GAINESVILLE — Despite perhaps the deepest field in the history of the Big Red Shootout, several Northeast Georgia area golf teams had encouraging showings on Tuesday at the Chattahoochee Golf Course.
Especially a young host Gainesville, who finished second overall behind defending Class 7A champion Milton and was led by a freshman, Henry Kopydlowski, who also took second in the individual meet.
The 16-team field included two defending state champions (Milton, Class 7A; Johns Creek, Class 6A) and seven of the eight top four finishers in last year’s state championships among Class 6A and 7A teams.
Gainesville, which finished fourth in Class 7A in last year’s state championships, posted a solid 139 points, which was 11 points behind Milton’s 150 in the Stableford scoring system (8 points for an Eagle, 4 points for a birdie, 2 points for a par, and 1 for bogey).
Red Elephants coach Cameron Millholland was more than pleased, considering it was the opening event of the season for his squad.
“We wanted to play Apple Mountain last week but we got rained out so to have to have this as your first event is tough,” Millholland said. “But the guys worked super hard during the preseason and really played well considering the tough conditions and the tough field.
“(The 139) is a super strong score with this group of teams and what can you say about Henry, a freshman in his first-ever high school event, to get second in a stacked field. That 41 he put up was really, really good.”
Kopydlowski finished just four points behind individual medalist Taiki Miyagi (45 points) of Johns Creek.
“Coming into it I just wanted to try and do the best I could. I really didn’t think about where I would finish,” Kopydlowski said. “I struggled driving some today but I also made a lot of putts. I just tried to manage my way around the course. I feel good about where my game is at right now.”
Milton and Lambert combined to put seven players in the individual top 10. Lakeview Academy’s Tanner Stephens carded an impressive 35 to finish 11th for the only Class A school in the field and the only other area player to finish in the top 15.
Millholland acknowledged there is still a long way to go before thinking about the state tournament. But with the Class 7A finals set to be held at Chattahoochee in May, he also admitted Tuesday’s showing gives them plenty to think about.
“Our goal this year from the first practice through the season is to be standing out on the 18th green here at Chattahoochee holding up the trophy,” he said. “Today showed we can definitely compete. We beat Lambert and several other 7A teams and I feel like we have a lot of room to get better as well. Very encouraged about what we did today.’
After Gainesville, Johns Creek finished third with 134 points and West Forsyth and Lambert finished tied for fourth with 133 points. Cambridge took sixth with 131 points and Cherokee Bluff and Mill Creek finished tied for seventh at 121. The Bears were the only non-Class 7A or 6A team to finish in the top 10.
North Forsyth was ninth with 112 points and Buford was 10th with 105. Habersham Central was 11th with 104, North Hall 12th with 99, South Forsyth 13th with 95, and Dawson County and Lakeview Academy were tied for 14th with 91 points. Riverwood finished with 90 to round out the field.
