Golf success is a long-standing tradition in Aledo, with both the boys and girls advancing to state with regularity — including each squad last season.
This season the Bearcats will have plenty of familiar faces playing, while they welcome a new head coach. Brian Mourning will coach both boys and girls.
“I just love the game. It’s a lifetime sport,” said Mourning, who has coached golf, baseball, and softball to success in stops at his alma mater of Godley and Fort Worth Southwest.
Bearcats
Mourning inherits a Bearcats team that returns every player who competed on the team at state last spring, including seniors Braylon Mahaney, Dylan Kiser, and Logan Ban, along with juniors Jett Moore and Jake Phillips.
Also on the team are seniors Payne Wellman and Hudson Knox; along with juniors Johnnie Reed and Bryce Wolf; sophomores Cade Moore, Noah Graham, Ethan Elmore, and Helton Mossiello; and freshmen Grayson Freeman, Braden Stokes, and Maddox Jessup.
Mourning said he is counting on the returning state qualifiers for not only competing, but also help bring the younger players along on their own quest.
Ladycats
Alyssa Saunders is gone from the Ladycats, having graduated and now competing for the University of Texas at Tyler. However, the other four players who helped the team advance to state are back.
They are seniors Mallory Miller, Sanaa Lemen, and Madison Warner and junior Kyla Morales. Alongside them on this season’s squad are junior Kennedi Parker; sophomores Reagan Gilliland, Catherine Haney, Taylor Thurman, Avalon Anderson, Sarah Michaelis, Abby Gray, Brooke Green, Aubrey Morin, and Chandler Edwards; with freshmen Emily Crick, Harper Price, and Karlee Shaw.
Mourning said he is counting on the experienced players to do more than compete. He believes it is their responsibility to help raise the younger players up as well — which he said they all understand.
“A lot of those older kids are taking the young ones under their wing, that’s how you get the continued success the program has had,” he said.
Mourning recalled his own younger days when he fell in love with golf.
“Growing up we didn’t have much money. We had to drive to Cleburne to play, and I had two full-time working parents,” he said. “When my brother turned 16 we went out and played and we loved it. After I shot a 90 in an early high school round I was hooked.”
That love for the game has now extended to his own son, 12-year-old Dylan.
“He’s just now getting into it. I enjoy watching him play. It takes me back to my younger days. I’ve been playing since I was about 13,” Mourning said.
After a couple years as an assistant baseball coach in Godley, Mourning got out of coaching and education for a short time because he said it took him away from his family too much. He was a tax appraiser in Glen Rose for six months before Aledo came calling.
“I told my wife if the right job came through I’d consider coming back. I got on the computer and saw Aledo needed somebody,” he said.
So he called his old friend, former Godley football head coach and longtime Aledo assistant John Rhodes to get some advice. Next thing Mourning knew, he was hired to coach the Bearcats and Ladycats, replacing Joe Roquemore (boys) and James Mullins (girls), both of whom he praised for helping him transition to the new job.
And though he enjoyed success with the limited golfers he had, he’s happy to be in a program where the players come to him, unlike, for example, his teams at Southwest.
“I had to walk the halls to find kids,” he said. “We had some talented kids there, but we were in a district with Granbury, Arlington Heights, and Aledo. We had some really good golfers who didn’t get out of district.”
He’s certain that won’t be the case now.
“They love golf here, and I’m so happy that I can be a part of this tradition,” he said.
Mourning’s assistant coaches are Tom Croft and Andrew Groff. Croft is a retired teacher/coach from Springtown, while Groff is a second-year coach (first at Aledo) who grew up as a coach’s kid.
Aledo Ladycats 2022 Fall Golf Schedules
Varsity Black
Date Tournament
Sept. 16-17 Granbury Fall Classic, Harbor Lakes
Oct. 11 District Preview, Sugartree
Oct. 16 Aledo Golf Fundraiser, Split Rail
Nov. 4-5 State Preview, Whitewing, Georgetown
Nov. 11-12 Lady Tiger Invitational, Texarkana Country Club
Varsity Orange
First three tournaments same as Black
Oct. 27 Battle at the Creek, Squaw Creek
Nov. 2 Burleson Centennial, Southern Oaks
Junior Varsity
Sept. 14 Granbury, Nutcracker
Sept. 20 Argyle, Champions Circle
Oct. 4 Weatherford, Cleburne Links
Oct. 16 Aledo Golf Fundraiser, Split Rail
Oct. 19 Burleson Centennial, Southern Oaks
Oct. 24 Argyle, Decatur Country Club
Aledo Bearcats 2022 Fall Golf Schedules
Varsity Black
Sept. 16-17 Bart Granger Memorial, Pecan Valley, Benbrook
Oct. 6-8 Jay Brewer Memorial, Texarkana Country Club
Oct. 11 District Preview, Sugartree
Oct. 16 Aledo Golf Fundraiser, Split Rail
Nov. 4-5 Pioneer Invitational, Iron Horse
Varsity Orange
Sept. 28 Flower Mound Marcus, Tour 18
Oct. 11 District Preview, Sugartree
Oct. 16 Aledo Golf Fundraiser, Split Rail
Oct. 28-29 Mansfield, Squaw Valley, Glen Rose
Nov. 4-5 Pioneer Invitational, Iron Horse.
Junior Varsity
Sept. 14 Granbury, Nutcracker
Sept. 20 Argyle, Champions Circle
Oct. 4 Weatherford, Cleburne Links
Oct. 16 Aledo Golf Fundraiser, Split Rail
Oct. 19 Burleson Centennial, Southern Oaks
Nov. 1 Midlothian Heritage, Prairie Lakes
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