First-year Rockbridge County High School head coach Garret Huffman and his golfers concluded an impressive season on Monday of last week, with the Wildcats placing fifth of eight teams at the Region 3C tournament at Spotswood Country Club in Harrisonburg.
The Wildcats shot a 328 on the challenging 18-hole course. Western Albemarle won with a 294, Liberty Christian Academy placed second with a 317, Monticello (320) finished third, and Spotswood (324) came in fourth. Following RC in the standings were Turner Ashby (336), Rustburg (341) and Waynesboro (341).
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place at Lake Monticello Golf Course in Palmyra, but it was moved due to turf issues at Lake Monticello.
The top two teams and the top three individuals outside of those teams advanced to the Class 3 state tournament, which will take place on Monday at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg.
Western Albemarle’s Joe Morinelli was the medalist, firing a 70 on the par-71 course.
Senior Harrison Tanner led the Wildcats, shooting a 78 to tie for ninth place of 48 golfers. RC’s second scorer was senior Dean Fafatas, carding an 80. Sophomore teammate Joe Vargas posted an 83, and sophomore Davis Welsh completed RC’s team scoring with an 87. Also competing for the Wildcats were sophomore Parker Flint (88) and junior Finbar Looney (90).
Although they didn’t have any golfers advance to the state tournament, it was a successful year for the Wildcats. After joining the Shenandoah District this year, with shorter travel distances than the Valley District last year, the Wildcats won all four of their 18-hole district matches to claim the district title.
“It was a great first year and a lot of fun,” said Huffman, 22, a 2021 RC graduate who played golf for the Wildcats in high school and had big shoes to fill in replacing David Miller, who had coached the Wildcats for the last 13 years before stepping down.
Miller, 65, who is continuing to teach alternative education before retiring at the end of this school year, coached the Wildcats when they achieved their highest finish at the Class 3 state tournament in 2017. With Huffman as a freshman then, the Wildcats placed second in the state. Two years ago, Miller was inducted into the RC Athletic Hall of Fame as a coach.
Coached by Miller in the Valley District last year, the Wildcats had two golfers, Welsh and 2025 RC graduate and 2024 Valley District golfer of the year Andrew McCoy, advance to the regional tournament. McCoy, who would place second at the regional tournament last year before tying for 14th place in the state tournament last year, is now a freshman at Campbell University in North Carolina and is enrolled in the school’s Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) management program.
In addition to finding a new leader after McCoy’s graduation and adjusting to a new district, the Wildcats faced the challenge of not having any home matches this season due to renovations at the Lexington Golf & Country Club, though they did practice there.
The Wildcats will miss their two seniors, Tanner and Fafatas, who were the team’s co-captains. Huffman expressed his gratitude for both seniors for the work they put in this year. He said both players “were great examples for everyone throughout the year.”
Huffman looks forward to a strong returning group next year, when Looney will be a senior and four sophomores will be juniors: Flint, Vargas, Welsh and Hendrick Colvin. Also getting valuable experience as RC’s lone freshman and only girl this year was Zoe Fafatas.
Summing up the season and optimistic about the future, Huffman said, “Lots of great memories made and looking forward to next year already. Go Wildcats!”
