It’s not even a month into the collegiate golf season and the freshman class has already made a huge impact in the early 2011-2012 season.
Crimson Tide ‘freshy’ Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., earned his first collegiate victory at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga., by shooting a tournament total 10-under-par 206. He shot a final-round 65 to beat Chattanooga’s Benjamin Weilguni by four shots.
Thomas is filling the void for Bud Cauley, who left the Tide at the end of his junior year to pursue his professional career. So far, think he is filling in just fine. Now that he has established himself, the Tide will now rely on him more and more.
After finishing his stint on the United States Walker Cup team in Scotland, Patrick Rodgers went straight to the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. He hasn’t even been to Palo Alto to attend classes yet, but he has one thing under his belt: medalist honors at a collegiate golf tournament. The 2011 Porter Cup champion finished with a tournament total 206, and also lead the team to a team title.
Rodgers is not filling a particular spot, but he is picking up the slack for a certain Cardinal senior (cough, David Chung, cough). The Cardinal will look to the freshman to put this team back on track for a national championship in May.
The top five freshmen, known as the ‘Fab Five’ include Thomas, Rodgers, Anthony Paolucci at USC, Jordan Spieth at Texas and Cheng-Tsung Pan at Washington will look to dominate early and often. USC and Washington’s first event are at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational, if Paolucci and Pan get through team qualifying, they could possibly make there debuts together. Spieth has not played in a collegiate event yet due to the Walker Cup. Look for him to be in the line up at Jerry Pate Intercollegiate. Could a freshman be Rookie and Player of the Year? Though it is early, it is quite possible.
