Max Bruck chips in a shot during a recent team qualifying round at The Farm
The fall golf season begins Monday with Dalton State men’s team traveling to St. Simons Island.
Roadrunner Director of Golf Ben Rickett said Thursday that the fall is a part of the process leading up to the Southern States Athletic Conference and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournaments.
“Everything we do is getting ready for April,” said Rickett. The SSAC men’s tournament will be held April 14-16 at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, AL.
This week is all part of the process.
The Dalton State men play Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 15-16) at the 6,940 Yards Sea Island Golf Club Retreat Course.
Tournament Director Mike Cook says the men’s tournament will feature 83 players. This includes 14 five man teams, one B-Team, and 8 independent golfers.
Rickett said there was a multiple day qualifier to determine which of the team’s golfers would make the trip to Sea Island. Under the format, five players play for the team with the lowest four scores counting. In addition, teams are allowed to carry additional “independent” players.
Sophomore newcomer Sean Elliott of Westfield, NJ led the pack. Elliott transferred to Dalton from Central Missouri State.
Sophomore Tobias Ebner of Salzburg, Austria; Junior Levi Nix of Bluffton, SC (via Lafayette); Sophomore Mac Bruck of Frauenkirchen, Austria; and Sophomore Austin Hughes of Vancouver, BC will also be on the five man team.
Freshman Dalton Johnson from Mary Persons High School in Forsyth will play as an independent.
“I am really excited to get the season started,” said Rickett. “We have some new faces in the lineup and more depth than last year. That being said, we have to earn everything. We have practiced well leading up to now. It is time to see what it looks like at a tournament.”
College of Coastal Georgia will be the host team. Coach Cook said he will also have four independents or a B-Team.
Other men‘s teams expected are Reinhardt (Ga); St. Andrews (NC), varsity and a B-Team; Martin Methodist (Tn); Warner (Lake Wells, FL), varsity and two independents; Eckerd College (Fl), Thomas Unversity (Ga), varsity and one independent; Georgia Northwestern College; Brewton-Parker (Ga); the University of Mobile; USC @ Beaufort; Talladega College and Lindsey Wilson.