And when Purple Hurricanes' golfer Aden Faddis tees of with Heath Walker of Bremen and Brandon Lee of Alpharetta to begin the United States Golf Association qualifier at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, it will be the earliest the rising senior has been up during his summer vacation.
The golfers have a 7:30 a.m. tee time, which precedes 36 holes of golf.
Despite whatever grogginess Faddis may feel at having to beat the sun's rise, he's looking forward to playing the course, where he has played before.
"I like the course," he said of Pinetree Country Club. "It's a fun course to play. ... It doesn't have any tricky holes ... or awkward shots."
Faddis said his average score for the course is par.
Pinetree Country Club will play to 7,108 yards and a par of 72.
Regardless of his familiarity of the course, the USGA qualifier field will be a worthy one.
"It's going to be a pretty tough tournament ... but I've got a pretty good caddy," Faddis said.
Also, the number of holes played on today will be something new for the Canes' golfer.
"I have (played 36 holes in one day before), but not in a tournament ... and I had a cart," Faddis admitted.
Nevertheless, Faddis -- who has played in three tournaments this summer -- should get some quality opportunities to develop his game before he returns to the state-qualifying Cartersville golf team next spring.
"You get a bunch of experience ... hitting every shot when it matters," said Faddis, who is spending his first summer playing extensive top-level golf tournaments. "I'm hoping to first play good in this one ... I want to win a couple this year, post some good scores for colleges to look at.
"If you can post good scores from these tournaments, that's when (colleges) look at you. They see how you do under pressure because that's pretty much the golf you're going to be playing in college."
The Georgia State Golf Association will conduct today's qualifier.
After 18 holes of play, the field will be cut to the low 27 scores and ties and all players within eight strokes of the 18-hole leader.
The 63rd annual U.S. Junior Amateur Championship will be held at Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich., July 19-24. Entries were open to amateur golfers who will not have reached their 18th birthday on or before July 24 and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 6.4. The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA.
For more information on today's qualifier, visit the GSGA website (www.gsga.org).
-- Information from the Georgia State Golf Association was used in this article.