The Seymour High School golf squad will officially begin the 2007 competitive season Wednesday in a three-team meet at Holston Hills Golf Course in East Knoxville.
The Eagles return every player from a team that was upset in the region tournament last season and advanced deep into the state tournament two years ago.
Seymour participated last week in a preseason jamboree/scrimmage-like competition against several teams from the Knoxville area. Last week’s rain-shortened scrimmage did not count against the regular season’s win/loss record for any of the teams involved.
The Eagles were the top finishing Class AA program at last week’s competition, finishing only behind area Class AAA powers Farragut (first place) and West (second place).
The Eagles met as a team Monday morning at their home course, Creekside Plantation in Seymour, to determine what order the individual players will be seeded when they go up against Carter and Union County Wednesday at Holston Hills.
Monday’s practice session was held primarily because a pair of the Eagles’ expected top players, Spencer Rudder and Derek Rickles, did not attend last week’s preseason event at Ruggles Ferry Golf Course because of previous personal commitments.
Assistant coach Lee Ramsey said not much can be taken from last week’s scrimmage at Ruggles Ferry.
“We didn’t play very well,” Ramsey commented. “I’m confident though that they’ll be ready when it counts.”
He went on to say that Wednesday’s date is important, considering the competition and the need to get off to a good start to the season following last year’s disappointing ouster from the region tournament.
“Carter should be pretty good and Union County had a good team last year,” he stated. “Carter is in our district and they’ll be one of the teams that we have to beat. We need to start the season with a good performance to gain some momentum that will hopefully carry over to the rest of the year.
“On paper this team should be very good,” Ramsey added, “but in golf you just have to go day to day.”
Ramsey went on to say that the Eagles are looking forward to having the opportunity to play at the renowned Holston Hills course. He said the Holston Hills Golf Course, which has long been a favorite of his, was built in the late 1960s and is regarded to be among the top like courses in the state.