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With two experienced co-captains leading the way, the Rockbridge County High School golf team has high hopes for this season.
Senior Andrew McCoy and junior Harrison Tanner, who qualified individually for the Region 3C tournament last year, lead a mixture of five experienced golfers and three promising freshmen.
After starting practice last Thursday, the Wildcats were scheduled to have their first competition of the season yesterday with the Harrisonburg Invitational at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg. Today, Wednesday, they’ll play host to Valley District teams at the Lexington Golf & Country Club, starting at 10 a.m. Because the course will be upgrading, following a partnership agreed to this spring with Washington and Lee University, today’s mini-tournament will be RC’s only home competition this season. The Wildcats will conclude a busy first week when they play at the Bockman Invitational at Lake Monticello Golf Course on Thursday.
Leading the Wildcats is McCoy, who battled back from a hip injury last year to place fourth in the Region 3C tournament, missing advancing to the Class 3 state tournament by one spot. RC head coach David Miller, in his 13th year guiding the Wildcats, said McCoy “is once again ready to lead the Wildcat golf team, and I am so excited to see his hard work pay off. All phases of his game are solid, and he is what golfers should be, a class young man.”
Tanner, who placed fifth in the Region 3C tournament last year, “is getting his game ready,” said Miller. The RC coach looks forward to seeing Tanner “battle the other top district players for a run at postseason play. His short game has improved, and he can be a leader for our younger kids.”
From last year’s team, RC graduated just one senior, Will Gibbs. Also gone is the Wildcats’ third scorer last year, Jack Jensen, who transferred to Woodberry Forest School for his senior year.
Including McCoy and Tanner, the Wildcats return five golfers. The other returnees are senior Bryce Bell and juniors Dean Fafatas and Finbar Looney.
Miller said Fafatas, RC’s fourth scorer at the end of last season, “has worked like crazy on his game and could be a big surprise in the district season. Great attitude.”
The RC coach said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the top three Wildcats playing deep in the season.
Battling for the last three of the top six spots to compete in matches are freshmen Davis Welsh and Joe Vargas, currently with a slight edge over Looney. Miller said Bell and freshman Parker Flint “are nipping at their heels.”
Excited about the new team members, Miller said, “The freshmen have been a big surprise.” Miller said he knew some of the freshmen before they joined the team, but he got to see their true potential when practice started last Thursday.
The Wildcats will be looking to become one of the two Valley District teams to advance to the Region 3C tournament. In addition, the top five individuals outside of those teams advance, more than the last few years, when only three individuals advanced.
RC’s toughest competition in the district will likely come from William Monroe, Spotswood and Turner Ashby. However, because William Monroe is in a different region, the Dragons won’t be battling for a spot in the Region 3C tournament.
Evaluating the district competition, Miller said, “Every year’s kind of different. Spotswood will be Spotswood. TA’s got a couple of strong kids at the top.”
Miller said one of his goals for the Wildcats is to get their 18-hole team score under 330. “Last year, we were always right around 340, but I think we’ll be deeper and a little bit better this year,” he said.
The Wildcats will have two competitions next week, a district match on Monday at Greene Hills Club in Stanardsville, with William Monroe playing host, followed by another district match at Shenvalee Golf Resort in New Market on Thursday, Aug. 15, with Broadway playing host. Both matches are scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
