Fort Mill boys’ golf hopes senior leadership can carry it to ‘our ultimate goal’
The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets’ golf team is off to an excellent start in the 2021 season. They are currently 6-0 and ranked sixth in the state in 5A.
Head coach Judd Dye is pleased with what his team has accomplished thus far, but he sees the need for continued improvement.
“We have done very well thus far,” said Dye, who is in his eighth year as the Jackets’ head coach. “We have improved steadily as the year has gone along, but we need to keep working and getting better each day if we are to reach our ultimate goal.”
The Jackets have won dual matches against Rock Hill and Nation Ford and two tri-matches against Catawba Ridge and Northwestern. In addition, they finished 16th in the 28-team field at the Bengal Invitational at Blythewood in early March. They also won the HV3 Invitational Tournament.
Senior Griffin Tarver is the leader for the Yellow Jackets this year. He finished 16th in the 112-player field at the Bengal Invitational. He has already signed to play at Charleston Southern next year.
“He is a very good player, and he is a tremendous leader on the course,” said Dye. “He also works great with our younger golfers during practice. He teaches them how to play the course, improve their score, and approach different shots.”
Senior Bryce Wittmer, a Lander commit, and senior Keegan Brown, a Spartanburg Methodist commit, also have played well. has also done well. He has already signed to play at Lander next year. That trio takes care of the top spots on the team.
Dye has quite a few other players to fill in the lineup card each round: Sophomore Cam Baker has a lot of potential, per his coach. Junior Ossian Quinn and senior Eric Zeppelin and junior Alex Martin are also in the mix.
Fort Mill has had several players step forward and turn in the low score in a match and earn medalist honors, Dye said.
“That gives us a lot of balance so we do not count on one player all of the time,” he said. “It also gives our players confidence when they can shoot that low score and be the medalist for the match.”
The Yellow Jackets still have matches remaining against several members of the region, in addition to some non-region events.
The Yellow Jackets play in an extremely tough region. Boiling Springs is the second ranked team in the state in 5A, and Nation Ford, Gaffney and Clover always field competitive teams.
“This is a quality region,” he added. “That excellent competition will help us get ready for the region tournament as well as the postseason.”
The region tournament will be played at the Chester Golf Club this year.
“That is an excellent course, and it is a neutral site so that no team will have an advantage,” said Dye. “We are hoping that we can continue to improve as we prepare for that event, which will determine if we make the state playoffs.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 6:00 AM.