Goins leads Gaffney golfers to eighth-place finish

For first-year Gaffney High golf coach Todd Coggins, the Outback Invitational was an encouraging start for his team.

The Indians shot a 319 to finish eighth out of 24 teams. Dutch Fork won the event with a 295.

"It was a respectable finish," Coggins said. "We still have some things we need to work on, but we are improving. We just need to make smarter decisions on the course."

Adam Goins was the Indians' top finisher with a 4 over par 76. Teammates Matthew Hopper shot 79 and Phillip Rogers shot 81. Gaffney's Daniel Whisenant shot 83 and Will Coggins shot 85.

The top four scores were used to calculate the team total.

"Adam played well," Coggins said. "He doesn't miss too many fairways and that's why he is able to score."

Coggins liked the play of Hopper, who is recovering from an illness.

"Hopper had a strong showing, too, playing in his first event for 2008," the Gaffney coach said. "He had a couple of bad holes but finished strong."

Goins and Cayci Ruppe played in the Sunshine House Tournament at Cobb's Glenn golf course on Saturday and Sunday. Goins shot a two-round 156 to finish ninth overall. Ruppe finish 6th in the girls division.

Gaffney's match with Byrnes on Tuesday was rained out. The Indians return to action Thursday against Boiling Springs at Woodfin Ridge