To say that Frederica Academy’s Varsity Golf Team got its 2022 season off on the right foot would be an understatement. FA went down to Osprey Cove, located in St. Marys, Georgia, host site for the 2022 Camden Classic, and won in convincing fashion. The weather was beautiful, and the conditions were ripe for some good golf. Frederica posted a 288 (Even par) and bested the next best team, Glynn Academy, by 14 strokes. Frederica narrowly missed a team scoring record of 287, which was posted last season.
I hope this gives the team some early confidence as we begin the season. I know the way last year ended for the boys; it was disappointing. It didn’t sit well with our guys, and goals of winning a state championship are fresh in our minds. So, I’m proud of them for opening up the season in this fashion. It’s nice when one of your players shoots a 63…it definitely helps.
Frederica’s talent, Jack Roberts, the tournament's low medalist, shot a school record, 63 to open up his freshmen campaign. He struck the ball really well off the tee for the most part. He had a couple of loose shots and his wedges weren’t great, but he made a lot of good putts that found the bottom of the cup. Jack had 9 birdies and no bogeys during his round. A phenomenal par on hole 7, seemed to provide the spark to get his round moving in the right direction. Jack Roberts’ 63 beats the school tournament record by four shots. The previous record of 67 was held by Tanner Smith, Park Brady, Jack O’Hara, Ryan McHugh, and Sarut Vongchaisit.
Jackson Byrd, Frederica’s other freshman, also played very well, tallying an even-par round of 72. Jackson had his round going early, 2 under through 4. A missed birdie opportunity from close range on 5 led to par, and then a poor tee shot on 6 led to a double-bogey that seemed to halt the momentum he had early in his round. Jackson fought hard throughout his round. He hit the ball well and just didn’t score like he normally does. He’s a gamer and will bounce back. He’s got so much talent and firepower. He’s exciting to watch and much of our success will be because of him.
Frederica’s other two counting scores came from sophomore, Aarnav Nath and Roy Boyd. Arnie’s +2, was a steady showing of his style of golf. Arnie hits fairways and greens. He’s a very consistent player. He’s improved since last year, and so I’m excited to see how his year goes. We need his style of play for the team, and he did just that for us. Frederica’s last counting score came from senior captain, Roy Boyd. Roy struck the ball well, hitting many fairways and greens. However, he struggled a bit on the greens. He’s the leader of the team and does a very good job of that day in and day out. We couldn’t ask for a better person on and off the course to lead by example. Roy will bounce back no question. He’s a very talented player.
Ramie Shingler and Travis Cavalier, the last two golfers of Frederica’s six, both shot 89 and 81 respectively. Both played well in spurts and will only get better as the year goes on. They’ll assess and then reflect on the areas they can improve on, and then go put the work in. I’m sure some of them are wanting to go figure it out right now. They will have many opportunities this year to help out the team. It’s not about one player, here. We are a team, and our success is dependent upon all 6 that compete…and all 14 players that are a part of the program. They push each other every day. All 6 of our players that played today have areas that they will take away from this tournament and go get to work. That’s who they are.”
Legendary Frederica Golf Coach, Tom Willis '86, had this to say about today. “What a great round for Jack and the team today. It all turned for Jack on the seventh when it look like he was going to make at least bogey and he chipped it in for par. After that, it was guns blazing for the rest of the round. Really fun to watch. I’ve been waiting for someone to do that to the school record for a long time and he certainly has the ability, but he just hasn’t been able to put it all together in a school match until today. You’re going to see a lot more of that out of him and Jackson in the future and these other guys can do it too. It’s awesome that Jack could have that round and the team could tie the school tournament record on Kevin’s coaching debut. That’s got to be really memorable for him and a great start for this year that has so much promise.”
Frederica will travel Monday to compete in the Low Country Invitational in Bluffton, South Carolina. The Knights will play two amazing courses, Berkeley Hall and Chechessee Creek. It’s a great group of guys that I love to be around. They all work hard individually, so the sky is the limit with this group. The future of FA Golf looks bright. Aside from the guys that played today, we have some very good 7th and 8th-grade talent right behind them! It’s going to be fun.
Go Knights!
Coach Kevin Roberts
