Coach Ed Ransopher said he was pleased with the team’s progress and accomplishments this year.
“We have progressed as the season has gone along and played a lot of tournaments here in the spring,” Ransopher said. “We’ve been gradually making progress, and we’re hoping that this will be an opportunity to go out there and let people know JCC has a competitive golf team and hopefully attract more people interested in playing and supporting our golf program.”
Johnston has had a club golf team for many years and four years ago joined the NJCAA Region 10, which allows students to compete against other junior college teams in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. JCC is a Division II squad, which means the college offers some athletic scholarships for golf team members.
At the conference championship in April, David Keel of Clayton was the player with the lowest average tournament score; Hunter Pennington of Angier shot the second lowest score; and Christian Lamm of Four Oaks finished with the fifth best score. Ransopher of Clayton was named Coach of the Year.
Ransopher said he was excited about the future of golf at JCC. The college is also considering adding a women’s golf team.
“We have generally attracted students who come in to play golf who probably wouldn’t have come to JCC otherwise,” he said. “Offering this sport has attracted people to our campus from outside our general market area and it’s given us good publicity in surrounding counties.”
“Athletics helps give JCC some identity, and we intend to let the nation know that we’ve got a Region 10 Division 2 team represented in the national finals for the first time,” he added.
For more information about golf at JCC, please contact athletic director Derek Kelly at 919.209.2123.
Cut line: Pictured from left are David Keel, Christian Lamm, Hunter Pennington, Daniel Bone, Miles Canady, and coach Ed Ransopher.
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