THE FLATS – Finishing off a busy month of February to begin its spring golf season, Georgia Tech’s 8^th-ranked golf team travels West once again to compete in the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nev. The tournament begins Sunday and runs through Tuesday, 18 holes each day.

Coming off a runner-up finish at the Watersound Invitational last week, head coach Bruce Heppler has six Yellow Jackets competing in a 15-team field that includes nine teams in the Golfstat top 25. The Yellow Jackets rallied from an eight-shot deficit to nearly overtake No. 1 Vanderbilt in the final round at the Watersound event, but came up one stroke short.

Tee times begin at 12 p.m. Eastern time each day, with groups teeing off both No. 1 and No. 10 tees.

The Southern Highlands Collegiate is Tech’s third tournament this month. The first event, the Amer Ari Intercollegiate Feb. 6-8, was canceled due to high winds, and the Yellow Jackets wound up playing a single match against No. 20 Texas to salvage the week in Hawai’i. The Longhorns prevailed, 4-1-1.

TEAM UPDATE – Tech’s performance at the Watersound Invitational bumped the Yellow Jackets from No. 12 to No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings. Head coach Bruce Heppler’s squad has not yet won an event on 2022-23, but has been a runner-up three times, including the Inverness Intercollegiate and its home Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational in the fall.

Heppler will send out the same starting lineup that competed in Hawai’i and Panama City Beach, including All-American Christo Lamprecht and fifth-year senior Connor Howe, who are the only Yellow Jackets to be a part of the starting five for each event this year.

Lamprecht, a 6-8 junior from South Africa who reached match play at the U.S. Amateur in August, fell short of winning his second tournament this year at the Watersound Invitational, taking runner-up honors. He earned his first collegiate victory at the Inverness Intercollegiate in the fall. Howe, from Ogden, Utah, tied for third at the Maui Jim and 14^th at Inverness for his two best performances so far, and added a tie for 20^th at the Golf Club of Georgia.

Also competing are freshman Hiroshi Tai of Singapore, a two-time winner in the fall (Maui Jim individual event, Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate) before tying for ninth last week; senior Ross Steelman (Columbia, Mo.), who tied for seventh place at the Watersound event and tied for fifth at the Golf Club of Georgia; and senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.), whose best finish in three fall events was a tie for sixth at the Ben Hogan Collegiate and tied for 14^th at Watersound. Freshman Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.), who played three events in the fall with a high finish of 20^th at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, is competing as an individual.

Lamprecht posted a runner-up finish at the Southern Highlands Collegiate last spring, while Forrester and Howe tied for 18^th.

All of Tech’s starting five are ranked among Golfstat’s top 100 individuals and have compiled stroke averages of 71.07 or lower in the fall. Steelman is Tech’s top-ranked player in Golfstat at No. 21, while Lamprecht is No. 34, Tai is No. 58, Forrester is No. 63 and Howe is No. 85.

Christo Lamprecht was the runner-up at last year’s Southern Highlands Collegiate and finished second last week at the Watersound Invitational. (photo by Ross Obley)

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – Georgia Tech is competing in the Southern Highlands Collegiate for the 19th time. The Yellow Jackets have won the event twice, in 2001 and 2002, but their fifth-place finish last spring is the best showing since then. Four Yellow Jackets, all of whom have competed on the PGA Tour, have captured medalist honors, beginning in 1992 when Stewart Cink and David Duval shared the title. Troy Matteson won a share of the title in 2002 with Florida’s Camilo Villegas, and Cameron Tringale win the tournament outright in 2009.

The tournament follows the traditional collegiate 54-hole, 5-count-4, stroke-play format, with 18 holes each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The event is conducted at Southern Highlands Golf Club, which measures 7,510 yards (par 72), the longest layout on the Yellow Jackets’ schedule. The individual champion will receive an exemption into the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in October.

The field includes No. 4 North Carolina, No. 7 Illinois, No. 8 Georgia Tech, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 11 Florida, No. 14 Pepperdine, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 Texas, No. 25 San Diego State, Georgia, New Mexico, SMU, TCU, UCF and UNLV.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF

Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 28^th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 70 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 29 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up four times. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.

Georgia Tech #ProJackets Golf Report

Inverness residents wanting backyard chickens have something to crow about following the city council’s final approval Tuesday to allow the fowl.

The city council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance with potential changes in the future.

Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle

The basics of the ordinance allows for four hens, with no roosters allowed.

The ordinance requires that residential properties are at least 7,500 square feet, which is less than a quarter acre.

The ordinance requires that residents wanting chickens have a chicken coop and run, no higher than 6 feet, and that a 6-foot-high fence obstructs the view of the coop and run.

Greg Rice, the city’s community development director, said the ordinance tries to balance the desire of those wanting in on the growing popularity of backyard chickens and the rights of neighbors wanting quiet.

“(The) Inverness backyard chicken ordinance is set apart from other municipalities by its focus to potential neighborhood concerns,” Rice told the council.

Councilwoman Crystal Lizanich told the council she spoke with one constituent who expressed concerns that neighborhood chickens could be bitten by disease infected mosquitos and that might transfer to humans.

So Lizanich proposed requiring mosquito netting around the coops.

Council president Cabot McBride said the ordinance creates a “Taj Mahal for the chickens already” and mosquito netting would be excessive. Lizanich failed to get any support for her proposal from other council members so netting was not incorporated into the ordinance.

Councilwoman Linda Bega two weeks ago proposed allowing more chickens if a property owner had larger property, but Rice proposed leaving that out for now to see how the ordinance worked out and the issue could be revisited.

Under the ordinance, the resident is responsible for appropriate disposition of the chickens.

The new ordinance also requires that waste materials is to be stored in an enclosed container prior to beneficial reuse onsite or authorized offsite disposal.

Applicants for a free chicken permit must show they are familiar with the UF/IFAS Extension Service educational material for raising chickens. The city will provide applicants with those materials.

Those wanting chickens must apply for a one-time, free permit.

Applying and receiving a permit to keep chickens grants city representative to give notice and inspect the chicken area.

The chickens may be kept only for personal use and not commercial purposes. No selling of the chickens or eggs or manure is allowed. Chickens shall not be slaughtered on the property.

Those wanting chickens must provide both a coop and chicken run and the maximum combined area must not exceed 200 square feet. The coop and run must be at least 7 1/2 feet from the rear property line and at least 20 feet from any side street, according to the proposed ordinance. The coop and run must be at least 25 feet from any residential structure on a neighboring lot.

The city can revoke a chicken permit if the owner violates the proposed ordinance.

The ordinance would not allow owners to release chickens to free range.

The ordinance would not grandfather in those already having chickens.

Rice said he is confident most chicken owners will follow the rules.

He said that since he began working for the city three years ago, he’s never received a complaint about chickens.

Fred Hiers is a reporter at the Citrus Chronicle. Email him at fred.hiers@chronicleonline.com.

Inverness markets itself as a “small town done right,” but that doesn’t mean it’s a quiet town that turns off its lights on weekends.

The Citrus County seat is continuing in its efforts to make Inverness a destination for visitors and draw its own residents downtown.

Saturday, Feb. 4, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will host the city’s first free Small Town Saturday Night that will include a disc jockey followed by two bands.

The event will be 3 p.m. – 9 p.m. outside the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum on Courthouse Square.

The music will have a 1970s theme, said Woody Worley, director of Inverness Parks and Recreation.

“It’s a kickoff event and it’s free … to the public,” Worley said.

Attendance at the event will determine how the city moves forward

“If all goes well, possibly we’ll do it monthly,” Worely said.

“We want to see the interest level,” Worely told the Chronicle. “It’s an opportunity for folks to come downtown, get something to eat … visit the shops.”

If the event is well received, Worley said, the city would likely continue holding it on a Saturday.

The city already hosts a series of events throughout the year, such as the Christmas parade and Light Up The lake, Independence Day celebrations, veterans’ events, and Fall Cooter music attractions.

Worely said the event is also a continuation of the city’s growing effort to create more partnerships with local businesses so the private sector can play a larger role in designing and creating events that benefit patrons and visitors.

Nature Coast radio station WXOF (96.7 The Fox) is partnering with the city to bring about the event.

Worely said that federal COVID Relief funding was used to pay for the event, generating business for the city, “so our model continues to be public/private.”

The event will start at 3 p.m. and offer a DJ until 5 p.m., Worley said. The band The Embry Bothers will play from 5 – 7 p.m. The main event will be 7 Bridges, an Eagles tribute band.

The city’s entertainment district will also be in effect that will allow visitors to purchase alcohol at one business and carry it outside or into another business, Worley said.

The event’s music will be acceptable to families, so the entire family is invited, Worley said, but there won’t be any attractions at the event solely for children.

Worley said he anticipates several hundred people coming to the trial event, possibly 1,000.

The latest casualty of the U.S. 41 road-widening project is the long-standing Florida Motel.

Next on the chopping block will be the KFC just down the road.

Drivers have waited years for the widening of this much-traveled stretch of highway. But to make it happen, several structures have been or will soon be razed to make way for the new pavement.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will widen a 1-mile stretch of U.S. 41 between State Road 44 and the Withlacoochee State Trail bridge from two lanes to a four-lane divided road with bike lanes and sidewalks.

FDOT spokeswoman Kris Carson told the Chronicle this week that construction is anticipated to start in 2023.

New traffic signals will be installed at the intersections of U.S. 41 and State Road 44, U.S. 41 and Montgomery Avenue, and U.S. 41 and the Inverness Regional Shopping Center.

The U.S. 41 project design cost is $500,000. The construction cost will be known after the project bids are received (currently set for May 2023).

Meanwhile, work on road widening from Middle School Road to Live Oak Lane is slated to begin in fall 2025. The final segment – from Live Oak Lane to Arlington – has yet to fully acquire all of the necessary rights of way to widen the thoroughfare.

U.S. 19

All three sections of the U.S. 19 widening and resurfacing projects from Homosassa to Crystal River are still scheduled to finish in 2023.

“For now, there are just periodic daytime or nighttime closures as needed (but) not around the clock,” Carson said.

There are three ongoing separate projects along U.S. 19:

Resurfacing, trail, and sidewalk project from the Hernando County line to West Green Acres Street.

This project will repave U.S. 19/U.S. 98 (Suncoast Blvd.) between the Hernando County line and West Green Acres Street in Citrus County – about 6.8 miles. A northbound right-turn lane will be added at Cardinal Street and left-turn lanes will be constructed at various median openings within the project limits.

A new 10-foot-wide multi-use trail is being built on the east side of U.S. 19 and a 5-foot-wide sidewalk is being constructed on the west side of the highway.

Widening from West Green Acres Street to South Jump Court.

U.S. 19 is being widened 2.1 miles along that stretch. It’s expanding from four lanes to six and will have bike lanes, paved shoulders and a sidewalk.

The $20.1 million project started in January 2021 and is expected to finish in spring 2023.

Widening from Jump Court to Fort Island Trail.

That stretch is being widened 4.7 miles from four lanes to six lanes. A shared-use path, sidewalks, and stormwater ponds will be built with the road widening.

The $51.9 million project started in November 2018 and is expected to finish in late 2023

Roundabout at U.S. 98 and County Road 491

The controversial $3.5 million roundabout going up at U.S. 98 and County Road 491 is scheduled to finish in the spring of 2023.

Carson said a new construction phase is expected sometime in December and traffic will be shifted to a portion of the roundabout.

The Chronicle checked out the site on Wednesday and found work well along. County Road 491 (Citrus Way) remains closed on the south side of the U.S. 98 intersection. That segment is slated to reopen in December.

DesChamps Corner gas station/convenience store remains open on the northeast corner, despite work in the parking lot.

Even though the intersection is in Hernando County, it is only 3.4 miles south of the Citrus County line so there are plenty of locals who frequent it.

About 5,500 vehicles a day travel through that intersection and almost 17 percent are trucks. A truck apron will be built to accommodate the larger ones. The FDOT will erect signs and set up rumble strips to warn drivers that the roundabout is just ahead.

That intersection has proven deadly over the years, with several fatalities. Opponents of the roundabout wanted a full-time traffic signal but FDOT said a roundabout would be safer.

For updates on the projects visit https://www.fdottampabay.com/projects/county/citrus

Michael D. Bates is a staff writer with the Citrus County Chronicle and can be reached at mbates@chronicleonline.com.

It was a case of “How will the show go on?” when a roof leak over the summer damaged the stage at Citrus High School.

A performance of the play, “Radium Girls,” was set for Oct. 20-22 when CHS drama instructor Kristen Neander learned that they couldn’t use the stage.

However, as they say in the theater, “the show must go on.”

With a little negotiation between longtime CHS drama department supporter and local businesswoman Elisha Belden and the city, the Valerie Theatre was made available for the performance this week.

Unfortunately, because the school district canceled after-school activities through Thursday, “Radium Girls” last performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11. The play is open to the public.

“The first time we came in here – you can feel the history in the building, and the kids absolutely soaked it up with every fiber of their being,” Neader said Tuesday as the cast and crew prepared for a dress rehearsal.

“We’re all very thankful for the Valerie and the city for allowing us this opportunity and for how wonderfully they worked with us,” she said.

They had to make some adjustments, such as learning how to operate the theater’s stage lighting system and the actors had to acclimate to a smaller stage, but the ambience and thrill of being in such a historic place made up for any inconvenience, Neander said.

Travis Brown, event specialist with the City of Inverness, said the city was and is more than happy to be able to work with the school.

“Our door is always open to them,” he said. “It turned out that the Valerie had that Friday open, and we don’t usually have events in the middle of the week, so it worked out.”

He added that future use of the theater by the school is always open, as long as the schedule is open.

“I think it’s a really cool showcase of the community coming together to help support this department,” Elisha Belden said.

Nancy Kennedy can be reached at 352-564-2927 or by email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com.