MOULTRIE — Colquitt County golfer John Fordham made his first recruiting visit this fall to Valdosta State. And when Blazers coach Jared Purvis offered a scholarship, Fordham knew he did not need to make any more visits. He quickly accepted the offer.
“They’re close to home and they’re a good team,” Fordham said. “They’re sixth in the country now. And everyone gets along real well.”
And Fordham is familiar with nearly everyone on the Valdosta State team. Clarke Hendrick, of course, is his former Colquitt County High teammate and Evan Hanna and Chesley Gunn both played at Tift County. Collin Ho is from Albany.
They are familiar with each other not only from high school play in the spring, but from competing on the junior circuits over the years.
Also playing for the Blazers are Will Repko from Gilbert, Ariz., and Fredrick Hildebrand from Linkpoeing, Sweden.
“I think they are going to keep getting better,” Fordham said of the Blazers. “I don’t think they’ve hit their peak years.”
Other Packers who have played at a high level at Valdosta State in recent years are Andy Blanton and Jason Flowers.
This spring, Fordham will try to help lead the Packers back to the state tournament and perhaps chase a state title that the Packers won in 2006, when he was an eighth-grader.
When he gets to Valdosta State, he should have little trouble making his mark on the program, Packers golf coach Donald Dale said.
“He’s been great,” Dale said. “He’s done everything a junior golfer has to do to be successful.
“In middle school, he made up his mind to be a golfer and that’s been his focus. He’s played on the junior tours and that’s where college coaches watch. You have to play outside high school to get seen. And he’s played on the GSGA junior tour and the Southeastern Junior Tour and done well.”
Fordham claimed the title of one of those top events, winning the Albany Junior Open last summer.
One of the rounds that Dale especially remembers came when he when Fordham was a freshman. Challenged by a member of the middle school team, Fordham responded by firing a 62 at the Sunset Country Club course.
“He is a natural-born player,” Dale said.
And Dale said he was especially pleased to see Fordham get a scholarship — and get it to the school he wanted to play for — because “he’s been so committed to the game."
Local Sports
Fordham signs to play golf at Valdosta State
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