Coffee native Andy Vaughn was named All-American at ABAC and Troy State. He is one of six individuals and one team to be inducted into the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame.

TIFTON — Andy Vaughn knew he loved playing golf for the Golden Stallions of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College but it wasn’t until his very last ride home from the national tournament that he realized an era in his life was about to end.

“We were in the ABAC van coming home from Florida, and I teared up a little bit,” Vaughn, who now lives near Douglas, said. “I had been playing golf with these guys every day, and I realized I might never see them again.”

For his stellar career as a member of the Golden Stallions from 1981 through 1983, Vaughn will join five other individuals and one team on April 6 in ABAC’s Museum of Agriculture Conference Room when they are inducted into the 2018 class of the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame.

ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer said the 2018 class also includes the 1982 state championship men’s basketball team, Luis Paredes from the 1974-76 men’s tennis teams, Teresa Cromer Walker from the 1993-95 softball teams, Jorge Novoa, a friend of the tennis program since 1972; Jenni Collins Smith from the 1980-82 women’s basketball teams, and Chuck DeVane from the 1980-82 baseball teams.

As an extra added attraction to the Hall of Fame ceremony this year, Polly Huff, assistant director and curator at the Museum, will feature an entire exhibit based on ABAC athletics titled “The Glory Days” in the Museum Gallery. Hall of Fame members can visit the exhibit at a 5 p.m. reception prior to dinner. The exhibit will then open to all ABAC alumni and the public on April 7 as a part of the Homecoming Weekend. 

Tickets to the reception and dinner are $40 per person. Tickets can be purchased from the ABAC Athletics Office at (229) 391-4930. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 26. There will be no tickets sold at the event.

Vaughn was a two-time National Junior College Athletic Association All-America selection when he played for Coach Wayne Cooper’s ABAC golf team.  He finished third in the 1982 state tournament behind second place finisher and teammate Jim Sparks. The Golden Stallions wound up second in the state tournament behind DeKalb North, and Sparks and Vaughn made the All-Region XVII team. 

In the 1982 national tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., Vaughn was two strokes back for the individual lead with nine holes to play before finishing eighth in the field of 250 players. The Golden Stallions finished 10th in the national tournament.

Vaughn claimed medalist honors as the top individual golfer in the 1983 state tournament when he helped to lead the Golden Stallions to the championship at the Okefenokee Golf Club. He and Sparks were again named All-Region XVII.  Vaughn wound up in a tie for 14th place in the individual field in the 1983 national tournament in Fort Myers, Fla., where ABAC finished in 10th place for the second year in a row.

“Playing golf for ABAC was just a good time in my life,” Vaughn, a 1981 graduate of Coffee High School, said. “Coach Cooper was very interested in helping us improve as golfers as well as helping us improve our lives as young men. I hold him in high regard.” 

After completing his ABAC career, Vaughn played for Troy State University where he was an NCAA Division II All-America selection during both his junior and senior seasons. The Trojans finished sixth in the nation in 1985, and third in the nation during Vaughn’s senior year in 1986.

During his standout career at Troy State, Vaughn won a couple of tournaments including the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate.  He then tried for a year to break into the very competitive world of professional golf and reached the Tour School Finals before deciding to concentrate on forging a career in another area. 

Now the Information Technology Manager for Premium Peanut in Douglas, Vaughn is married to his high school sweetheart, Carole, and they have three children, Melissa Vaughn Moree, Andrea Vaughn, and Tyler Vaughn.

“Andy Vaughn never had an unkind thing to say about anybody,” Sparks, a 2010 ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, said. “The world needs more Andy Vaughns.  His Hall of Fame membership is well deserved.”

For more information on the 2018 Homecoming Week, interested persons can visit the web site at www.abac.edu/homecoming.