Varsity Golf

OC golfers with their
 second place region trophy.

At Traditions of Braselton – The OC golfers meet in the Lowes eastside parking lot at 7:45am Monday morning to travel to Traditions Golf Club for the Region 8 AA golf tournament.  Only two teams out of 12 would advance to the state tournament in Waynesboro.  At the end of the day some eight and a half hours later Oglethorpe’s golf team earned one of those two spots.

        OC was paired with North Oconee and Jackson Co as they have been at several meets and tournaments this season.  These three teams are the top three teams in the region. The threesomes were selected on past performance from 6^th to 1^st with tee times starting at 9:24am.  Off first was Jonah Ingram for OC and just under an hour later Nathan Mallonee was OC’s final player to start the first hole. 

The par 3, 8th hole where Jackson Co's number three player fell apart.

        OC’s golf coach Ed Rock had real concern with Jackson County, because Traditions is Jackson Co’s home course.  Coach Rock’s worries were short lived when the second hole claimed its first Jackson Co victim. Their number one player hit the ball just on the fringe of knee-high rough.  His third shot got caught up in the tall grass which threw his ball into the water.  After that he just couldn’t recover his game and was no longer in competition. 

        All of OC’s players played pretty good golf considering the wind was blowing a thousand miles an hour, or seemed so.  On most holes the wind was an aggravation rather than a hazard, that is, until everyone reached the par 3, 8^th.  This hole has water across the left side and the entire face of the green.  The wind was blowing from the tee box towards the green, but most players were shooting bogey on this hole, because they were hitting short.  In fact, Jackson Co’s number 3 player lost five balls to the lake before getting on the green.  This disaster effectively eliminated Jackson Co from state contention.

OC and North Oconee golfers enjoying their win at the region tournament.

        Through the middle of the back nine OC’s Mallonee, Jake O’Bryan and Jim Beatty was keeping pace with their North Oconee opponents.  O’Bryan did have the additional problem of Jackson Co’s number two golfer who just couldn’t miss a putt from anywhere inside ten feet.  In fact this player is the only Jackson Co. player going to the state tournament due to his third place finish overall in the tournament. 

        Nonetheless, the 16^th and 18^th proved to be OC’s nemesis as each of OC’s top players lost a stroke at one or the other hole.  By the time everyone got to the clubhouse OC would place behind tournament winner North Oconee by just five strokes 322 to 327.  Mallonee was second overall in the tournament. 

        OC will travel to Waynesboro County Club in two weeks for the state golf tournament. 

         You can see the pictures here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8492651