North Hall’s Landry Haynes has a rare maturity on the golf course for a teenager. As evidenced by this year’s Region 7-AAA champion never letting his emotions get the best of him while in the midst of a round.

You’re not going to catch Haynes outwardly celebrating after making a good shot, just like he isn’t going to pound the ground with his club after hitting a shot that goes astray.

"I used to show my emotions when I made a bad shot, but that only made things worse," Haynes said.

That demeanor displayed has a lot to do with the Trojans’ junior being able to come from behind on the final two holes to take the region title this season.

For his efforts, Haynes in the Times’ 2009 Boys Golfer of the Year.

However, it isn’t just personality that gets Haynes by on the golf course. If that was the case, there would be mild-mannered scratch golfers running around at every golf course. Haynes relies on a strong putting game, and can knock his pitching wedge within 10 feet of the hole consistently.

Characteristic for his personality, he wasn’t overly anxious trailing by two strokes against his teammate Jimmy Lloyd and Johnson’s Grant Cagle, with only two left to play at the region championship. Truth be told, walking up the No. 17 fairway with his father, Haynes was more focused on finishing strong to secure North Hall’s third consecutive region title and No. 1 seed in the state match.

"Landry is always thinking and trying to manage his game," North Hall coach Robert Mills said. "He wants to excel."

On those final two holes Haynes’ analysis on the greens was the difference in winning the region title and securing the No. 1 spot in state for the Trojans. His first was a 12-footer to save par on 17.

"I really needed that putt," said Haynes, the 2008 state runner-up at state.

His putt on No. 18 was a birdie from about 10 feet, that secured his one-stroke victory and his team’s one-shot victory over Lumpkin County.

"At region Landry did a great job making those 3-and 4-foot putts," Mills said. "He’s very deliberate while he’s on the golf course."

Haynes didn’t know immediately that his putt on No. 18 had secured the region title, since the lead group that included Cagle, Lloyd and Lumpkin County’s Aaron George were in the final pairing. With the region title now in hand, Haynes is already preparing for a strong senior season at North Hall in the hopes of adding another region title.

"My region title this year was a little unexpected," Haynes added. "But I think we have a lot of depth on our team with some younger guys coming up, which should make us pretty good next season."

But first, North Hall’s rising senior is hard at work preparing for a summer tournament schedule which kicked off this weekend with the American Junior Golf Association’s Preseason Junior tournament at Chateau Elan in Braselton. Haynes is going to play in several states this summer in more than a dozen tournaments between the AJGA, Southeastern Junior, Georgia Junior and the Future Masters.

The reason behind such an ambitious tournament schedule is to attract the attention of the college coaches, which do most of their recruiting based on summer competition.

"I think if I can get a couple top-five finishes this summer, then I did a pretty good job," Haynes said.