes because the Raiders are one of the longer teams in the state, but the course was tough overall.

“We did not play the game that we expected to play,” Carpenter said. “The total score for the team was 309, which was probably on our worst side of scores for the year, but it was set up hard. The boys worked hard and grinded it out to win that championship.”

Senior Brady Lagendyk (74), senior Will Thames (81), junior Cooper Gordy (87), sophomore Kellan Kerley (78), freshman Aydan Cooper (76) and freshman Gray Davis (82) all finished the course in under 90 strokes. Lagendyk finished second overall, while Cooper put up the fourth-best score of the day.

“Brady did well,” Carpenter said. “He kind of limped in a little bit, but that was probably one of Brady’s higher scores on the year.”

Carpenter is losing Lagendyk to Emory University’s golf team, and Thames will be a student at Ole Miss next year, but Lamar has a lot of rising talent that could help this team repeat as champions again next season. Carpenter said he has a lot of confidence in the Raiders that will attempt to extend Lamar’s championship streak to eight.

“It’s a team sport, but it’s also a lot of individual,” Lamar Athletic Director Matt Boone said. “So, for our school to have a team that has won seven straight championships, I think that’s pretty special.”