Richard Bland Begins 2016-17 At Eagles' Cup Event

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. – The Richard Bland College men's golf team will open its 2016-17 campaign at the Eagles' Cup Tournament on September 17-18, a 36-hole event at the Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Statesmen of second-year head coach, Dr. Shawn Holt, feature three returning golfers, along with six newcomers to this year's squad.

The trio of returning sophomores include Sam Smith/Chesterfield, Zack Almarode/Hendersonville, Tenn. and Jake Pittman/Stony Creek. Smith posted a 54-hole score of 79-74-75--228 to finish in a tie for 24th at the 2016 NJCAA District 4 Championships, while Almarode shot 96-96-97--289 to finish 49th at the District 4 event last spring.

New to the second-year program this year are freshmen Austin Britt/Disputanta, Justin Cranford/Lakeland, Fla., brothers Garrett and Owen Larson of Gainesville (Va.), Frankie Lin/Kaohsiung City, Taiwan and Sebastian Reetze/Bad Salzdetfurth, Germany.

"Our team is multi-national with student-athletes from the United States, Taiwan and Germany," explained Dr. Holt.  "We have five or six golfers who routinely shoot in the low to mid-70's.  Consequently, we should be among the top three teams in our region and very competitive toward qualifying for the National Tournament."

Richard Bland will compete again at the NJCAA District IV Preview on Sept. 25-27, a 54-hole tournament at the Country Club of Brewton in Brewton, Alabama.