Estay inks college golfing scholarship

I’m voting YES and YES

April 18, 2017

Terrebonne’s Best: Ellender, VCHS win parish meet

April 18, 2017

Life has been pretty good to South Lafourche senior Kyle Estay lately

Two weeks ago, Estay pitched a no-hitter on the mound for the Tarpons, helping his team score a mercy rule victory over the Ellender Patriots.

Just six days later, he signed a scholarship that officially paved the way for him to become a college golfer.

Estay announced this week that he’s going to attend Millsaps College in Mississippi on a golfing scholarship – an honor that the Tarpon senior said is one of the proudest moments of his life.

Estay is a multi-sport athlete for South Lafourche. He’s an accomplished pitcher on the diamond for the Tarpons, yes. But he’s also a dynamite golfer – one of the best players in the state.

He said being able to call himself a future college athlete is a feeling that’s hard to explain – something he’s forever grateful for. Estay and his family had a ceremony at school last Wednesday to celebrate the occasion.

“It feels great,” Estay said. “It’s a little crazy at first to think about it, because it’s something new for me. But I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great challenge.”

For Estay, the passion he has for the game of golf has been since birth.

He said he started to play when he was 4, but he said he remembers paying attention to the sport even before then.

“I’ve played my whole life,” he said.

Estay said his first tournament rounds came when he turned 7, and he’s been hooked ever since.

But it’s easy to get hooked when you’re a ringer, and Estay is exactly that – a golfing natural.

He said he’s worked tirelessly at his game over the years. He now works with Abita Springs instructor Rob Noel. Estay said he’s comfortable with his swing, but has been working heavily on his short game in recent years to try and shave strokes off his game.

“I’m always practicing and working to get better,” Estay said. “I’ve been working hard to make my putting better, because that’s such an important part of the game.”

It’s paid off.

For the Tarpons, Estay has been a constant – a guy that South Lafourche can consistently turn to for quality rounds in tournament action.

A lot of those rounds are so good that they’re under par.

Estay said his career-best round is a 5-under par round of 67 he carded at The Wetlands Golf Course in Lafayette.

Along the way, he’s won or placed in several tournaments and matches for the Tarpons.

That success is how he positioned himself for a spot at the next level.

Estay said he didn’t seek out Millsaps at first, adding that the Majors found him through his success on the varsity golfing circuit.

He said he got a call one day from Millsaps golf coach Jack Belote, who wanted Estay to go to Mississippi for an on-campus visit.

He did, and during that trip, the coach formally offered a spot to the Tarpons’ golfer.

“He told me he would like to hopefully make me part of his team someday,” Estay said, looking back on the call.

The coach’s wish became reality.

After the visit, Estay thought about the decision with friends and family.

He then made up his mind, opting to become a Major for the next several years.

He said one of the biggest reasons why he did so was because of the layout of the school.

Millsaps College is a small, quaint college in Jackson, Mississippi.

They have an enrollment of less than 1,000, which Estay said was a big factor in his decision.

“I like that the student-to-teacher ratio is something like 15 to 1,” he said. “That’s unlike going to a big school like LSU and sitting in a class with 300 students where you’re just treated like a number. That was big for me.”

What was also big was the timing of the decision.

Estay said he wanted to make his decision right now so that he could focus on finishing both of his seasons with a big.

He’s a starting pitcher for South Lafourche’s baseball team – one of the top arms for a team that’s likely going to reach the Class 4A State Playoffs.

Then, of course, there’s golf.

Estay said he wanted to pick a college and clear his mind for the stretch run of the season, which culminates in early May with the State Championship Tournament.