HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Randolph’s Andrew Hinson got started with his golf career in a pretty simple way; he found a sport that he liked and decided to give it a shot.

“I saw my dad go to the range one day and I just decided I was gonna go with him and it was really fun, so the next day I just went out and played and I just kept playing after that.”

Fast forward a little bit and now Hinson is helping lead the Raiders’ team to victory; Hinson, who’s a top 50 player in the nation in the class of 2025, led his team to victory in the Kickoff Classic Championship with a score of 69, 3 under par and a Randolph team school record of 302.

“We only had four of our five players and we were missing one of our better players and we still ended up breaking a school record, so it shows how good our team has gotten,” Hinson said. “It feels good to be recognized for my hard work.”

After finishing 2nd in class 4A in 2022, the Raiders’ boys golf team has now begun their quest toward a potential class 5A state title this year; Hinson says not only is this year’s team motivated to bring a blue map home but they’re having a lot of fun playing alongside each other.

“We push each other even when we don’t have practice we’re out there practicing and whenever you see your teammates working it inspires you to work harder too.”

We are always looking for standout student-athletes in the Tennessee Valley to feature! If you have a high-school-aged athlete that you would like to nominate for Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the week, you can email olivia.whitmire@whnt.com, claudia.chakamian@whnt.com or sports@whnt.com.