Troy Golf Signs Eight During Early Signing Period

The Troy University golf program grew substantially during the early fall signing period as the Trojans added eight players, five women and three men, to the roster for the 2011-12 season.

Trojans coach Matt Terry was barely able to contain his enthusiasm when talking about the newest Trojan golfers.

“I am really excited about the whole of the signing class,” Terry said. “It is the largest I have ever signed, especially in the early signing period. It is definitely the largest female class I have ever signed. This is also the best signing class we have had since I have been here. When these eight guys and girls come in here next year it will be extremely exciting to see how they do.”

Terry stayed close to home with the signing class with all eight of the new Trojans coming from either Alabama, Georgia or the Florida panhandle. In addition to being talented golfers from the local area, all eight are also outstanding students.

“We have signed a lot of international kids in the past, but we stayed very close to home with this class,” Terry said. “Three of the five girls are 4.0 students, and all five are excellent academically, which is exciting to me because I won't have to worry so much about their grades and can focus on their golf. All three of the guys are also excellent students, as evidenced by the fact that two of them will be on Millennium Scholarships.”

Below is a short biographical sketch on each of the eight new Troy players, starting with the women.

Sydney Conrad – Powder Springs, Georgia – Harrison High School
Put together a long list of accomplishments on the course during 2010. Included in that list is a first place finish at the All-American Junior Golf Tour Players Championship, a first at the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour's Marietta Junior Classic and a second place finish at the same tour stop at Ross Bridge. She ranked as high as 13th overall in the Georgia Junior Golf standings and as high as fourth in those same rankings for players in the class of 2011. She is the daughter of Jenny Hartley and Mark Conrad and is planning to go into the nursing profession.

“Sydney is a player with a lot of power,” Terry said. “I personally got to see her play in a match-play event and got to see a lot of the things I had heard about her. She is a fighter and will come in ready to fight to play right away.”

Kalyn Hudson – Gulf Shores, Alabama – Gulf Shores High School
The only native Alabamian among the women's signees, she set a school record during her junior season for lowest round. She is the daughter of Ricky and Tammy Hudson and is planning to major in business management.

“Kalyn was our second commitment and is a very good athlete,” Terry said. “We are going to do some work on her game, but she has the potential to be a very good player. One cool thing about her is that she has had a children's book published.”

Her book is titled “Surfin' Sam Just Will Not Listen”. Not surprisingly, Hudson is a fan of water sports.

Taylor McGraw – Macon, Georgia – Mount De Sales High School
Was named the Georgia Junior Golf Tour (GJGT) Player of the Year in 2010. She was the GISA Region 2 AAA low medalist and was an all-region selection last season. She is a three-year letter-winner at Mount De Sales. She is the daughter of Vicki Lawton and Mac McGraw and is planning to major in political science.

“Taylor just came off a second place finish at the SJGT against an extremely good field,” Terry said. “I am really excited to get her here and keep that Macon connection going. She likes to wear high white tube socks when she is playing and she is going to be a lot of fun to have around.”

Brooke Spinks – Tifton, Georgia – Tifton County High School
Was an all-state selection in Georgia as a junior, helping her team to a second place finish at the state tournament. During her sophomore year she placed in the top five in all four junior PGA Tournaments she played in.

“Brooke was our last signee and we signed her on the last day of the signing period,” Terry said. “We are excited to get her. I got to see her play in Albany and there were a lot of people there who had a lot of good things to say about her.”

Langley Vannoy – Pensacola, Florida – Pensacola Catholic High School
Didn't take up the sport until her sophomore year of high school, but improved to the point where she earned a 12th place finish at the state tournament last year. She went the state tournament each of the last three years. She was ranked as a top 40 player in the state of Florida in tennis and also played volleyball and softball. She is the daughter of Beverly and Jeff Vannoy and has a brother, Clayton, who is also a golfer at Pensacola Catholic. She is planning to major in biology.

“Langley was our first verbal commitment, and is a good player who we got to see play over the summer,” Terry said. “She won the SJGT and has the potential to be very good. This was her first really solid year of playing junior golf and she got a lot of opportunities to get better. She is very strong and a very good athlete.

“We are excited about all five of these young ladies joining our program and I think it is definitely a step in the right direction to continue what we have been doing. I think all of these girls will push the players we have returning next year and give us a big base of players who will have to fight to get to play each week.”

Phillip Brennan – Mobile, Alabama – Baker High School
The product of a Coast Guard family, Brennan has played golf since the age of eight in port areas in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon and Alaska. He set four school records at Anchor Bay HS in Michigan and won the MHSAA 6A Region Tournament as a freshman. Other top finishes have included a victory in the HGJT Gulf Coast Junior Class and two second place finishes at SJGT events. He had a top 20 at the Southern Golf Association Southern Junior and a top 15 at the Future Masters. He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and ranks fourth in his senior class of 461 students.

“Phillip is the final guy we signed, on the last day of the signing period,” Terry said. “He is another very smart young man. Of the three players we signed, he could very well end up being the best of them all because he has got plenty of length, length to spare. He is a great young man, a great student, who had a couple of very good finishes in the fall.”

Tolver Dozier – Dothan, Alabama – Dothan High School
Dozier is the highest ranked junior golfer to sign at Troy in Terry's tenure as head coach. He played on the American Junior Golf Tour last year and is currently ranked as the No. 30 junior golfer in the country. The event that got Dozier noticed nationally was the AJGA tournament in Huntsville, which he won. He has played on the team at Dothan High since the seventh grade and has been playing golf since the fourth grade. In addition to his play, he ranks first in his class academically at Dothan High. He is the son of Tol and Kay Dozier.

“Tolver had a whale of a summer with a victory, a second place and a third place, all on the AJGA Tour, which is the biggest tour in the state for junior golf,” Terry said. “Every where that he played he performed well and he has been invited to numerous events. He is a local guy whose mother graduated from Troy. We are excited to be able to keep him here. It was a tough recruiting process to get him here.”

Jake Tucker – Cullman, Alabama – Cullman High School
Tucker is another player who took up the game of golf at an early age. He has been playing since he was six years old and has played on the Cullman High team since the seventh grade. He had a third place finish at the AHSAA 5A state tournament last year and was seventh at the Future Masters. In addition to his play on the golf course, he is also a member of the Cullman HS basketball team. He is the son of Kim and Lew Tucker.

“Jake is ranked No. 80 in the country and we are really excited about getting him to our campus” Terry said. “It was a long process recruiting him. We saw him play a ton of golf and we feel like he is going to come right in and make a huge impact on our team.”

Troy University Athletics

Troy Golf Signs Eight During Early Signing Period

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