AISA golf championship tees off Monday at Cambrian
Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 29, 2006
Cambrian Ridge will host more than 100 high school golfers next week as the Alabama Independent Schools Association travels to Greenville for its state golf championships. Cambrian hosts the tournament every other year, alternating with Dothan.
“This tournament will be a tee time event starting at 7:30 a.m. Monday starting from holes one and 10,” said Cambrian Ridge Director of Golf Bryan Reynolds of the two-day tournament. “Since this is a walking event, they're going to be playing the Loblolly and Sherling courses, which is a much easier walk than our Canyon course.”
The par 71 event will be set up at 6,256 yards and Reynolds said he's spoken to several of the team's coaches who tell him there will be some special spectators.
“It looks like there will be some junior college and college scouts here watching some of these kids,” he said.
AISA athletic director Darrell Self said he's not speculating on which team might be a frontrunner in this year's tournament, but he knows there will be some great play and he's not surprised to hear that college scouts will be on hand.
“With the growing trend of AISA golf that is not surprising,” he said. “Colleges are looking for kids who can play golf and tennis and our association has some really gifted people in those areas.”
Fort Dale Academy golf coach Reggie Mantooth said home field advantage will definitely be a plus for his bunch and that his players have fared well in recent tournaments.
“We've got a good chance, especially since we've finished in the top five or six in the last several tournaments we've played in,” he said. “Will Farrar is our number one player and I think he's got a good shot.”
Reynolds said despite very little rain the past two months, Cambrian is ready for play.
“The course is in great shape. We definitely need some rain, but with the irrigation and the ponds out here we're in good shape,” he said.
Self said there are 26 schools with entries in this year's tournament and in order to qualify and team must have shot a combined score of 360 or less sometime during the year. For an individual entry, the golfer must have shot less than a 90 during the year to qualify.
Last year, Macon-East Montgomery Academy took the AISA team championship with Macon-East's Cole Willis earning low medalist honors.