Braden Jones, Will Kahlstorf, and Trent Phillips have signed national letters of intent with the Georgia men’s golf team, according to an announcement Thursday by Coach Chris Haack.Georgians Jones and Kahlstorf and South Carolinian Phillips will join the UGA program as freshmen for the 2018-19 season.
Jones is a native of Atlanta and attends The Marist School (which produced current Bulldogs Will Chandler, Jack Larkin Jr., and Bo Sikes). Jones recorded top-10 finishes in the American Junior Golf Association’s Dominican Junior Open in 2017 and Junior at
Owensboro in 2016. He posted six top-12 efforts on the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour, including second in the 2016 Georgia Club Junior Classic, third in the UGA Invitational, and fourth in the Sea Island Junior Classic. He has helped Marist win two state titles and three region championships and was the team MVP as a freshman.
Kahlstorf hails from Watkinsville and attends Prince Avenue Christian School. He was fourth in the AJGA’s 2015 Preseason Junior at Chateau Elan, 11th in the 2015 Evitt Foundation RTC Junior, and 18th in the 2016 Wells Fargo Junior Classic. Kahlstorf has posted six top-20s on the SJGT, highlighted by a second-place showing in the 2017 Callaway Gardens Junior Classic and sixth-place finishes in the 2017 Berkeley Hills Junior Classic and the 2016 UGA Invitational, UGA Golf Course Junior Classic, and Four-Ball. Kahlstorf won the Class A Private individual state golf title as a freshman and has been chosen All-State and as the Athens Banner-Herald’s Golfer of the Year three times.
Phillips is a native of Inman, S.C., and attends Boiling Springs High School. Phillips earned Rolex Junior All-America recognition in 2015 and 2017 and recently was named to the USA Today High School Sports All-USA Boys Golf Team. Phillips won the AJGA’s Haas Family Invitational in 2017 and the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational in 2016. Phillips owns an additional 11 top-10s and seven top-20s in AJGA competition. He won the 2017 South Carolina Golf Association Junior Championship and the 2016 Palmetto Amateur (as the youngest player in the field). He represented the United States in the 2017 Junior Presidents Cup. Phillips is a three-time state medalist and has helped Boiling Springs win four straight team titles. He is the younger brother of current Bulldog Trevor Phillips.
“Braden, Will and Trent are excellent prospects,” Haack said. “They have the ability and the work ethic to make an immediate impact on our program. We are excited that they have chosen to be Bulldogs. We have been watching them play and improve the last few years, and we know we have added three talented players. The sky’s the limit for them. They can do great things together in Athens.”
• The RSM Classic at Sea Island will feature a huge Georgia contingent with Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Bubba Watson, Keith Mitchell, Greyson Sigg, Harris English, Kevin Kisner and Chris Kirk. Harman, Swafford and Watson will be paired together in the first round on Thursday.
• Speaking of Mitchell, check out this piece on his ace in the OHL Mayakoba Classic.
