Photo by Frank Couch.
Johnathan Eyster walks between holes during a Mountain Brook golf team practice round in February.
Not much can stop Jonathan Eyster.
Not Type 1 diabetes. Not celiac disease. Not alopecia. These things do not define Eyster.
Alopecia affects his hair, and celiac disease prevents him from eating anything with gluten. Those two things do not present issues on the golf course, but diabetes requires constant management.
“When my blood sugar gets low or high, it might affect my round or a mood swing might affect me,” Eyster said. “I just have to be on it when I’m on the golf course, and I’ll always monitor my sugar as the round goes on.”
He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 2, so dealing with it is second nature to him now. But that hasn’t stopped people from taking notice of how well he handles himself.
“He has to be very prudent in watching his blood sugar level and paying attention to that type of thing,” Mountain Brook athletic director and golf coach Benny Eaves said. “He has to have a very adult-like attitude. He can’t take that for granted.”
Enough about his health, though, as Eyster has established himself as one of the top high school golfers in the state, and returns this season as the leading scorer from last year’s Class 7A state champion Mountain Brook golf team.
“Last year it was really special, winning as a team, because we’d come up short the year before,” Eyster said. “Spain Park has been on top for the past few years. It was nice to finally get it done.”
In 2015 alone, Eyster was named to the All-Tournament team at the Fairhope Invitational, Bradley Johnson Memorial, West Alabama Classic and the state tournament.
After falling short in 2014, Eyster and Co. made sure to follow through and win the title, as 2015 was the final season at the helm for Eaves. Mountain Brook won the four-team state championship by 19 strokes, and Eyster tied for second in individual scores, firing a 140 (-2) over the two-day event.
“We wanted to send Coach Eaves out on top last year after coming up short the year before,” Eyster said.
Eaves will give way to Alex Lockett this year, as his athletic director duties at Mountain Brook High School take precedent.
“The amount of time it would take for me to do a good job as athletic director, which is my job, would take me away from the time I would need to spend with the high school golf team and be there on a consistent basis,” Eaves said. “If I could’ve figured out a way to do it, I would’ve done it.”
Eaves has been the golf coach at Mountain Brook since 2008, and has coached various sports for much longer. He has an interesting take on the importance of team chemistry.
“Team chemistry is so much more important in high school golf than in any other sport,” he said. “You would say, ‘They’re playing separately, they’re not even on the same hole, how could that possibly [be the case]?’”
Eaves contends that last year’s championship team possessed that ability to bond together and to genuinely root for each other out on the golf course.
“It was really special, the feeling and chemistry that team had last year. There’s probably been three teams I’ve coached in my lifetime that you knew was a special group, and that was one of them,” he said.
The Spartans will lose two of their top five from last year, as Michael Brown and Wilson Simmons must be replaced. Two new players will need to step into that gap alongside of the returning threesome of Eyster, Harlan Winn and Ben Fuller.
Eyster comes from a lineage of successful golfers.
“I’ve probably been playing golf since I was 5,” Eyster said. “My dad played at Alabama, so I was taught at a young age. I have a brother who plays at UAB, so I’m always trying to beat him out.”
His personal-best round was a 65 on the West Course at the Country Club of Birmingham, in a casual, just-for-fun round with his friends. That score is no anomaly, as he is used to shooting in the 60s.
Eyster gets rounds into the 60s with a premier short game, as he is excellent chipping and putting. Players can hit the ball well and score poorly because of an inability to “put the ball in the hole,” one of Eyster’s noted strengths.
“His short game is extremely good,” Eaves said. “Probably what makes him special is his ability to stay levelheaded on the golf course. He doesn’t get emotionally high or low.”
When pressed to find an aspect of his game that needs improvement, Eaves struggled to find words.
“There’s nothing in particular that you could say Jonathan needs to do to have a better senior season, because to say that would be to say there’s something he’s not proficient at,” he said.
Eyster does hold a scholarship offer to play golf in college, but his plans to major in engineering will be the ultimate factor in his school choice.
Even if he has to walk on at whichever university he attends, chances are he’ll be good enough to make the team.
