LA Golf Lead By Burns and Rains

The Livingston Academy boys golf team features two golfers, Nathan Rains and Courbin Burns, who come from similar backgrounds but approach the game in with a different style.

Rains and Burns are both baseball players for Livingston Academy and head golf coach Buddy Sells said both are tremendous athletes with smooth swings. Sells said that the two golfers are leaders of the golf team that and said they can play the same hole in vastly different ways, but still end up with the same score.

“That kind of defines who they are as players,” Sells said. “You know, the approach is different. One is a little more aggressive and willing to take risks on difficult shots, like Nathan. And then you got Courbin who will kind of sit back and analyze what he can do to give himself the best opportunity to hit a good shot.”

Sells said that Burns is a tactician on the golf course that maneuvers holes with grace and does not try to overpower the course. Sells said that both golfers work hard at improving their game, but said that Rains is on a never ending journey to fix his swing.

“Sometimes I call him “Doc” because he is always trying to diagnose his swing flaws,” Sells said. “He’s always trying. He’s going to make a change here or there. ‘I’m taking it too far outside, so I’m going to do this,’ So he’s always analyzing his swing and what he can do to improve.”

With only one senior on the team, the Livingston golf team lacked experience this season. Rains said that even though the team is not winning matches and tournaments, this season has still been a success.

“It’s been pretty good, better than last year was,” Rains said. “Everybody’s improving on their games and getting better. Just as long as we’re improving as a team and shooting better and playing better, I see that as a win in our books.”

In his freshman season in 2023, Burns said his head coach helped him change his mindset when it came to distance. Sells told him to not worry about hitting it as far as others, but to just keep the ball in the fairway.

And Burns has followed that advice in route to placing first in a number of matches this year and is a perennial contender for a top three finish. Burns said seeing the hard work pay off in this way

“It’s just confidence boosting,” Burns said. “And it shows that you know and you can do it. And you just got to go out there every time and try your best.”