When the John A. Logan College men’s golf team opens its fall season today at the Region 24 Preview Tournament at Franklin County Country Club in West Frankfort, it will do so with almost a completely new roster. Gone are All-Americans Marcelo Rozo and Matt Smith as well as solid contributors Jamie Stocks (Trico High School), Joe Goelzhauser, and Adam Butler. These players formed the nucleus of the two most successful golf seasons in Logan’s history, including a national championship in 2009, a runner-up finish at nationals last spring, and a record number of wins.

The only returning member of the team is sophomore Filip Timmerman from Santiago, Chile. He had an excellent freshman year for the Volunteers, earning NJCAA All-American honors last spring and receiving the Phil Mickelson Award as the top community college freshman golfer in the country.

“We lost a lot of good, experienced players to graduation, and we’re glad to have Filip back,” said Tom Ferris, head coach of the Volunteers. “He’s a talented, aggressive player, and he played well for us last year. He was the medalist at our tournament last fall, and winning the Phil Mickelson Award is a great honor and shows how highly he’s thought of. He’ll probably be considered the best junior college player coming into the season, and I expect a lot out of him. His leadership and experience will be important to our success this year.”

The rest of the squad is made up of freshmen, including John Carter from Benton, Ky.; Bryce Doughty of Benton, Il.; Colin Hendrickson of Loveland, Colo.; Jered Hogan from East Alton, Il.; Drew Hrvatin from Evansville, Ind.; Colin Robinson from Ayrshire, Scotland; and Derek Rohlfing of Effingham.

Despite having a young team, Ferris says he is optimistic about the season.

“Filip is definitely our leader, but I feel like this new group has a lot of talent,” Ferris said. “These guys are a mix of power players and finesse players, and they are all good ball strikers. Colin Robinson and Drew Hrvatin have very good credentials, and Colin Hendrickson is an outstanding player. Bryce Doughty is probably the best player in southern Illinois, and we feel fortunate to have a local player of his caliber. All of these players have had success, but they are all freshmen so we’ll have to see how they mature and how well they adjust to college golf.”

The team will be tested right out of the gate. After the two-day Region 24 Preview Tournament, the Vols will host the JALC Fall Invitational at Kokopelli Golf Club in Marion on Aug. 29-30.

“We’ll play two tournaments back to back to start the season, and that’s a good way to assess where we are competitively against good competition,” Ferris said. “It will also let us know what we need to work on for the rest of the fall.”