VALDOSTA — Two of Jason Bennett’s biggest passions — golf and religion — have led him to St. Andrews College.

Bennett, who played four years on the golf team at Valdosta High School, has signed a letter of intent to play for St. Andrews, located in Laurinburg, N.C., next year.

He is looking forward to the opportunity to be a college golfer.

“I’m pretty excited,” Bennett said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to play golf in college.”

“This scholarship is nothing more than a testament to his work ethic and hard work. Everything he’s getting now, he’s earned it,” Valdosta golf coach Ashley Henderson said. “He’s a worker, and I imagine he will be successful at anything he does, in golf and outside of golf.”

St. Andrews is a Presbyterian college, and Bennett plans to become a minister. The chance to get an education from a Presbyterian school made the golf scholarship even better.

“I’m Presbyterian, so I wanted to go somewhere that had that kind of (denominational) background,” Bennett said. “I’ve been talking to my pastor, and (ministry) is something I’m interested in.

“I like the campus at St. Andrews. The people are really nice. The professors are nice. The classes are not very big, maybe 20 people at the most, and I like that. It’s not a big campus.”

One of the places the St. Andrews team practices is nearby Pinehurst, home to one of the country’s best-known golf courses. Bennett hopes to play all eight Pinehurst courses, including its famed No. 2 course, which has hosted two U.S. Opens.

“They practice at Pinehurst on the weekends. I’d like to play all of the courses,” Bennett said.

Bennett will be joining a diverse group of golfers. St. Andrews has golfers from Iceland, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada and England. The school is also one of the very few that has a female golf coach, Lisa Becka.

For the past three years, Bennett has been Valdosta’s top golfer. In 2006, his sophomore year, he shot a 68 and won the region tournament in Moultrie. That same year, he won the Dynamite Goodloe Invitational at Valdosta Country Club.

“That was really exciting,” Bennett said about winning the region title as a sophomore. “I shot 39 (on the front nine) and 29 (on the back nine). That was the best I’d ever shot in a tournament.”

This year, at the Region 1-AAAAA tournament, Bennett shot a 73 and finished third. It was his top round this year. He also tied for third at Bainbridge and was fifth in Moultrie.

“He led us all year. He did everything you could ask a player to do for the team,” Henderson said. “You could tell the other guys listened to him.”

Bennett has been playing golf since he was 12. His home course, Valdosta Country Club, is also Valdosta High’s home course. He enjoys the sport.

“I like golf. It’s fun to be outside playing,” Bennett said. “Golf is so peaceful.”

“Six years ago was the first time I saw him, and he lived on that golf course,” Henderson said. “He has put in a lot of work to become as good as he is at golf.”