By Mike May
georgia golf trail
Inaugural State Park Golf Cup: Overwhelming Success!
Thanks to the arrival
of the inaugural State Park Golf Cup, competitive golf is alive and well at the grassroots level in Georgia. Earlier this year, the state of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources conducted the first-ever State Park Golf Cup. By utilizing the golf courses at eight state parks as qualifying sites, a series of one-round, four-person scramble tournaments were conducted. The winner of each qualifying tournament then advanced to the state finals which were held on Saturday, May 7 at the Arrowhead Point Golf Course, which is located within the Richard B. Russell State Park in Elberton, Georgia. The eight state park golf courses – all of which are members of the Georgia Golf Trail – which were used as qualifying sites for the inaugural State Park Golf Cup were the Wallace Adams Golf Course in Helena (Little Ocmulgee State Park), Lake Blackshear Golf Course in Cordele (Georgia Veterans State Park), Brazells Creek Golf Course in Reidsville (Jack Hill State Park), The Lakes Golf Course in Waycross (Laura S. Walker
Georgia State Park Golf Cup Winners: Bennett, Bryant, Dye, Yeargin
State Park), The Creek Golf Course in Social Circle (Hard Labor Creek State Park), Meadow Links Golf Course in Fort Gaines (George T. Bagby State Park), Highland Walk Golf Course in Royston (Victoria Bryant State Park), and Arrowhead Point Golf Course in Elberton (Richard B. Russell State Park). The first qualifier was held on Saturday, Febru-
Arrowhead Pointe GC Greenside overlooking Lake Russell 16
ary 20 at the Wallace Adams GC and the final qualifier was conducted on Saturday, April 3 at Arrowhead Point GC. Again, the winner of each qualifier advanced to the finals at Arrowhead Point GC in early May. If a qualifier had more than 12 teams, then the top two teams advanced to the state finals. If any team did not advance at one tournament, then any team could travel to another qualifier in order to secure a spot in the state finals on May 7. Each team was allowed to include one professional golfer on its squad. When all was said and done, the winning team of the 2021 State Park Golf Cup was the foursome of Shayne Bryant, Billy Bennett, Kevin Dye, and Todd Yeargin. The winning team recorded a scramble score of 55, which was three shots clear of two other groups. It’s worth noting that the state finals winning team actually failed to advance to the state finals when it finished in a 10th-place tie at the Highland Walk qualifying tournament on Saturday, Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 3
