High School

Rivers Academy (Georgia) wins a third straight high school golf national championship

GHSA 7A state champion Milton places third in PGA BHSGNI event in Frisco Texas

Gary Adornato

The Rivers Academy Golf Team following its victory at the Boys High School Golf National Invitational in Frisco, Texas. It was the third straight national title for the Bulldogs.
The Rivers Academy Golf Team following its victory at the Boys High School Golf National Invitational in Frisco, Texas. It was the third straight national title for the Bulldogs. / Sam Hodde/PGA America

Rivers Academy (Georgia) is not known for its athletic prowess on the football field or basketball court. In fact, the Bulldogs do not even have football or basketball teams or many other traditional high school sports teams.

What Rivers Academy does have, however, is one of best boys high school golf teams in the country. The small private school from Alpharetta, which is a member of the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA), won its third consecutive Boys High School Golf National Invitational at PGA Frisco on July 3rd, navigating the Fields East and West Courses with a three day 12-under par score of 852.

The Bulldogs score set a new tournament record and was seven shots better than second place Hilton Head Prep from South Carolina. Georgia athletic powerhouse Milton High School, which won the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class 7A state championship, was third with a total score of 2-under.

Rivers Academy led the event by six shots heading into the final round and won by seven strokes.

“We had a six-shot lead going in today, so we knew we just kind of had to go out and play solid golf and that’s exactly what we did,” said Patmon Malcom, who finished tied for third in the individual scoring, to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I think we push each other a lot to kind of make ourselves better, and obviously that’s shown out on the golf course.”

Joining Patmon on the course in Frisco were Charles Beeson (T-21, 2-under, 216), Nicholas Canitano (T-25th, 1-under), Kai Mark (T-76, 7-over) and Joseph Canitano (T-76, 7-over). The Bulldogs are coached by Charlie Anderson.

Amari Vanipalli, who finished tied for sixth with a 5-under score of 211, and Drew Sacia (T-14th, 4-under) led Milton. The Eagles also got contributions from William Long (T-41, 1-over), Owen Barber (T-97, 9-over) and Caden Lee (T-199, 11-over).

One other Georgia squad, Northgate High, placed 14th in the team standings with a score of 35-over. Landon Noble had an outstanding tournament for the Eagles, placing tied for third with a three day score of 202.

The individual champion was Josiah Hakala from New Hampshire.

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Gary Adornato
GARY ADORNATO

Gary Adornato is the Senior VP of Content for High School On SI and SBLive Sports. He began covering high school sports with the Baltimore Sun in 1982, while still a mass communications major at Towson University. In 2003 became one of the first journalists to cover high school sports online while operating MIAASports.com, the official website of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Later, Adornato pioneered market-wide coverage of high school sports with DigitalSports.com, introducing video highlights and player interviews while assembling an award-winning editorial staff. In 2010, he launched VarsitySportsNetwork.com which became the premier source of high school media coverage in the state of Maryland. In 2022, he sold VSN to The Baltimore Banner and joined SBLive Sports as the company's East Coast Managing Editor.

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