Sports Columnist

Football season is just a few weeks away and local high schools and Troy State start practice next week.

Pike Liberal Arts, who plays Fort Dale Academy on Aug. 24 started practice last Friday and have already donned the pads.

Troy State greets their freshmen on Sunday and their varsity on Tuesday. Actual practice for the freshmen starts on Tuesday and the varsity starts two-a-days on Thursday.

Of course, TSU’s season opener is Saturday, Sept. 1 against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Game time in Lincoln has been moved to 11:30 a.m. CST because of Fox Television. Some good news announced earlier this week is that the entire Sound of the South Marching Band is making the trip to Lincoln, thanks to a very generous donation by a local businessman.

Information on plane flights to Lincoln can be obtained by calling TSU Alumni Affairs at 670-3318. A bus trip is also in the works through Bay Limousine and Charter of Dothan. That information can be obtained by calling Mr. Ozzie Judah at 793-1456. Trips to Miami, Maryland and Mississippi State have also been planned through Troy State. That information is available by contacting the same people above.

I can’t remember when I’ve been so excited about football season. I plan to see Troy State play every game this year. There’s no championships to play for this season, but that’s alright to. When you play two of the best teams in America in Miami and Nebraska that’s like playing for a National Championship in itself. You could probably say the same thing about Mississippi State.

By the way Starkville, Miss. is just four and a half hours away and kickoff for their homecoming is at 1:30 p.m. We should have thousands of TSU fans at that game so you better secure your tickets now.

Charles Henderson starts practice on Monday and so does Goshen and Pike County. All three of those teams should be good this season. Of course, the Trojans and Bulldogs tee it up against each other in an Aug. 24 jamboree at Memorial Stadium. It should be a good one.

If you’re driving by the practice fields at TSU this week you might notice some football teams in full gear knocking heads.

Three teams from Georgia – Thomaston, Crawford County and Upson County in Macon – have spent this week in Troy getting ready for their seasons.

I had a great time this week playing golf in Greenville at beautiful Cambrian Ridge.

This Robert Trent Jones facility was recently voted the top RTJ course in the country.

It is a beautiful and a true test for any good golfer. Lucky Greenville, they’ve got this magnificent gold course that very well could attract a big name professional golf tournament in the near future.

I played Wednesday with two of Greenville’s best golfers, Steve Norman and Cecil "Tuffy" Rainey. I don’t know what it is that makes them so good but Greenville, Alabama is a haven for outstanding golfers. The Hancock’s, the Norman’s, the Ryan’s, the Stabler’s, the Hamilton’s, the Rainey’s, the Wesley’s…are all outstanding golf families and very nice people to boot.

If you get a chance, drive the 40 miles before the summer’s over and play one of the best golf courses in America, Cambrian Ridge. Yes, in Greenville, Alabama.