TIFTON —
Herb Hendrix’s ABAC Stallions golf team may be young, but if the tournament earlier this week at St. Simons Island is any indication, they are in line for a good season. Playing against 16 colleges on Feb. 10-12, 12 of them four-year institutes, the Stallions came in seventh.
Hendrix was certainly happy about the results. “That was good, really,” he said. Even better, three of his golfers finished in the top 30 — Chris Rodgers, Robert Johnson and Anthony Wright. There were 87 total in the field.
The trio are expected to be his top golfers this year, the “leaders of the pack,” he said. All are freshmen and Hendrix’s roster only lists one sophomore, Davis Edwards, the only returnee from last year’s region champions. Rodgers and Wright are Georgia natives, the former from Dawson and the latter from Moultrie. Johnson is Canadian, hailing from Ontario.
Johnson will not be the only international athlete hitting the links this spring. Guillermo Ratana joined the team last month and the coach said he is excited about his arrival on campus.
He said if Ratana’s record is Spain is any indication, things will go quite well. “He is capable of shooting sub-par golf,” he said. Ratana did not play at St. Simons — Hendrix said he is “still getting his golf legs back under him — but will be active in the next competition.
The Stallions will have plenty of time to practice before their next tournament. They next tee off March 3-5 when they travel to Darton College in Albany. “We expect to do well there as well,” he said.
ABAC will get to host a tourney as well this season. The state tournament will take place at the Golf Club of South Georgia at Sunsweet from April 7-9. District comes a week later, being held April 14-16 at Pendleton, S.C. Nationals will be in May in Lubbock, Texas.
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ABAC golf on par for great season
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