MOULTRIE — Aaron Elrod will try to lead a Sunset Country Club team to a fifth Pot o’ Gold Pro-am championship in the last seven years when the event tees off for the 67th time on Friday.

And this year’s Pot o’ Gold will feature a bit of history.

Elrod, the Sunset assistant golf pro, said Lacey Fears will become the first female to compete in the Pot o’ Gold when she leads her Houston Lake Country Club foursome in search of a team championship.

Fears, a former Warner Robins High, Mercer University player and tour player, has been the golf pro at Houston Lake since 2019.

She will lead a team that includes amateurs Brett Harris, Curt Lane and Bobby Chaney.

The Houston Lake quartet will be among the 51 teams taking aim at Elrod’s Sunset group that has won the team championship outright in 2016, 2017 and 2021 and tied for the title in 2019.

Elrod, who will be playing in his 10th Pot o’ Gold as both an amateur and a pro, acknowledges his team is the one to beat.

“As long as I have this team together, we should be the favorites,” Elrod said. “But there’s a legit eight teams that could beat us.

“It’s getting more competitive. Teams are bringing better amateurs. So we still have to play. We still have to go out and make birdies.”

Elrod’s foursome includes Kevin Blanton, Andy Blanton and Lee Wright.

All four have played Sunset for many years and know it well.

Andy has played the Pot o’ Gold as both an amateur and a pro and holds the event’s low amateur score, a 201 he shot in 2020.

That broke the record of 202 that was set way back in 1982 by current Sunset pro Bob Windom and tied by John David Kennedy in 2016.

Andy also was low pro in 2008 and 2011.

Kevin won low amateur honors in 2013 when he turned in a 208.

Elrod has won the low pro money twice, including last year when, in addition to leading the team to a championship-winning 180, he personally scored a 204.

Last year’s low amateur, Adam Mitchell, will be back to seek a second title. He plays for Phil Taylor’s Ansley Golf Club team.

Tim Weinhart, who was the low senior pro last year, is back and will lead two Heritage Golf Links teams.

Elrod will captain another Sunset team in addition to the tournament favorite.

His No. 2 team will include former Colquitt County High School teammate Clarke Hendrick and Pot o’ Gold veterans Jared Bridges and Jonathan Bridges.

Elrod and Hendrick teamed up to win the Ramsey Pidcock Invitational at Sunset in 2014, but haven’t played together since.

“I think I have two good teams that can compete this year,” he said.

Elrod said his game is close, but not quite where he would like it to be as the Pot o’ Gold approaches.

“I’ll just have to rely on experience and get in that tournament mode,” Elrod said.

Windom will have two Sunset teams in the field.

One includes amateurs Michael Hall, Chase Blanton and Marshall McCranie and the other will feature Jake Mobley, Logan McLean and Ben Fuller.

In addition to his low amateur title, Windom was the low pro in 2000 when he was at Circlestone Country Club in Adel.

He also led Sunset to the Pot o’ Gold championship in 2013.

Elrod said the Sunset course appears to be playing longer than usual this year and the low team scores could be 30 to 32 under par.

Sunset will have more volunteers and more sponsors this year and, for the first time, the Pot o’ Gold will have live scoring available to allow players to use their phones to see where their scores stand while they are on the course.

“We think that is an exciting feature,” Elrod said.

The Pot o’ Gold will begin on Thursday, March 10, with practice rounds, a factory rep show and the traditional Andy Blanton State Farm long drive and straightest drive contest that will begin at 3 p.m. on the No. 10 tee.

There will be shotgun starts at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The sole concern about Pot o’ Gold weekend is the prospect of plummeting temperatures and frost in the forecast.

“We’re just hoping the weather cooperates,” Windom said.

The rest of the Pot o’ Gold field:

• Ansley Golf Club No. 1: Phil Taylor, pro; Mark Schultz, Ryan Parnell and Mark Shay, amateurs.

• Ansley Golf Club No. 2: Phil Taylor, pro; Alex Gaddy, Adam Mitchell and Michael Green, amateurs.

• Ansley Golf Club No. 3: Jacob Tilton, pro; Martin Connell, Nick Sarkisian and Dave Brown, amateurs.

• Ansley Golf Club No. 4: Jacob Tilton, pro; Joe Sheffield, Marc Fordham and Jim Sheffield, amateurs.

• Bridgemill Athletic Club: Bill Murchison, pro; Jacob Baker, John Belicka and Nick Brown, amateurs.

• Capital City Country Club: Jesse Hunter, pro; Sean Butcher, Alex Houser and Ford Wilt, amateurs.

• Capital City Club: JP Griffin, pro; Walker Jamison, Zan Banks and John McGoogan, amateurs.

• Cartersville Country Club No. 1: Gathon Garriga, pro; Scott Davenport, Josh Mauldin and Mike Heffner, amateurs.

• Cartersville Country Club No. 2: Jonathan Mattox, pro; Andy Burris, Chad Branton and Greg Johnson, amateurs.

• Coosa Country Club: Brian Albertson, pro; Collin Doss, Travis Nance and Steve Davis, amateurs.

• Dothan Country Club: Kevin Klein, pro; Chase Bagwell, Matt Johnson and Heath West.

• Doublegate Country Club No. 1: Glen Herrell, pro; Todd Hilton, Grady Anderson and Brandon Anthony, amateurs.

• Doublegate Country Club No. 2: Paxton Shuman, pro; Michael Monahan, Nate Gahman and Roy Steinberg, amateurs.

• Fields Ferry Club No. 1: Chase Rutledge, pro; Cooper Greer, Rhett McGowan and William Hamilton, amateurs.

• Fields Ferry Club No. 2: Chase Rutledge, pro; Nash Nance, Mike Nance and David Noll, amateurs.

• Fox Creek No. 2: Brian Dixon, pro; Andrew Eunice, Tyler Key and Eli Stripling, amateurs.

• Fox Creek No. 1: Brian Dixon, pro: Dave Matthews, Reb Benton and Sam Straka, amateurs.

• Glen Arven Country Club: Jimmy Gillam, pro; Brycen Jones, Josh Cone and Brian Beck, amateurs.

• Golf Concepts: Chris Murman, pro; Donnie Parker, Bradley Palmer and Jonathan Terry, amateurs.

• Heritage Golf Links No. 1: Tim Weinhart, pro; Chris Busbee, Michael Standard and Dave Maddox, amateurs.

• Heritage Golf Links No. 2: Tim Weinhart, pro; Craig Stevens, John Lee Redding and Hayden Willis, amateurs.

• Heritage Golf Links No. 3: Andy Shim pro; Rafael Bryan, John Stembridge and Nick Fowler, amateurs.

• Heritage Golf Links No. 4; Scott Curiel, pro; CJ Gatto, Don Carpenter and Ryan Blue, amateurs.

• Hoover Country Club: Jake Spott, pro; William Angel, Blair Hamm and Jackson King, amateurs.

• Indian Hills Country Club; Paul Reid, pro; Edward Hubbard, Phillip Weaver and Elliott Jones, amateurs.

• International City Country Club No. 1: Jarred Reneau, pro; Travis Steed, Stan Gann and Tyler Musselwhite, amateurs.

• International City Country Club No. 2: Shawn Hodge, pro; Landon Duernberger, Matt Moore and John David Kennedy, amateurs.

• Jennings Mill Country Club: Gary Miller, pro; Chad Dominey, Jason Poss and Akshay Patel, amateurs.

• Kenny Knox Golf Academy: Kenny Know, pro; Seth Williams, Zac Goodno and Tyler Carver, amateurs.

• Kinderlou Forest: Neal Rohrbach, pro; William Ebert, Elijah Peebles and Jeff Vanlandingham, amateurs.

• Maple Ridge Golf Club: Jake Keen, pro; Zac Shellnutt, Adam Cooper and Mike Reed, amateurs.

• Richmond Hill Golf Club: Paul Claxton, pro; Chris Bell, Parker Claxton and Braiden Jacobs, amateurs.

• Richmond Hill Golf Club No. 1; Paul Claxton, pro; Pat Oneal, Josh Burk and Cole Davis, amateurs.

• River Pointe Golf Club: Tony Bowles, pro; Gamie Patten, Colin Bowles and Bradley Baker, amateurs.

• Selma Country Club No. 1: Tommy Burns, pro; Wes Porter, Stanley Burns and Clarke Burns, amateurs.

• Selma Country Club No. 2: Tommy Burns, pro; John Mark Stephenson, Beau Boyd and Will Pearce, amateurs.

• Seminole Golf Club: Jaxon Hardy, pro; Jonathan Vines, Steadman Taylor and Cliff Kirbo, amateurs.

• Spring Hill Country Club: Sonny Skinner, pro; Jared Davis, Brock Young and Taylor Cooksey, amateurs.

• Steve Dresser Golf Academy: Stuart Clark, pro; James Porter, Tony Olive and Matt Gourgeot, amateurs.

• Sunset Hills Country Club: Justin Japour, pro; Alex Wilborn, John Harman and Brandon Hammond, amateurs.

• The Fields Golf Club No. 1: Todd Ormsby, pro; John Lee Richter, Mike Lemmo and Chad Griffith, amateurs.

• The Fields Golf Club No. 2: Todd Ormsby, pro; Jamey Jackson, Lee Washam and Bo Bradford, amateurs.

• The Orchard Golf and Country Club: James Mason, pro; Dug Schwalls, Clint Smith and Von Stripling, amateurs.

• Tiger Point Golf Club: Troy Raybon, pro; Mike Watson, Eric Howle and Andrew Gladden, amateurs.

• Valdosta Country Club: Cary Brown, pro; Matthew Smith, Nic Daugharty and Brad Skinner, amateurs.

• Woodmont Golf and Country Club: Craig Stevens, pro; Paul Tynan, Ernie Venet and Brian Johns, amateurs.

• Wynlakes Golf and Country Club: Steve Cutler, pro: Jacob Stinson, Jeff Dunn and Jimmy Brandt, amateurs.