How walk-on QB earned spot in GT’s golf lineup, tee time at Cypress

Georgia Tech freshman Colson Brown has yet to make an appearance on the field for the Yellow Jackets’ football team this fall.

Fortunately for Brown, the men’s golf team was in need of a player.

In a unique turn of events in college golf, Georgia Tech had overlapping tournaments scheduled – the East Lake Cup at the Atlanta Athletic Club and the Cypress Point Classic at the prestigious Monterey Peninsula Club. Both tournaments began on Monday, requiring a total of 11 players from the Yellow Jackets.

However, there was a problem: Head coach Bruce Heppler only had 10 active players after junior Ben Reuter decided to redshirt this season.

With the options of either withdrawing from one of the tournaments or finding a replacement player, Heppler didn’t feel right about pulling out of one. That’s when he got an unexpected solution.

“While I was in the training room dealing with a toe injury, this kid comes up to me and says, ‘Oh, you’re the golf coach’,” Heppler explained. “He introduced himself and mentioned that he had played high school golf. That’s when I thought, ‘Maybe this could be the guy to fill the spot’.”

Brown, who played three sports at North Augusta High School in South Carolina, including golf, soccer, and football, became the ideal candidate. With no official place on Georgia Tech’s depth chart as a quarterback, Heppler reached out to quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke, who had no objections to lending Brown for the week.

Interestingly enough, Brown, standing at 6 feet 4 inches, isn’t even the tallest player on the team. Nevertheless, he was included in the team lineup for the Cypress Point tournament.

This was quite a debut for Brown in college golf, and it will likely be his only career start. Nonetheless, Heppler expressed his gratitude towards Brown for stepping in and helping the team avoid withdrawing from the tournament.

Unfortunately, Brown and his partner lost both of their matches on Monday. Nevertheless, Georgia Tech’s Kale Fontenot won the individual title at the East Lake Cup, securing the team’s third seed for the match play round, which begins on Tuesday.