Spartanburg Day Golfers Focused On Winning Upcoming Region Championship With Eye On State Championships A Week Later

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Spartanburg—The Spartanburg Day Griffins golf team, under the direction of head coach Travis Linder, are heavily favored to win their SCISA region tournament to be held on April 21^st at the Village Green Golf Course, and one week later, the Griffins are expected to compete very well at the SCISA AAA Golf State Championships to be held once again on the Hackler Course in Myrtle Beach.  

“We had only two head-to-head matches this Spring because we mainly competed in big tournaments involving larger public schools,” said Coach Linder. “Our best showing so far was in the Spartanburg County Invitational where we competed very well against 14 other teams, including schools like Dorman, Spartanburg, and Gaffney.

In the Spartanburg County event, junior Matthew Roff, playing in the number one slot for the Griffins, placed fourth over-all with a round of 75, earning him a spot on the All-tournament team. Eighth grade golfer Kingston Linder was 11^th over-all at the Spartanburg County event when he fired a 77 and just missed earning a spot on the all-tournament team.

In most golf matches, or tournaments, a team enters five golfers and the top four scores count. The team’s lone senior is Carter Boyd  and he shot a 78 at the Spartanburg County event. Other participants in the county event included 7^th grade golfer Will Miller and freshman Ben Brown. Brown usually shoots in the mid-80’s and he has been on the team for three seasons.

Reid Hines is a talented  7^th grader who is the on the varsity team also.

The team also participated in the Rebel Invitational hosted by Byrnes High earlier this Spring. The Griffins finished 14th over-all in that event. The top four scorers in that event included Will Miller (82), Kingston Linder (83), Ben Brown (85) and AK Milner (87).

The focus now is the upcoming region championship match against region foes First Presbyterian Academy and Spartanburg Christian, scheduled for the Village Green Golf course on April, 21^st.

“We will start ramping up our practices to include two 18-hole rounds a week, when at the start of the season we played a lot of 9-hole practice rounds,” said Coach Linder. “These two 18-hole rounds help us determine player seedings for both the region tournament, and if we win the region, we go to state so these matches during the week help us place the players one through for five based on how they are playing at the time.

“We are favored to win the region and I was not the head coach last year but I think the team placed third in the SCISA AAA state finals last year,” said Coach Linder. “I think that Matthew Roff’s father told me his son will be playing on the Hackler Course for the 5^th straight year, so being a senior, he will likely play at number one, if we advance to the finals after region as we expect to.” 

Last year the Griffins shot a team composite of 581 to finish third behind first place Hilton Head Prep (581) and second place Hilton Head Christian (588). Five golfers represent each team and they play two back-to-back 18-hole rounds on consecutive days with the top four lowest scores counting in the team totals.

Two golfers return this year to the Griffins who played in the state finals last year. Roff shot 76-80-156 and Boyd shot 78-81-159 last year in the state finals. 

“In the state finals in May it is usually hot weather, so we start working on our stamina by playing more 18-hole practice rounds later in the season,” said Coach Linder. “Those last six holes on a hot day can be difficult if you do not prepare for them.

“I feel like if this young group of golfers stick together, we have the foundation to compete for state championships in the near future,” said Coach Linder.

Coach Linder also wanted to cite the talents of two up and coming junior varsity golfers in the Spartanburg Day program. They are 7^th grader Jack Langley and 8^th grader Tab Connor.