The Frederica Knights took two teams of 5, plus four individual middle school players on Monday, March 7, to compete in the Frederica Invitational. Playing host to 18 teams, totaling 120 players, this year's event was held at The Club at Osprey Cove, located in St. Marys, Georgia. Teams from all across Georgia, and even a team from South Carolina, traveled great distances, all for a chance to be the coveted champion. This year's field was stacked. There were many teams that consisted of players who are highly touted in their own individual rights. So, I knew we were going to see some really good scores. And, it didn't disappoint.
Frederica came into the event confident that they would have a decent shot at getting their third win of the season. The weather was beautiful, the course was in great shape, and the field was set for a dogfight. Frederica's Jack Roberts, fresh off his second-place finish at the Dustin Johnson World Junior where he lost in a playoff a day earlier, played flat for most of his round. He had great ball striking just didn't score particularly well. It was here a week ago when he shot a 63 in the Camden Classic, so I was wondering what we'd get from him today. He's had a long couple of days at the DJ and was a bit tired. I think he just wanted to come out and do what he could for his team. His eagle on the 18th hole saw him finally get into red figures with a 2-under par, 70.
Jackson Byrd, playing in the number two spot, struck the ball well. He just didn't make much until late. I watched a bit of Jackson, and he seemed to hit it well. Walking to hole 7 today, he told me he missed a bunch of close putts. He found himself a couple over par early, but I was proud of him for scratching together an even-par score today. That's grinding it out, and good players find ways to battle even if they don't have their best.
The final two counting scores for Frederica's first team were from Aarnav Nath and Roy Boyd. Both came in with a respectable 3-over par, 75. Roy played solid most of the round. For the second consecutive outing, Boyd found himself under par for a good part of his round. A couple of slip-ups on his inward nine had his score above par by the round's end. He was in good spirits all day. I saw him make an incredible par from disaster on 13, which kept him at -1 through that hole. So, at the time I was hoping that it would propel him to keep it going. A slip up on the next hole saw his score in the red fade quickly. Arnav, much like Boyd, was cruising like he normally does. He was even par with about half of his last nine remaining and gave up a few shots down the stretch. Both Aarnav and Roy's scores are solid, and we will need them to continue working hard and hope they can shave a few shots off.
I was very impressed with FA's last player that rounded off this top 5. Frederica Academy sophomore, Travis Cavalier, started off a bit shaky. He bogeyed some of his early holes on the front and couldn't really get much going. However, he never got too frustrated and didn't give up. His back nine was impressive. It's always nice to see when a player can have a frustrating stretch of holes...whether it's two holes, four holes, or an entire nine...and then press the reset button and go out play with some urgency to make their round respectable. Travis did that. He had a great back nine and settled for a 6-over par, 78. I am looking forward to when he puts it all together in one round, and I'm going to be so happy for him. I can't wait.
Frederica's second team consisted of Ramie Shingler, Campbell Williams, Parker Jules, Robert Stephens, and Edward Stephens. The bright spots from this team of 5 came from Ramie and Campbell. Ramie Shingler's 6-over par 78 was less than desirable for him, but it was a decent round. Ramie hit a lot of quality shots throughout his round. Ramie's in a good position on the team. He's a hard worker, and he wants to play. He's in a good position to get a lot of playing time this season and travel with the team, and I think he knows this. So, working hard on the areas he needs to help himself score and shave some shots off is something he wants.
Campbell Williams, one of three very talented 8th graders in the program, worked his way into his first Varsity start in his career at Frederica. Campbell's short game is impressive, which helps him score well despite the challenge of playing longer courses. And, this will help him in the long run. Campbell signed for an 83. Campbell is a talent. Perhaps a bit nervous today and adding some pressure to himself, but this is just the first of many Varsity starts for this young man. He works extremely hard and has a lot of good talent above him that, in theory, should motivate and push him to be his best. I'm looking forward to seeing his maturation and development over the next couple of years. Rounding out Frederica's second team was Parker Jules (97), Robert Stephens (91), and Edward Stephens (95).
The Knights also had four of its middle school players compete in the middle school division where they were playing in an individual stroke play event. Jayden Roberts fired a one-under par 71 to take second place in the competition. Thomas Sams and Lance Reid both shot six-over par 78's. Sams noted that he made a couple of course management mistakes and didn't really putt that well. Frederica's last middle school player that played in the event was Hudson Jones. Hudson shot an 84. All four of these players are very good and will only get better. Frederica's golf program has some studs coming up soon. They will be exciting to watch in the near future.
By the day's end, Frederica's first team scored a 292, which had them finish in fifth place, which had them finish two strokes behind Glynn Academy (290), and one stroke behind state rival Brookwood, who shot a 291. It was Brookwood, who won state last year, ending Frederica's streak of state championships. Taking first and second place at this year's Frederica Invitational was Rivers Academy 1 (286) and Rivers Academy 2 (290).
It was slightly disappointing that we were not able to win or finish in the top three. We knew it was not going to be easy given the number of talented teams in this event. This is the most talented field that we've seen to this point for sure, and quite possibly maybe even all year. Hopefully, we are able to learn and take something away from this and go work hard. We're tough to beat when our guys play their best. It was nice to see the middle school kids out there competing too. All four of them played very impressive golf, and we liked what we saw from them. Overall, we got great feedback from all participating teams, and they loved the course and everyone had fun. So at the end of the day...all is good. It's great to be an FA Knight!
Go Knights!
Coach Kevin Roberts
