Holden Atchison will continue his athletic career just down the road from where it started.

The Cullman senior signed a golf scholarship with Wallace State earlier this month and will join coach Sylas Elliott and the Lions this fall.

He can’t wait.

“It’s like a dream,” Atchison said. “I’ve always wanted to play college golf. It feels awesome just to get to play at the next level. I couldn’t be more excited about it.”

A preexisting friendship with Elliott — a former Cullman golf standout himself — helped pave the way for Atchison’s signature.

“I’ve been friends with coach Elliott nearly my whole life,” he said. “We’ve always played together, and I was either going to Wallace or Troy. But Wallace is close to home, and I’m just thankful that he’s giving me this opportunity.”

Atchison said hopes to improve his putting before starting his collegiate career with the Lions.

When he arrives at Wallace State, however, he’s looking to build camaraderie and a trophy case.

“I want to develop friendships with those guys and compete for championships,” Atchison said.

Cullman golf coach Jonathan Hayes praised Atchison’s contributions to the program and added the Lions are getting one heck of a kid in more ways than one.

“Holden’s work ethic is second to none, and he’s an extremely talented golfer with a high ceiling,” Hayes said. “I cannot wait to see how he continues to progress as he now gets the chance to work with another former CHS golfer in coach Sylas Elliott. I really see a lot of the same mentality in Holden as I saw in Sylas in their approach to the game. They both are intrinsically motivated to be better and don’t let adversity bleed over to the next shot. I think Holden will really excel with Sylas.

“With all that said, I couldn’t be more proud of the example Holden has set as a person for the younger guys on the team. Holden is an outstanding young man with incredible character and integrity. He has tremendous support from his family and friends that has helped him become an all-around great young man, student and athlete. He has been a coach’s dream to have because of these attributes. As a coach, you always want there to be that team leader you can trust to set the standard on how to conduct yourself on and off the field, and Holden has most definitely been that leader. I have no doubt he’ll do great things on and off the course because of who he is as a person.”