A lot of people are interested in what's going on at the Dothan Country Club this week. It's the Press Thorton Future Masters Golf Tournament.

One of those particularly interested in what's happening is Scott Stephens, the new golf coach at Wallace Community College. Stephens isn't paying much attention to the leaderboard. He's paying attention to the players themselves. He's scouting potential players, mostly for the future.

"I've been coming to the Future Masters since 1988 when I first started playing in it," Stephens said. "It's always a good place. It's always the best talent. A lot of times you get to see talent that you would never see in Dothan because it's coming from out of state and places we don't get to travel and look. It's just a great place to be. It's a shame Dr. Thorton is not here to see his vision realized."

Stephens said the Future Masters is a great place to scout players because he can strategically position himself to watch three or four holes at one time.

"Recruiting is actually ahead of where I thought we would be," Stephens said. "We've got seven players already signed and we've got one more spot available. And we already have three or four offers for 26."

Stephens has been busy since taking the Wallace job only a few months ago. With the fall season starting in just a couple of months, he's already got his roster mostly complete. Already signed are:

• Alex Broadway – Dothan
• Grayson Lozano - Marianna
• Blake Broadway – Albany
• Nolan Williams – Dothan
• Cooper Weeks – Headland
• Fisher Pritchard– Anniston
• Trent Ables – Wicksburg

"I feel like we're going to be really surprising to some people," Stephens said. "We're not going to look like a first year team nor perform like a first year team. We're going to be a little bit of a surprise this year."

Once the recruiting is complete for this year, Stephens said he's going to get started preparing for the fall season which starts September 1^st. And as soon as this year's recruiting cycle ends, he'll start preparing for next season.

"We're going to do a lot more coaching the next few months than we are recruiting."

The Wallace Golf team will play its home matches at Highland Oaks. The Govs will host their first tournament there on September 8-9. Right now, they have five tournaments on the fall schedule and are looking for a sixth. They will play about 15 total tournaments between the fall and the spring. Among the places the Govs will play are Pinehurst, North Carolina, just south of Cape Canaveral in Melbourne, Florida and another trip to North Carolina.

"I want to change the mindset of this program from everyday competition to competing for greatness, and championships and not accepting less." Stephens said. "Just be the best version you can be every day. It's about you, not about them. That's what most young people don't understand until it's too late."

Stephens said he has received great support so far, closing with, "Stay with us for a little bit and we're going to make you proud."