Golf: Bigger, brighter opportunities await Graves at Odessa College

True Graves has traded a Division I scholarship for a chance to come back home and play at the junior college level.

And the 2009 Permian High School graduate couldn’t be happier.

Graves, a starter during his freshman season at Texas State, has left San Marcos behind and plans to join the stable of West Texas talent Wranglers coach Paul Chavez is assembling at Odessa College this season.

“It’s not a negative, it’s a positive,” Graves said. “I saw a great opportunity to come back, play a good year for Chavez and maybe go on to bigger and better things. Some things didn’t work out the way I planned coming out of high school.”

His career at Texas State started on the right note two years ago.

Brought onto campus with a chance to play right away, Graves earned a starting spot in the Bobcats’ rotation as a freshman. Playing in the Southland Conference tournament, Graves turned in an opening-round 73 and finished with Texas State’s third-best score.

“I was pleased with what I was doing at Texas State,” Graves said. “But I redshirted my sophomore year. I had a rough fall, playing-wise, and then I felt like there were bigger and better things out there.”

Graves has put the struggles of the fall behind him. Through two rounds of the Men’s City Championship at Ratliff Ranch Golf Links, Graves is 7-under-par and locked in a three-way tie for the lead heading into today’s final round.

Now he’s hoping the tutelage of Chavez — who helped former Odessa College golfer Abraham Ancer earn a scholarship to Oklahoma two seasons ago — can take him to the next level and earn him a shot at an even bigger stage next year.

“Things didn’t work out at Texas State, but he’s really looking forward to playing for OC,” his father, Martin, said. “Hopefully, after that, we’ll find another school to go play for.”

Odessa College is one of the top junior college programs in the nation.

Under Chavez’s leadership, the Wranglers have won two national titles and sent 57 golfers on to scholarships at four-year universities.

“There is very little difference between the top juco level and Texas State,” Graves said. “It’s not a step down at all. I felt like there were bigger and better things out there, and I think working with Chavez is the first step to getting there.”