The Mountain Seven Conference men’s golf tournament is underway.
Throughout the spring season, Ryan Raby’s team has been among the region’s best, boasting a deep and talented roster from top to bottom. In practice rounds at each of the tournament’s three venues throughout last week, Raby had the unenviable task of selecting the team’s top six golfers.
“We ended up using these three practice rounds to finalize who was gonna be the number five, and who was gonna be the alternate – the number six,” said Raby, fresh off a round at Springdale Golf Club in Canton April 18. “There were seven guys in contention together, but there were three guys fighting for those five, six and seven positions. It came down to today with two guys tied going in, and it ended up being Nico Abbate as our alternate. So, it was good. I feel like we’ve got a good team and a good shot.”
While Franklin’s strong 11-man roster has made it one of WNC’s best teams, it has also created a vexing question for Raby in choosing a lineup. Throughout the season the group’s top five has shifted for nearly every match, selected based on results of intrasquad rounds throughout the week.
Rather than make a subjective decision on his postseason lineup, Raby let his golfers’ scores in the practice rounds speak for themselves, with sophomore Tanner Jones, juniors Max McClure, Cole Martin and Gabe Stilwell and senior Ashton Shope earning the five lowest scores.
“They’ve come along well. The way it started is the way it’s seemed to wrap up,” said Raby. “I told them to begin with it’s kind of like a funnel – we’ve got everybody here, and as the season progresses things kind of narrow until you get locked into your top five for the conference tournament. This year it seemed like it took forever to narrow that funnel down.”
With their postseason lineup set, on April 22 Franklin finally teed off, traveling to Sky Valley Country Club after press time for the tournament’s first round. There and at Cummings Cove Golf Club in Hendersonville and Springdale Golf Club in Canton, they’re expected to battle Pisgah for the conference title.
If the Panthers finish among the conference’s top three teams, they’ll return to Springdale for the 3A West Regional May 7. If not, players can still qualify as individuals if they finish among the tournament’s top four players from non-qualifying teams. Last year Franklin advanced to regionals as a team for the first time since 2015, when they won a 2A West title.
Having played multiple rounds at Springdale already this season, Raby says Franklin should have a leg up if they advance to regionals.
“We played the practice round there today, we play the conference tournament round Monday, and if we qualify for regionals we’ll turn around the next Monday and play a practice round there and then play the regional on Tuesday,” said Raby. “It’s a tough course, and those people that know it well have a distinct advantage.”