Peyton Bell is going to need to work on his sand game a lot before he graduates.
The Bloomfield senior recently signed to play golf for John A. Logan College next year.
"It feels like a lot of weight is off my shoulders, that's for sure. I'm happy with the decision. It is nice to get it official," said Bell, who is looking forward to a stress-free senior season now that he has signed. "Last year I knew I had to have a good season just to get some looks from some colleges. Now that I have committed I'm looking forward to playing stress free all next year."
Bell, who will play his senior season in the spring, was an All-State golfer the past two seasons after finishing 13th in the state tournament as a sophomore and fourth as a junior. He also won the Caruthersville Invitational and was nominated for the Semoball Awards Golfer of the Year.
Now he will be going from a course with two bunkers, to Kokopelli Golf Club, a links-style course with at least that many on pretty much every hole.
"It is the most true links course that I've ever played on," Bell said. "Bloomfield only has the two bunkers and half the time during the season, we just take it out of the bunker because they are so bad. Bunker game has definitely got to be a focus this next year to improve."
Bell estimated that over the course of his competitive career, he has taken fewer than 30 shots out of the bunker.
"That's definitely a focus of mine when I play somewhere is to avoid the bunkers. That is a weakness of mine," Bell said. "Sometimes I'll overcorrect on a shot if I'm afraid to go in a bunker.
"I'm hoping that I'll get to a point where I'm not afraid to play out of the bunkers and I'll be able to play more true shots and not be afraid of missing somewhere."
The back tees at Kokopelli are 7,039 yards with a 74.7 course rating and a 139 slope rating.
Translation: It's hard.
"Around here, playing those courses that are 5,900 yards or only have nine holes, it is a little different to go to an 18-hole links-style course with hundreds of bunkers," Bell said. "It is a little different than the Ridge here at Bloomfield."
Bell added that he chose John A. Logan because of its location and academic program. He plans to study pre-law while taking two years to decided what he wants to do with golf, as well as specific academic areas of study.