Some of the best high school golfers in the state will flock to three Columbus golf courses on May 22 and 23 when the Georgia High School Athletic Association’s 2017 State Golf Championships will be held for two GHSA divisions. The 1A Private School Girls and Boys venue is Green Island Country Club and will be hosted by Brookstone School. Columbus High School will be the host for the 4A Girls and 4A Boys venues at Maple Ridge Golf Club and the Columbus Country Club, respectively.
Each year the GHSA asks for host sites for the championship tournaments. For the 2017 events, it is noteworthy that Brookstone boys golf team and Columbus High School boys golf team will both be defending their titles as 2016 state golf champs in their divisions.
According to the GHSA website, there are 14 host sites for Divisions 1A Private through 7A, and the tournaments will be 36-hole events for the first time. Participants in the state tournaments will advance from their area tournaments directly to state based on their qualifying scores and the order of their finish.
In the Game asked Brookstone head golf coach Hunter Chapman and Columbus High School head boys golf coach Chris Parker to give some background about hosting venue sites. Both Chapman and Parker were the coaches for their 2016 state championship teams, which gives them unique perspectives on this year’s events.
Hunter Chapman, Brookstone:
How did Brookstone become one of the hosting schools?
Being granted the opportunity to host begins with presenting the GHSA with a quality golf course, which we have with Green Island. The course is great for high school tournaments. It is always in great shape, it plays quickly, and the overlapping layout makes it great for coaches to frequently interact with players and for fans to see a lot of golf. I owe a lot of thanks to the persistent help of D. Copeland, former president of the board of directors at Green Island. He was very supportive of the tournament being played at Green Island, and he personally was willing to put in the effort of reaching out to the GHSA. The willingness of the course staff made this possible as well.
Has Brookstone been a host school in the past?
Brookstone has hosted the state tournament several times, including three times in the past decade. In 2007 the girls and boys were both hosted at Bull Creek, and in both 2010 and 2011, the girls played at Bull Creek, and the boys played at Green Island. Brookstone has hosted the area tournament at Green Island before as well. While this will be my first time hosting a championship tournament, we have hosted a regular-season tournament (Brookstone Invitational) at Green Island each of the last three years.
What is involved in being a host school?
As the host school, we will be working with Jay Russell and the GHSA in the months leading up to the tournament to execute their standard operating procedures to the best of our ability, as well as to add our own personal touches to the event. It is mainly our job to ensure that the tournament runs efficiently and that the teams have the best experience as possible. I care a good deal about hospitality for all of the teams, efficient pace of play, and a quality golf course that is both fair and challenging. We will work with the Green Island staff to talk through details such as pin placements. We will coordinate a team of volunteers to assist in all aspects of the tournament process as well.
How does the event benefit the Cougars?
The tournament is a great opportunity to put the school in the spotlight. Not only will we have the opportunity to try to please all of the participating teams with a good tournament, but it is great for the entire Brookstone community to have the honor of hosting. A lot of school spirit and enthusiasm will be involved as well. A lot of people, from students to alumni to friends outside of the school, are excited. Of course, too, it is great for the city of Columbus when a lot of teams descend upon the city for a few days.
Any other comments about hosting a venue site?
Green Island is such a great course with an even better staff. For years Matt Heitmueller and Richard “Doright” Korytoski have done a phenomenal job with hosting tournaments. They are tremendous advocates of junior golf, and I am thankful for their support and their friendship. The entire Green Island staff deserves a ton of thanks and credit as well. The course has hosted tournaments of all levels, including the PGA Tour, throughout its existence, and I am grateful that they are willing to host the A-Private state tournament this year.
Chris Parker, Columbus High School:
How did CHS become one of the hosting schools?
Each year GHSA solicits schools via its website to host state tournaments. To do my fair share, I try to volunteer to host the state tournament every few years. This year Columbus High School submitted a bid to host both the boys and girls AAAA tournaments and Brookstone to host the A-Private boys and girls.
Has Columbus High been a host school in the past?
This will be the fourth time that I have hosted a state tournament. 2006 at Bull Creek, 2010 at Maple Ridge, 2015 at CC of Columbus, and 2017 at CC of Columbus. I have also hosted a sectional round once as well.
What is involved in being a host school?
It is a lot of work and requires the help of many people in the community both financially and volunteering. We are fortunate in Columbus to have the best Sports Council in the state of Georgia. They are very instrumental in bringing events to our city that benefit all citizens with the amount of tourism money that will be spent for this event.
We will work with the local golf professionals in organizing the tournament (tee times, hotels, restaurants, etc.). We are very fortunate to have so many willing golf pros and club golf committees who are supportive of junior golf. We will also put together a tournament favor package to make the events in Columbus stand apart from those held in other places.
How does the event benefit the Blue Devils?
There are a couple of benefits that come to mind for being the host school. Obviously, you hope that playing on a course that is more familiar to your team would be one of them. Another is the money saved by not having to travel for three to four days with hotel expenses, food, etc. The obvious downside is that it will require dozens of hours of extra work and planning from the local coaches.
Any other comments about hosting a venue site?
In order to put on the quality of event that Columbus is known for, we will need the aid of dozens of individuals and businesses throughout the community. If anyone is interested in helping, they may contact me at the school or contact the Columbus Sports Council. There are no funds provided by GHSA, so the coaches (myself, Joe McDaniel, Hunter Chapman, Dawn Burts) and the golf pros (Mike Gill, Richard Korytoski, and Ryan Williams) are mostly doing this as a service to our community.
Columbus Valley/April-May 2017
State golf championships
Columbus and Brookstone
Columbus, GA
Written by: Beth Welch
Columbus to be the Site of 4 GHSA State Golf Championships
