Sports

Ho curious about where he stands

• Deerfield-Windsor’s Collin Ho, who tied for sixth at last year’s GSGA Junior Championship, feels he is up to the challenge this time.

Derek Barichello

AUGUSTA — Deerfield-Windsor’s Collin Ho is viewing this week as a gauge.

Ho will join 144 of Georgia’s best golfers ages 14-through-17 for the Georgia State Golf Association Boys Championship at Augusta Country Club starting today and concluding Wednesday.

It’s easy to see why.

After all, next season, Ho’s Knights will be without the 2008 Herald Player of the Year in boys golf, T.J. Mitchell, and the 2007 Herald Player of the Year, Ashton Pellicano, who were both instrumental on the Knights’ back-to-back GISA state championship golf teams.

That means Ho, who was the Knights’ No. 3 player last season, will likely return as their top seed, magnifying the importance of this week’s tournament.

“This is a really big tournament,” said Ho, who averaged a 73.5 score and was selected to the Herald All-Area team. “It’s so important because it has all the best junior golfers in Georgia. I want to see how I stack up. Hopefully I can finish in the top five.”

Last season, Ho finished tied for sixth place. That earned him a spot in the Georgia-South Carolina Junior Challenge Match, and he once again hopes to represent Team Georgia.

“It would be a great experience,” Ho said. “I did it last year and hopefully I can do it again.”

Ho is playing well at the right time.

Just last week, Ho finished 50th out of 72 golfers in the Ringgold Telephone Company Junior Classic conducted by the American Junior Golf Association.

Ho was in first place after one round firing a 65 last Tuesday. He fired rounds of 81 and 78, however, to conclude play.

Also, the winner of the 43rd annual tournament receives an exemption into the 2008 Georgia Amateur Championship, which takes place at Idle Hour Club in Roswell, July 10-13.

Also competing in the tournament from the Southwest Georgia area are Pelham’s Hunter Ivins,  and Moultrie’s John Fordham and Bill Edwards.

Acworth’s James White Jr. won last year’s tournament.  He will not be in this year’s tournament as he plans to attend Georgia Tech this coming fall.

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