Anderson County, S.C. – Visit Anderson and Anderson County took a leap of faith when in 2016 they put financial support behind two young professional anglers and budding stars Brian Latimer of Belton and Brandon Cobb of Greenwood. In the past 45 days, that leap of faith has come full circle as Brian Latimer, and Brandon Cobb notched their first career wins on the FLW Tour and Bassmaster Elite Series respectively. Anderson County and Visit Anderson will be highlighting wins by Latimer and Cobb as well as additional successes in a press conference to take place at Green Pond Landing on Monday, April 22 at 11 a.m.

Brian Latimer, who represents Green Pond Landing and Event Center on the FLW Tour, won his first professional tournament on Lake Seminole in Georgia back in March. Latimer, a native of Belton, has Green Pond Landing logos on his jersey and his boat and travels all over the country fishing the FLW Tour and serves as an ambassador for Anderson County, Green Pond Landing, and Lake Hartwell, his home fishery.

Brandon Cobb, who represents Visit Anderson in his first year on the Bassmaster Elite Series, won his first professional recently when the Bassmaster Elite Series competed on Lake Hartwell. Cobb, a native of Greenwood, carries the Visit Anderson branding on his jersey and boat and travels all over the country fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series and serves as an ambassador for Visit Anderson and Lake Hartwell, which Cobb refers to as his home fishery. Cobb went to college at nearby Clemson University and spent a lot of time on Lake Hartwell during college as he and a small group of friends are responsible for creating the bass fishing team at Clemson in 2008.

“We couldn’t be more proud of these two young men,” said Visit Anderson Executive Director Neil Paul. “They are outstanding anglers and professionals in their own right, but I wouldn’t trade the relationships and friendships that we have developed since we began working together. Brian and Brandon are tremendous anglers but even better people. I have often said, that the County and CVB took a chance on them when we decided to sponsor them on their professional journey, but more so they took a chance on us. It is a very unique and untapped partnership opportunity across the fishing industry. I was a young and naïve director at the time; but to the credit of these two young men, they saw a very supportive fishing community in Anderson County, a world-class facility in Green Pond Landing and a championship fishery in Lake Hartwell and they have been a great representative of what we’re trying to do here ever since. Through their successes and the visibility of our brands, we are now fielding calls each year from professional anglers wanting advice on how to approach their communities for partnership opportunities.”

For the press conference scheduled for Monday, April 22 at 11 a.m., Brian Latimer and Brandon Cobb will be available with their boats, jerseys and their trophies available for photos and interviews. Also, representatives of Anderson County and Visit Anderson will talk about these partnerships and share additional information regarding recent recognitions as well as sharing future event news for Green Pond Landing, Lake Hartwell, and Anderson County.