It has been a busy and successful summer for former Georgia Southern golfers as well as those currently on the Eagle team.
Steven Fisk has been tearing things up on the Korn Ferry Tour and has secured his PGA Tour card for next season. Ben Carr and Mason Williams have both had success on the PGA Tour Americas as both are currently inside the Top-50 in the points standings.
As for those who are currently on the Georgia Southern squad, three Eagles placed in the Top-11 in the Georgia State Amateur. Brycen Jones (-12) finished as runner up, Brantley Baker (-6) was seventh and Parker Claxton (-5) placed 11th, while Ian Glanton qualified for the Georgia Open.
“The guys have been playing awesome golf since we got out of school and it has been awesome to watch,” said Eagle coach Carter Collins. “They played the Georgia Am at Augusta Country Club and they had it set up pretty difficult. Brycen played well enough to win. He didn’t do anything to give the tournament away, the other guy made a 30-foot putt to win the tournament. Brantley played great and was one of only three guys to play under par every round. Parker played an okay first round, but played phenomenal golf from there on out.”
Last week Baker and junior Luke Koenig shined at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in the Atlanta area. Baker fired a 66 to earn a spot in the U.S. Amateur and Koenig shot a 68 and earned a spot as well after he prevailed in a playoff.
“Brantley and Luke both did a great job at Hawks Ridge,” Collins said. “Brantley has some U.S. Am experience which is great to have. Luke has been a top-level junior and amateur player for a number of years so I don’t think he will be intimidated by being on that kind of big stage.
Baker had his father caddy for him while Koenig had current Eagle assistant coach Connor Pollman on the bag. The two Eagles were grouped together in the final round and felt that really helped.
“I think we fed off each other,” Baker said. “Luke started off strong and then I started playing well. It actually felt like we were just out playing a qualifying round at Forest Heights.”
“Brantley called me up as soon as he saw we were paired up and I was very excited,” Koenig said. “It really helped calm me down playing with him and having coach Pollman with me was nice too.”
For Baker this will mark his second trip to the U.S. Am as he was in the field in 2022 along with Eagle Ben Carr who ended up placing second overall and earned a spot in the 2023 Masters and U.S. Open.
The 2024 U.S. Amateur will be held on two courses in Minnesota including Hazeltine National Golf Club which was the site for the 2002 and 2009 PGA Championship. Baker also has the advantage of having played golf in Minnesota as the Eagles traveled there for the Gopher Invitational the past two seasons
“I think I learned a lot from playing in the U.S. Am that year,” Baker said. “It also gave me some inspiration to see how well Ben played. I’m not sure how much it will help me having played in Minnesota before, but maybe with the grass and things like that it may help a little.”
For Koenig this will be his first experience playing in the U.S. Am. He was an incoming freshman when Carr and Baker played in 2022 and watched it on television. This time around he is excited to actually be in the field.
“I was about to start my freshman year at Georgia Southern so I was definitely watching in 2022,” Koenig said. “It’s so exciting to be able to go up there and play and I am glad I will be going up there with a teammate. There have been some big events held at Hazeltine so I can go back and maybe look at some old films, but other than that I will just try and approach it like I do to get ready for any other tournament.”
The U.S. Amateur will take place Aug. 12-20 at Hazeltine National Golf Club and Chaska Town Course in Chaska, Minnesota.
