Athens Academy’s girls golf team last week proved itself as one of the top teams in the state.
The Lady Spartans competed in the Class A-Private state tournament held at Heritage Golf Links and finished tied for second. They combined to shoot 299 throughout the two-day competition, which tied them with Tallulah Falls High School.
Brian Olson, head coach of Athens Academy’s boys and girls golf teams, made the case that Class A’s golf teams are the best in the state. Specifically, Olson said the Lady Spartans competed alongside some of the best individual golfers while vying for the championship spot.
Olson said he was proud of the way his players hung tough despite the competitive nature of the field.
“The quality of golf in those two groups on that second day, you're looking at a star-studded field of girls that are really talented,” Olson said. “They're the best girls golfers in the state and they played that way.”
Athens Academy improved its team score from 150 on day one to 149 on day two, but Tallulah Falls charged into the second spot after going from a 153 team score on the first day to 146 on the second day.
In the end, a solid performance by defending individual champion Meredith Bennett and a career outing by Ally Buchanan helped the Lady Spartans secure their spot.
Buchanan shot a 78 in round one but improved to a 73 in the second round. That marked the best total of Buchanan’s career.
“Ally had a triple and a double (bogey) on the front and still shot 78,” Olson said. “She was disappointed in her first round, even though she played well and had a couple of bad breaks. She knew that she was gonna play well that second day.”
Buchanan’s second-round improvement helped her finish tied for sixth with a 151 total score.
Bennett, meanwhile, finished fifth. She scored 148 total across the two rounds, shooting a 72 in round one and a 76 in round two.
“She was the defending state champion,” Olson said of Bennett. “She's always been able to play the game and she loves competing. ... I think that she was really focused. That course was a difficult course in the sense that you're gonna have all different types of lies. It's not one of those courses where you just hit the ball as far as you can, walk up and hit a wedge and then try and make birdie. You have to be a really good ball striker.”
Highlighting the capability of the golfers in the Class A-Private competition, Olson said he believed the Lady Spartans’ team score would have been good enough to win the title in most competitions.
Though that did not happen this season, Olson expressed pride in the accomplishments of Bennett and Buchanan on the big stage.
“That was a nice way to finish the season,” he said. “I think they were really proud and really happy, and we had to earn it.”
Athens Academy failed to qualify a boys team for the state championships but it did send one representative to the field.
John Manuel Newland tied for 28th by totaling 157 across the two days. Newland’s first-round score was 80 but he improved that total by three strokes on the second day.
“John Manuel played well at the area tournament then went to the state tournament as a freshman and played in a great group,” Olson said. “He shot 80 the first day and wasn't happy with that score. He came back and played better the second day on a tough course so I was extremely proud of him. When you look at the quality of the course, the difficulty of the course and his performance being a freshman, it was really great.”
Olson said a combination of pride and increased familiarity with the Heritage course helped Newland improve between the two rounds.
“I think the more he played it, the better he got,” Olson said. “He was hitting the ball really well day one and had a couple of bad breaks but he has a lot of natural ability. He's got a really high swing speed; he hits the ball a mile. For day two, I think he just knew what to expect. ... He has a lot of pride and he's very competitive, so he really wanted to play better the second day.”
With the season in the books, Olson thanked Athens Academy’s supporters for their help and encouragement throughout the year.
The Spartans and Lady Spartans saw positive developments this year, and Olson said he believes the best is yet to come.
“I feel like this was a great reset,” he said. “We have some really good golfers over the next three, four, five years that are coming into the program. ... I would love to work on our facilities and an indoor facility where our kids can play year-round. We've added a great assistant coach, Chip Elder, who's done an amazing job. I feel like the time is now to kind of rebuild our legacy or take back that legacy. I'm excited. I think we're in a really good place, and I think that you're gonna see a little bit of a renewed interest in direction in what we're doing and why we're doing it.”
