Rob Riddle, former general manager and head professional at Black Creek Club, has been hired as the head coach for the McCallie boys' golf team.
Riddle had been the head coach of the varsity team at Girls Preparatory School in 2013 and 2014. Previous head coach John Green is remaining with the program as an assistant.
"We're trying to build upon the tradition of McCallie golf which includes three state championships and we're trying to expand on developing the talent that comes to McCallie," Riddle said. "A key is me being able to have more hands-on time with the students, whereas a faculty teacher would have limited time. I'm going to be an on-site swing coach and help the players develop so they can be more consistent.
"A lot of them dream of playing at the next level and I want to help those who want to pursue golf in college."
Riddle is a Class-A PGA of America professional and continues working with Harris English, who is ranked inside the top 60 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
"This was an opportunity that we could not pass up," McCallie Dean of Athletics Jeff Romero said in a release. "To have a golf teacher the caliber of Rob Riddle available to serve in this capacity is a tremendous boost to our program and to our students on the golf teams."
Griffith honored
Former Ooltewah High School golfer Samantha Griffith was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference all-freshman team last week. Griffith led Lipscomb with a 78.47 scoring average and had two top-10 finishes, including a co-medalist run at the Jan Weaver Murray State Invitational.
Signal Mountain up next
Applications for the 79th Signal Mountain Invitational are available at the club as well as at www.IfYouLikeGolf.com. The tournament is scheduled for May 15-17 and is one of the few Chattanooga-area tournaments that award World Amateur Golf Ranking points as well as Scratch Player world amateur points. The tournament will also have senior and Stableford divisions. The entry fee is $160.
North Georgia Invitational
Applications for the 64th annual North Georgia Invitational, being held May 30-31, are available by contacting the Dalton Golf and Country Club as well as at www.IfYouLikeGolf.com. The $150 entry fee includes a practice round as well as lunch on both days.
U.S. Open entries due today
Applications to qualify for the U.S. Open are due today at 5 p.m. Golfers with an established handicap of 1.4 or better are eligible to enter. The application can be found at www.USGA.org.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.