The high school golf season may not start up for several more months, but that doesn’t mean some local high school golfers are taking it easy.

Two locals in particular are stacking their games up with the best players in the state this week as they participate in the 72nd Alabama Boys State Junior Championships, held at Goose Pond Colony Resort in Scottsboro.

Justin Vincent, of Athens High School, and Matt Smith, of Clements High School, are two of 158 junior golfers who are participating in the championship tournament, which begins today. Smith will tee off at 1:30 p.m. while Vincent’s tee time is at 2:40 p.m. Both are entering their senior years of high school and are competing in the 16-18 year old age category.

This is Vincent’s fourth year to participate in the tournament while Smith is competing for the second time.

“Two years ago I played pretty well in the first round and then kind of fell off a little bit in the second and third round,” Vincent said. “Last year I was having back problems and this was my first tournament back in a month, and I ended up scrambling around the golf course. I managed to make the cut, which was a pretty big deal for me considering it was my first tournament back.”

The tournament consists of three rounds, with the top 60 players in the 14-15 and 16-18 age divisions making the cut after the second round. The third and final round of the tournament will take place Thursday.

The cut is something Smith knows about all too well. Last year was his first playing in the Boys State Junior Championships, and he missed the cut by a single shot. He has made it his goal to not let that happen to him again this year.

“My main goal is to make the cut and do the best I can,” Smith said. “I had a good practice round (Monday). I’m hoping I can carry that through to (Tuesday). Me and Justin came out here on Friday, and I didn’t do too well then.”

Vincent said participating in a state championship tournament isn’t only about the golf, but about the relationships between the best golfers in the state who are gathered in Scottsboro this week.

“It is absolutely a great experience,” Vincent said. “For one, you get great competition, but you also make great friends. We were playing the practice round (Monday) and you see a lot of people you know and have played with before. Once we finished, I spent probably 15 minutes or more greeting old friends I knew from high school tournaments.”

Vincent has been playing golf since he was about 10 years old, but Smith only picked up clubs and started playing about four years ago, he said.

To go from beginner to competing in the Boys State Championship in just four years has taken a great deal of practice and love of the game.

“I hardly ever take a day off,” Smith said. “Nobody pushes me to do it, I just enjoy it. It’s not a big issue to practice every day. I just enjoy going out and playing.”

While some golfers practice out on the range or practice specific parts of their game such as chipping and putting, Smith just goes out on the course and plays.

“I enjoy playing a lot more than sitting on the range,” he said. “You never have the same lie on the course like you do the driving range. I think that’s what helps you get better.”