Tough ending to 2025 fueling Bath golf standout Max McCallister

Max McCallister

The motivation started for Max McCallister last June.

The day after falling short of qualifying for the state golf finals in a regional on his home course, McCallister was determined to accomplish more in his junior season at Bath. So McCallister wrote on his phone a list of goals he wanted to achieve and was determined to put in the work necessary to best put himself in position to succeed.

That extra time spent working on his game combined with the motivation to succeed has McCallister well on his way to achieving some of those goals in what has been a strong spring.

The LSJ boys athlete of the week winner has been the medalist in his last three CMAC matches and helped Bath to a 7-0 mark with his strong play.

"I want to be better than I was last year and that was kind of my main goal was to be better than last year," said McCallister, who was the CMAC individual runner-up as a sophomore in 2025. "I think at the beginning of the season I was not satisfied at all with how I was playing just in practice and then the first meet came around and something just flipped and I fired a two under 33 in the first match,"

McCallister has continued to build off that strong opening performance while working toward his goals. He's already had a round under par and has put himself and the Bees in strong positions to win CMAC titles. Those were among the things McCallister hoped to accomplish this season. But McCallister also has hopes of being a regional medalist and earning all-state honors and is pushing to get those goals while helping Bath find more team success.

"Going into the back half of the season I'm just looking to finish what I started," McCallister said. "I started off strong. I think I can finish strong. I've just got to keep my head right and not get too far ahead of myself and take it match by match.."

McCallister has a 9-hole scoring average of 37.2 and an 18-hole mark of 81.2 through May 14 matches. One of the biggest areas where he has grown this season has been mentally and he has showed an ability to shake off bad holes.

McCallister has leaned on advice given to him from former Bath golfer Ethan Swenson to focus on the course in front of you and not what's behind you. That approach has been vital in helping McCallister post low rounds consistently as he tries to achieve his goals .

"When the season started he was all business," said Bath coach Lee McCallister, who is Max's father. "What I've really noticed is in years past a bad hole would send him kind of spiraling mentally. This year he hasn't let that bother him. He can have a bad hole and then he has the ability to turn around and birdie the next two and get himself back where he needs to.