September 2016 FORE Georgia Magazine

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SEPTEMBER 2016

New finish for Tour Championship Nines reversed at East Lake this year

By Mike Blum

S

ince East Lake’s historic golf course was thoroughly renovated and upgraded in the mid-1990s by Rees Jones, most of the work on the course has been relatively minor apart from the replacement of the bent grass greens after the 2008 Tour Championship with Mini-Verde Bermuda, which enabled the course to better handle Atlanta’s Summer heat.

The changes to the course since last year’s Tour Championship are again mostly minor apart from some changes in bunkering near and around the ninth green. Or at least what used to be the ninth green.

Since it was designed more than a century ago, East Lake has been known as one of the relatively few courses in golf with a par-3 18th hole. The 235yard hole made for a challenging finish, but with birdies a rarity and only the occasional bogey, it did not make for the most exciting conclusion

to one of the premier tournaments in golf.

Tournament officials decided to rectify that situation, and when fans arrive at East Lake for the opening round of the 2016 Tour Championship on Sept. 22, they will discover that the 18th hole is no longer the 18th hole and the ninth hole is no longer the ninth hole.

To enhance the drama of the tournament’s finishing holes, tournament officials have reversed the nines for this year’s Tour Championship, a decision that likely will be a permanent one. The original front nine has become the new back nine, with the original back nine now the front nine.

Instead of finishing with a long par 3 that produced a preponderance of pars in the tournament, East Lake will now finish with a par-5 that offers the more enticing possibility of a birdie or perhaps eagle. The change also creates the potential for a big number for players who find the usually thick rough off the fairway after an errant tee shot and are unable to clear the sliver of East Lake that extends

across the fairway on what is now the 18th hole with their second shot.

The former 18th hole was surrounded by grandstands which made for a nice finish for many of the golf fans in attendance, but did not provide the most exciting finale for the millions of viewers watching the tournament on television in the U.S. and around the globe.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth,

who also won the 2015 FedExCup, gave his thumbs up to the change in the nines.

“Normally, that 18th hole, you’re making a three. That’s going to be about the average score. On the ninth hole you can make an eagle, and then if you’re in trouble you can make a bogey. You can make up two or three shots on one hole.” [ See Tour Championship, page 6 ]

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Instruction Fore You

P R E S E N T E D BY

Technology Can Help You Play Better

“Why Guess When You Can Measure”

By Tom Losinger and Chad Phillips

Reed wins in Playoffs . . . . . . . . . . . 10

GPGA pros play for nationals . . . . 26

swing starts from the ground up. Well now we can actually measure and improve a player’s footwork and interaction with the ground. Tour coaches such as John Tillery and Scott Hamilton have had tremendous success with their players utilizing BodiTrak in doing just that.

SAM PuttLab and now Blast are two of the most popular devices for diagnosing putting strokes. What is also really nice is that they are both quite useful to train on.

SAM PuttLab is similar to TrackMan in that it gives you different aspects of the putter motion and it predicts ball roll dynamics.

In summary, technology now allows us to truly measure what the person, the golf club and the golf ball are doing. The player and teacher can then, much more easily, get to the root cause of the player’s issues and work together to come up with pictures and feels that change and improve “the numbers” with the obvious intent of improving the player’s performance. The entire process develops a much more valuable and enjoyable experience for the student.

Chad Phillips is a Golf Channel Academy Lead Instructor and is based at the BridgeMill Golf Academy. He can be reached at 864-313-3373 and cepgolf@gmail.com Tom Losinger is a PGA Master Professional and the Director of Instruction at the BridgeMill Golf Academy in Canton.

He can be reached at 770-345-5557 and losgolf@gmail.com.

Ryder Cup preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

DEPARTMENTS: Fall College preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Women's college preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Chip Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Golf FORE Juniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

www.trackmangolf.com www.scienceandmotion.com www.boditraksports.com www.swingcatalyst.com www.blastmotion.com www.k-vest.com

PGA Instructors, BridgeMill Golf Academy There has never been a better time in the history of the game to utilize technology to help you play better golf. At the BridgeMill Golf Academy we use TrackMan, BodiTrak, SAM BalanceLab, SAM PuttLab, K-Vest, Blast and multiple High-Speed Cameras. Other technologies on the market and used by other instructors across the state are systems such as GEARS (Scott Hamilton and Sea Island), Swing Catalyst (Mike Granato and Scott Hamilton), HMT, Flightscope, MySwing, 4D and others.

You may be asking…How does this help? Technology removes a large portion of the guesswork by providing specific measurements when analyzing a swing, a putting stroke, or equipment. As Top 100 instructor James Leitz said, “Why guess when you can measure.”

For instance, TrackMan and other radar devices generate specific measurements in the areas of golf club data and ball flight data that help both teacher and student understand why the ball went where it went. Teacher and student then try to match a feel to the data so the player knows which feels produce certain results or numbers. These feels and changes can

then be placed under stress within the TrackMan Test Center.

Pressure mapping units, such as BodiTrak, SAM Balance Lab and Swing Catalyst provide detailed foot pressure data, pressure distribution and center of pressure patterns. With effective foot and ground work a player will improve contact and accuracy while increasing distance. Many of the best instructors and players in the game have said that the

Forecast

INSIDE THIS ISSUE FEATURES:

FedExCup update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Kuchar captures bronze . . . . . . . . . 12 BridgeMill review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Major victory for Sauers. . . . . . . . . 18

Web.com Finals preview . . . . . . . . 20

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Weinhart wins Section title. . . . . . 22

McCain takes Match Play . . . . . . . 24

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Central Chapter President Cary Brown, PGA / cary@valdosta-country-club.com East Chapter President Dana Schultz, PGA / dschultz@troongolf.com North Chapter President Jordon Arnold, PGA / jordonarnold@hotmail.com AT - L A R G E D I R E C T O R S

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GOLF’S BIGGEST FINISH

The 10th FedExCup season all comes down to the back nine at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday. Expect a more dramatic finish than ever before, when the front and back nines are flipped for this year’s PGA TOUR season finale.

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STEVE DINBERG

Tour Championship [ Continued from the cover ]

Of the new 18th, Spieth said, “It’s a beautiful hole to finish on.”

To accommodate grandstands that will surround the green left and right (the side of the clubhouse sits behind the green), trees between the putting surface and the first tee have been removed, with trees short of the green remaining.

The bunkering around the green has been altered to make for some more challenging up-and-downs for players who go for the green in two but come up just short or a little wide, with a new bunker sdded in the layup area for the second shot.

With holes 16 and 17 a pair of long and demanding par 4s that also did not yield a sizeable number of birdies, the closing trio of holes at East Lake fell into the “hang on and make par” category, something that will no longer be the case.

While the new par-4 16th hole (formerly No. 7) is among the more difficult holes on the course, the new 17th is one of the friendliest par 4s on the course, depending on hole location. Reversing the nines creates the distinct possibility of a birdie-birdie finish for contenders chasing the leader, something that was extremely difficult under the original routing.

With the change, East Lake will offer a more inviting finish for the 30 players who will comprise this year’s field. But before the players near the finish line, they will have to make it through the Jordan Spieth

STEVE DINBERG

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FOREGEORGIA.COM

Phil Mickelson

most difficult hole for the Tour Championship, as well as the most dangerous.

The par-4 14th, which plays as a par 5 for the members, annually plays at the toughest hole in the Tour Championship.

The hole typically measures around 520 yards (slightly downhill) and is bordered by some of the most penal rough found on the course. Missing the fairway almost guarantees missing the green, and the hole played to a scoring average of 4.43 last year with 36 bogeys (out of 112 scores), six doubles and only three birdies.

The island green par-3 15th follows the difficult 14th, and begins with the scariest shot the 30 competitors will face at East Lake. The hole usually plays around 210 yards all carry over water, although a shorter tee is generally in play at least once or twice during the tournament.

Although the hole is considerably longer than the infamous 17th at TPC Sawgrass, it accounts for far fewer disasters than its counterpart. Only three players made double bogey on the hole last year, with the drop area providing a definite hope of salvaging a bogey after splashing the tee shot.

“That will have a big effect,” 2012 Tour Championship and FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker said of the move of the sixth hole to the 15th. “I’m already dreading the 15th. When I won in 2012, I got wet on Sunday, but I had 12 holes to make it up.”

Another impact of the change will come much earlier in the round. The former first hole was among the easier par 4s on the course, and was a potential birdie hole for players who found the fairway off the tee. The new opener is a converted par 5 of 480 yards, and played as the most difficult hole last year after the new 14th, producing just four fewer bogeys over 72 holes.

With the nines reversed, East Lake will offer the chance for a fast start, providing players get past the first hole unscathed.

Four of the next five holes are on the

tame side, with the par-5 fifth the easiest hole on the course by a wide margin.

The new back nine presents scoring opportunities early and late, with the toughest stretch being the three holes in the middle (13, 14 and 15). Because of the challenge of East Lake’s fast, sloping putting surfaces, the difficulty of the holes can change markedly depending on pin location, with a potential birdie hole one day becoming a possible bogey hole the next.

The reversal of the nines will also make for some changes for tournament spectators. With crowds more concentrated on the final nine late in the day, crowds following the lead groups will find things a little different as they move from hole to hole.

A majority of holes on the new back nine will add spectator stands, most with overhangs to shield the spectators from the sun, and a triple-decker hospitality structure between the 14th and 15th holes is expected to be a popular spot to catch the action. The original back nine consists primarily of parallel holes with plenty of room between them, with the only bottleneck found between the old 17th green and 18th tee.

The new back nine includes a few holes that intersect at a perpendicular angle, and with the increased number of spectators on that nine, there is the chance that galleries following two different groups could cause something of a traffic jam.

The two areas are behind the 18th tee where it borders the 13th fairway, and in front of the 17th tee, which has been pushed back near the 15th tee.

The increase in spectators around the 15th green will also make for some potentially tight quarters for those walking from that hole to the 18th on the relatively thin strip of cart path behind the practice area. The tournament’s volunteer gallery guards will be tasked to keep spectators moving in the potentially congested areas.

Because of NBC’s commitment to Notre Dame football, the Tour Championship will have an early

Saturday finish, with NBC’s broadcast running from noon to 3:30 p.m., when Notre Dame hosts Duke. The Sunday network broadcast will be from 1:30 to 6 p.m., with very limited commercial interruptions once the leaders reach the back nine of the final round.

Golf Channel will have the first two rounds from 1-6 p.m., and early round action on the weekend, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday and noon to 1:30 p.m.

Sunday.

This will be the 16th time that East Lake has hosted the Tour Championship, the first time in 1998. East Lake became the permanent host in 2004 after alternating with the Champions Club in Houston in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Coca-Cola and the Southern Company have been the tournament’s two primary sponsors since it came to East Lake and continue in that capacity.

Spieth added his name to the distinguished list of players who have won the Tour Championship at East Lake, shooting 9-under 271 to win by four strokes last year. He posted four rounds in the 60s (68-66-68-69), taking a onestroke after 54 holes over 2013 champion Henrik Stenson, who led by two after an opening 63 and expanded his lead to three over Spieth after a second round 68.

Stenson retained his lead for most of the third round and was still three ahead with nine holes to play Saturday before bogeys at 10 and 11 trimmed his margin to one. Spieth made up three shots over the last four holes, carding birdies at 15 and 18 while Stenson bogeyed the 17th.

Spieth dropped into a tie Sunday after bogeys at 5 and 6, but birdied the eighth for a 2-shot lead when Stenson bogeyed the hole. Spieth’s lead increased to three when Stenson bogeyed the 12th and Spieth parred in from there to win by four over a trio of players including Stenson, who birdied the 18th after taking double bogey on 17.

Also tying for second were Danny Lee and Justin Rose, who both made early charges Sunday, shooting 4-under 31 on the front. Lee finished with a 65 and Rose shot 66. Dustin Johnson shot 30 on his final nine for a 64 and tied for fifth at 276 with Bubba Watson and Paul Casey.

Spieth will look to join Phil Mickelson as the only player to win twice at East Lake, with Mickelson scoring his victories in 2000 and 2009, both times coming from behind in the final round to overtake Tiger Woods, the 2007 champion.

Other tournament champions include Hal Sutton (1998), Vijay Singh (2002), Retief Goosen (2004), Adam Scott (2006), Jim Furyk (2010), Bill Haas (2011) and Billy Horschel (2014).

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Big names at top of FedExCup list Castro earns return to East Lake

By Mike Blum

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Roberto Castro

STEVE DINBERG

he final FedExCup Playoffs event prior to the Tour concluded Championship with a considerable amount of drama that left two of the game’s most prominent players outside the top 30 in the points standings that determined the field at East Lake.

While Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia were knocked out of the top 30 during the final round of the Playoffs event at Crooked Stick, almost all of golf’s biggest names will be in the field at East Lake. Along with them is a surprise last-minute push by an Atlanta resident and former Georgia Tech standout, who is back in the Tour Championship after qualifying as a second-year PGA Tour pro in 2013.

Roberto Castro, who grew up in the north Fulton suburb of Alpharetta before enjoying an outstanding collegiate career at Georgia Tech, vaulted from 53rd in the standings to 21st after placing third at Crooked Stick behind Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey, who secured two of the coveted top-5 FedExCup spots along with Patrick Reed, Adam Scott and Jason Day. Only the top five players are guaranteed a FedExCup title with a victory at East Lake, with Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth finishing in the sixth and seventh positions. McIlroy won the Playoffs event in Boston, with Spieth the defending Tour Championship and FedExCup champion.

Joining Castro and Reed, who led Augusta State to back-to-back NCAA Championships, in Atlanta are three other players with Georgia ties – former Georgia Tech standout Matt Kuchar, a St. Simon’s Island resident, and exGeorgia Bulldogs Bubba Watson and Kevin Kisner, who lives in Aiken, S.C. Seven other Georgians made it to the third of the four Playoffs events but finished between 47th and 64th to miss out on an invitation to East Lake. That group includes Augusta natives Charles Howell and Vaughn Taylor, former UGA golfers Harris English, Brian Harman, Chris Kirk and Hudson Swafford, and veteran Zach Johnson, like English, Harman and Swafford a St. Simon’s resident. English (Valdosta), Harman (Savannah) and Kirk

(Woodstock) are also Georgia natives, with Kirk recently returning to Athens to live.

Castro, Casey and Sean O’Hair made the biggest moves in the Playoffs to make it to the Tour Championship.

O’Hair tied for second behind Reed at Bethpage Black to jump from 108 to 15, and ended up 25th.

Casey started 68th before advancing to 10th after his first runner-up finish. Castro dropped from 53 to 64 after missing the cut at Bethpage, but moved back up to 53 after a T24 in Boston.

Needing a finish of no son lower than fourth at Crooked Dustin John Stick to make it back to East from the NBC broadLake, Castro took the opening cast crew, which did not seem to know round lead with a 7-under 65 and followed with another 65 the next much about him except that he attended day to share the 36-hole lead with Dustin Georgia Tech and lives in Atlanta.

Castro was never able to catch Johnson Johnson, who caught him thanks to a 63.

Castro was paired with Johnson and or Casey, who both closed with 67, but Casey in the third round, and had an up- he matched that score with a second twoclose-and-personal look at golf’s most putt birdie on a par 5 on the back nine dominating player, with Johnson along with a few deft par saves. One of shooting a 68 to take a 3-stroke lead over them came after NBC incorrectly Casey. Castro played respectably, but reported his tee shot on the par-3 17th after holing a string of long putts and found the water, mistaking the splash hitting it close enough to produce 15 made by a startled frog and a leaping fish birdies the first two days, he did not for his golf ball, which was imbedded on make a birdie in the third round the bank. Castro finished three behind although he had his chances. Castro’s 74 Casey and six in back of Johnson, but did dropped him to fourth, six behind not have to sweat out his FedExCup Johnson, and he was paired in the final status down the stretch, finishing five round with J.B. Holmes, one of a shots in front of five players who tied for handful of players who can match fourth, including Kuchar and Holmes.

Kuchar, who came into Crooked Stick Johnson’s length off the tee.

Knowing he needed to move past 28th in the standings, needed a strong Holmes on the leader board to ensure his showing to return to East Lake and got hopes of qualifying for the Tour it, moving up to 16th in the final standChampionship, Castro got the final ings.

Kisner, who began the Playoffs 11th round off to an excellent start when he birdied the first hole. A bogey at the after an outstanding start to his 2015-16 second, where he 3-putted from eight season, highlighted by a win in the RSM feet, could have started Castro down the Classic at Sea Island GC, wound up 19th. path to another over-par round, but he Watson turnied in a solid effort to move played the last five holes on the front up from 27 to 24, which is where he nine in 4-under, carding birdies on both stood beginning the Playoffs.

Tying Kuchar for fourth was Charl par 5s and holing a shot from 160 yards Schwartzel, who shot 64 the final day to for eagle on the par-4 seventh.

His matter-of-fact response to his hole- move up 13 spots to finish 30th, edging out attracted some momentary attention Fowler by less than a point. Both finished

with 1,607 points. Garcia struggled on the weekend and fell to 32nd, with Ryder Cup teammate Henrik Stenson not playing at Crooked Stick due to injury and falling from 24th to 36th after starting the Playoffs in 14th place.

U.S. Ryder Cupper Brooks Koepka started the Playoffs 19th, but lost ground every week and missed the Tour Championship at 35th. Also missing out on a trip to East Lake after beginning the Playoffs in the top 30 was Branden Grace, Smylie Kaufman, Graeme McDowell and 2011 Tour Championship winner and FedExCup champion Bill Haas.

Among the 30 players qualifying for the Tour Championship were PGA champion Jimmy Walker (10), 2012 tournament winner and FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker (11), youngster Justin Thomas (12), twotime Tour Championship winner Phil Mickelson (13), career non-winner Kevin Chappell (15), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (17), Kevin Na (22) and Jason Dufner (27).

Tour Championship rookies along with Thomas and Chappell include Russell Knox (8), Emiliano Grillo (9), 21-year-old Korean Si Woo Kim (18), William McGirt (23), Daniel Berger (26) and Jhonattan Vegas (29).

Rounding out the field are Ryan Moore (14), Gary Woodland (20) and Holmes, [ See FedExCup, page 34 ] SEPTEMBER 2016

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Locks up Ryder Cup berth; leads FedExCup

Reed opens Playoffs with win at Bethpage

By Mike Blum

oming into the first of the FedExCup Playoffs events, Patrick Reed was very much on the bubble of the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, holding down the eighth and final spot for inclusion on the team, with the Barclays the final tournament before the eight automatic spots were determined.

Considering his performance in the 2014 Ryder Cup in Scotland, Reed was almost certain to be a captain’s pick by Davis Love. Reed took the decision out of Love’s hands, leading the tournament almost all the way before out-dueling fellow Ryder Cup aspirant Rickie Fowler in a high-pressure final round on one of the country’s most difficult golf courses.

Reed shared the lead after 18 holes at Bethpage Black and was two on front after 36 before falling one behind Fowler heading to the final round. Reed pulled even with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and took a twostroke lead when Fowler bogeyed the 11th and Reed birdied the long, par-4 12th.

Fowler played the last four holes in 3over to make Reed’s task a little easier, with Reed bogeying two of the last three to finish at 9-under for the tournament and a one-stroke margin of victory.

The victory was Reed’s fifth in his four full seasons on the PGA Tour and his third in a high profile event. Reed won in Greensboro as a rookie in 2013 and followed with a pair of victories in 2014, the second in the WGC event at Doral.

Prior to winning at Bethpage Black, his most recent title came in the 2015 Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Reed has played well since winning the T of C in early 2015, but was winless for more than a year-and-a-half despite a long string of top finishes. Coming into the Barclays, he had nine top 10s in the 2015-16 season and five more finishes of 15th or better, two in the most recent major championships and a T11 in the Olympics.

“I felt like I’ve played really well all year. Just haven’t quite had the breakthrough W like today,” Reed said after his victory in New York.

“As you look through the other events, I have three out of four rounds that are pretty good and pretty solid, and then I

Patrick Reed

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STEVE DINBERG

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fourth in the final standings), Reed’s victory also earned him a fourth straight invitation to the Tournament of Champions.

“If you go and win, it takes care of everything else,” Reed observed. “Gets you into the Tournament of Champions, gets you into the Ryder Cup, gets you the lead in the FedExCup. It takes care of everything.”

For Reed, the big incentive was the Ryder Cup and his first time to play in the event in front of supportive fans.

“So now, I finally get to play for the United States in the United States. I cannot wait to see how the fans are and just have the whole crowd on our side this time. It’s going to be so much fun.”

Reed was one of the top performers for

Augusta. Reed had reported disputes with teammates at both Georgia and Augusta State, with his college travails detailed in a book about the PGA Tour that did not attract a great deal of attention.

On the course, Reed was one of the most consequential players in NCAA history, leading the Jaguars to back-toback NCAA titles along with fellow PGA Tour member Henrik Norlander.

The Jaguars defeated perennial powers Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech twice each en route to their titles, beating Oklahoma State in the finals in 2010 and Georgia in the title match the next year.

Reed went 6-0 in match play, twice thrashing heralded Oklahoma State AllAmerican Peter Uihlein, along with wins over Tech’s Chesson Hadley,

the U.S. team at Gleneagles, going 2-0-1 in three team matches with Jordan Spieth as a partner and defeating Henrik Stenson in singles. Reed and Spieth dominated their two four-ball matches and after sitting out the first foursomes session, when the U.S. went 03-1, Reed and Spieth got a half the next day, with the U.S. again going 0-3-1.

In last year’s Presidents Cup in South Korea, Reed went 1-2-1, halving with Louis Oosthuizen in singles and winning in four-ball with Spieth against Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel. He lost twice to Oosthuizen and Branden Grace in foursomes with partners Matt Kuchar and Fowler.

Reed first made his name as a match play ace during his two seasons at Augusta State, with the Jaguars winning NCAA Championships in 2010 and ’11 after Reed transferred following his freshman season in Athens on the UGA team.

After playing in the Fall of his freshman season at Georgia, Reed did not play in the Spring and was involved in several incidents that precipitated his transfer to

Florida State’s Brooks Koepka and Georgia’s Harris English, the latter in the match that decided the 2011 championship.

Immediately after the Jaguars won their second NCAA title, Reed turned pro with one year of college eligibility left. He failed in his first attempt at PGA Tour qualifying but made it on his second try after gaining some notice earlier in 2012 for his Monday qualifying prowess.

With no status on the tour, Reed competed in 12 PGA Tour events that year, most of them after he played his way into tournaments via four-spot qualifiers. He earned more than $300,000 with four top-25 finishes and enjoyed a strong rookie season in 2013, defeating Spieth in a playoff in Greensboro and finishing 54th in the final FedExCup standings.

Reed improved to 21st in 2014 and was 12th last year. With his win in the Barclays he was first on the points list and will make his third straight appearance in the Tour Championship at East Lake.

“Top-tenning is great for making a living.

But at the end of the day, every time we play golf tournaments, we don’t settle for top tens.

We’re going out there to try and get a W and try to get a trophy.”— Patrick Reed have one round that puts me three or four out of the lead. Yesterday was my bad round (even par 71) and I went from ahead by two, to only down by one. It wasn’t like I had to go out and shoot 62 like I have had to do in other events.”

Until his win in the FedExCup Playoffs, Reed had plenty of top finishes since his victory early last year in Hawaii, but that wasn’t enough for the highly competitive former Augusta State star.

“Top-tenning is great for making a living,” Reed said. “But at the end of the day, every time we play golf tournaments, we don’t settle for top tens. We’re going out there to try and get a W and try to get a trophy.

“At the end of the day, a bunch of top tens, it’s great. But it’s going to make you be on that bubble. I’ve had, it feels like a hundred top tens this year, and I’ve just kind of stayed there on that six, seven, eight, nine (number) on the Ryder Cup. It takes something like a win to be able to solidify yourself.”

In addition to locking up a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team (he ended up

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Earns medal with spectacular final round

Kuchar takes home bronze from Olympics

By Mike Blum

O

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ar “The sport I ended Matt Kuch up choosing was the sport that through my lifetime has not been an Olympic sport. When it did become an Olympic sport, the lights went off and I said, how amazing.

I can’t believe I now potentially have the opportunity.

“I had a great last couple months of golf that crept me inside the top 15 in the World Ranking, which was able to qualify me to make the U.S. team.

It took a couple of guys not playing for me to get in, and I thought this might just be fate. And it was. To make the

it’s an amazing thing this tournament, compared to others, where fifth place doesn’t really exist. Fifth place means a very nice tournament and a nice paycheck when we’re on the PGA Tour.

“Here it’s a nice finish, but you have nothing to take home. I can’t begin to explain to you the amount of pride I have finishing third. Typically would not say that. As I was out on the golf course thinking, you know what, I stand a real shot at a medal. The overwhelming sense of pride that I felt was just remarkable.”

Unlike some of the top American players, Kuchar had his sights on the Olympics as soon as it was announced that the sport would be part of the Games this year.

“Olympics come around only once every four years and as a fan of sport, you just can’t wait to watch and root on the guys from your country and just see great things happen. I had the dreams most boys have of hoping to compete in an Olympics, hoping to win a medal.

most of it, to return home with a medal, is amazing.”

Kuchar made the U.S. team because Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson elected not to play. He was also the beneficiary of good timing. He made it into the top 15 just before the cutoff for determining teams, and would have been bumped by Phil Mickelson if the qualifying date had been a little later.

The former Georgia Tech AllAmerican was one of three members of the U.S. team who played their college golf in the state.

Bubba Watson, whose stay at Georgia was briefer and much less successful than Kuchar’s was at Georgia Tech, tied for eighth in the Olympics at 7-under 277 and enjoyed his stay in Brazil as much as any athlete on any U.S. team. He recovered from a disappointing opening round of 73 to shoot back-to-back 67s before an un-Bubba like final round, which he concluded with eight straight pars for a 1-under 70. Watson ‘s second round 67

ERG STEVE DINB

rdinarily, a player the caliber of Matt Kuchar would not be in a particularly celebratory mood after a third place finish in a tournament, with the exception of a major championship.

Kuchar already had a trio of third place finishes this season, one in the Players Championship and another in the WGC event at Firestone.

But his most recent third place showing was a little different.

Thanks to his third place finish in the 2016 Olympics, Kuchar returned to his home on St. Simon’s Island with a bronze medal from the return of golf to the Olympics after an absence of more than 100 years.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” Kuchar said after matching the low score of the tournament the final day to make a run at gold and silver medalists Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. “It’s really hard to describe the feeling, the pride that I have.

“To come out and play an amazing round of golf and to know that it would take an amazing round of golf to medal, I couldn’t be happier.”

Kuchar shot a final round 63 to tie Australia’s Marcus Fraser for low round of the tournament. He finished at 13under 271, three shots behind Rose’s winning total of 268 and one behind silver medalist Stenson, who was tied with Rose going to the 72nd hole.

Coming to the final round, Kuchar was seven shots off Rose’s lead, six behind Stenson and was four in back of Fraser, who was third after 54 holes. Kuchar never quite caught up to the two leaders, but overtook Fraser midway through the round and wound up with a 4-shot margin over fourth place finisher Thomas Pieters.

“I was really hoping to go as low as I could and possibly up the medal color,” Kuchar said. “But eight-under today, couldn’t be happier.”

Kuchar said holding down third place late in the final round “was a funny position to be in. But while I was out there, playing that back nine, the sense of being an Olympic medalist really hit me. I kind of had to back off a few times and re-gather my thoughts and composure to make sure I try to hit good shots and

keep making birdies.”

Beginning the final round seven off the lead and four out of a medal position, Kuchar opened with four straight pars before a torrid six-hole stretch he played in six-under. Kuchar followed birdies at 5, 6, 8 and 9 with an eagle at the par-5 10th, and was suddenly within striking distance of the two leaders.

After four more pars, Kuchar closed with birdies at 15 and 17 and had a good look at a birdie and a final round 62 at the 18th, but left his putt just short.

Kuchar began the week with his aim a bit higher than a bronze medal, but his reaction to taking home the bronze emphatically declared that he was perfectly happy with any sort of medal.

“We all show up to win a gold medal.

I played three steady rounds that weren’t great and left me a long way back. But

"To just be a part of it, to stay that you're an Olympian, it is really a dream come true.

And then to make the most of it, to return home with a medal, is amazing."— Matt Kuchar included four bogeys, and he was 5-under after 10 holes the next day before playing the last eight in 1-over.

Patrick Reed, who led Augusta State to consecutive NCAA Championships in 2010 and ’11, was 1-over after three rounds with scores of 72-69-73. He was even par for the tournament after nine holes the final day, but shot 6-under 30 on the back for a 64 to tie for 11th at 278.

Kuchar, Watson and Reed returned to the U.S. with their eyes on another American team. The top eight on the points list qualify for the American Ryder Cup team, and Reed was eighth, Watson 10th and Kuchar 11th with two tournaments remaining before the cutoff for automatic qualifying.

Reed clinched his spot on the team with a win at Bethpage Black, while Watson and Kuchar were in the position to having to rely on being selected by U.S. captain Davis Love, along with fellow Olympian Rickie Fowler.

SEPTEMBER 2016

Cole Cole Swindell Swindell No November vember 19 T Tickets ickets on sale no now w at RSMC RSMClassic.com lassic.com PPresented resented bbyy

America’s best golfers come to one of America’s best places to slow down.

Join Ryder Cup Captain and Tournament Host Davis Love III when the PGA TOUR returns to the Golden Isles for The RSM Classic.

2016 SEPTEMBER

FOREGEORGIA.COM

13

U.S. tries to end Ryder Cup slump Will Bubba be Love’s final selection?

or decades, the U.S. dominated the Ryder Cup, winning 20 of 21 matches in one stretch before the addition of continental Europe in 1979 to the former British-only team altered the course of the competition.

The U.S. team still won the first three times after European players joined their GBI counterparts, but the matches have gone in a sharply different direction over the past two decades.

Since 1985, the European team is 104-1 against the U.S. Since the Americans scored back-to-back victories in 1991 and ‘93, Europe has won eight of the last 10, with the U.S. team eking out a win in ’99 at the Country Club in Boston and scoring a decisive victory in 2008, when captain Paul Azinger directed a team that was without an injured Tiger Woods.

The U.S. team will try again on home soil Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Hazeltine in Minnesota, looking for just its second victory in the last eight Ryder Cups.

The reason for Europe’s recent success in the matches has resulted in considerable consternation on this side of the Atlantic, with the PGA of America, which conducts the event, trying all sorts of differing approaches to rectify the situation.

In 2014, the U.S. brought back Tom Watson, the captain of the last U.S. team to win in Europe in 1993, but that did not turn out so well, and the Americans were soundly defeated.

After years of alternating the captain’s slot between prominent players in their late 40s or early 50s (Jack Nicklaus being the only modern repeat exception until Watson), the U.S. is again giving a recent captain a second chance. St. Simon’s Island resident Davis Love is looking for a different outcome after leading an American team that appeared headed for victory in 2012 before Europe rallied in singles.

Love will have a largely veteran U.S. team, with Brooks Koepka the lone rookie to make the team on points. Love’s first three captain’s picks all have Ryder Cup experience, and if he adds Bubba Watson as his final selection, Koepka will remain America’s only Ryder Cup rookie.

Bubba Watson

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Europe will go with six rookies, with Darren Clarke using two of his three captain’s picks on veterans Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, both

of whom have abandoned the PGA Tour after mostly indifferent results in the U.S. The Americans have a clear advantage in experience, and as a group are considerably ahead of their counterparts in the World Rankings. Whether that translates into a U.S. victory is another matter, with America often having the advantage in those two categories but still managing to come up short after three days of play.

The 2016 U.S. team is led by Dustin Johnson, who has finally appeared to have fully harnessed his enormous talent and has been the best player in the world, winning the U.S. Open, WGC event at Firestone and Playoffs event at Crooked Stick since mid-June. Johnson is 4-3 in two Ryder Cups, 2-0 in singles, but has played just one alternate shot match.

The Americans have fared respectably in better ball matches (other than Jim Furyk), but alternate shot is another matter. None of the 10 U.S. Ryder Cuppers (Watson would make it 11) with Ryder Cup experience have a winning record in alternate shot.

STEVE DINBERG

By Mike Blum

Phil Mickelson and St. Simon’s resident Zach Johnson are the only two U.S. team members who have played in more than three alternate shot matches, and are 4-6-4 and 3-4-1 respectively.

Matt Kuchar, also a St. Simon’s resident and a captain’s pick by Love, is 1-2, and is one of just three U.S. team members who have competed in more than two Ryder Cups. Watson has also played in three, but his status is unclear despite his two Masters titles and World Ranking of 7.

The reason the U.S. lost in 2014 was because Europe went 6-0-2 in alternate shot, winning each of the two sessions 30-1. With the big hitters on the U.S. team frequently sitting out alternate shot (Johnson has played one of four possible matches, Holmes sat out both in 2008), the U.S. has relied on its more accurate players, but to little effect.

The biggest task for Love is to find players who mesh well in the alternate shot format. Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed won both their better ball matches two years ago at Gleneagles, and halved their one alternate shot match, sitting out the other session. Other than Mickelson and Zach Johnson, the only other Americans with alternate shot wins are Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker, who

have one victory each.

Look for those two plus Zach Johnson and the Reed-Spieth team in alternate shot, with Love having to figure out some combinations. Jimmy Walker and captain’s choice Rickie Fowler teamed up two years ago to halve three of their four team matches, and may be paired again, as Love’s alternate shot options are limited.

With a host of big hitters to choose from, Love will have less difficulty forming better ball teams. Mickelson is only 7-8-2 and Dustin Johnson and Watson are both .500 in their better ball matches. Kuchar, who is considered more of an alternate shot type player, is 2-1-2 in better ball.

The six European players with Ryder Cup experience are a combined 27-10-11 in alternate shot and 22-15-9 in better ball. Sergio Garcia and Westwood have been highly successful in both formats, going 9-2-2 (Garcia) and 9-4-4 (Westwood) in alternate shot, and 6-3-3 and 8-5-2 in better ball. Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson have three Ryder Cup appearances each and are a combined 9-4-3 in alternate shot and a slightly less impressive 6-5-3 in better ball. Surprisingly, McIlroy has won just one of five better ball matches, but that may be more of a reflection of the American preference for that format.

Kaymer, the other European veteran, has played just two alternate shot matches in three Ryder Cups, but may be counted on more in that format due to his team’s inexperience. Europe’s six rookies are Masters champion Danny Willett, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Chris Wood, Andy Sullivan, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Thomas Pieters, who was picked by Clark on the basis of his excellent recent form. None has a great deal of competitive experience in the U.S., but that didn’t hinder Willett at Augusta.

McIlroy, Rose and Kaymer are a combined 6-1-2 in singles, and were all factors in the come-from-behind win in 2012. Westwood, Garcia and Stenson have not been as stout in singles, with a combined mark of 7-12.

Other than Mickelson (5-5-1) and Zach Johnson (2-1-1), no American player has an extensive Ryder Cup his[ See Ryder Cup, page 34 ] SEPTEMBER 2016

2016 SEPTEMBER

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Semi-private club among Atlanta’s best

BridgeMill offers quality golf and more

By Mike Blum

ridgeMill Athletic Club turns 18 this Fall, and the Cherokee County club has plenty to celebrate as one of the top semi-private facilities in the metro Atlanta area.

Since opening in late 1998 in Canton, BridgeMill has nicely balanced its dual responsibilities to both its members and daily fee clientele, and has been one of the metro area’s most successful semi-private clubs.

For its members, BridgeMill offers one of the most expansive tennis facilities in all of Atlanta with 25 lighted courts, including 17 hard and eight clay. The two-acre aquatic center is a great draw for families and consists of three connecting mega-pools with an array of water features. Featherstone’s Grille is a popular local destination for lunch and dinner, as well as serving as an excellent place to stop at the turn for a sandwich or hot dog.

BridgeMill’s golf operation is headed up by Director of Golf Jon Hough, who has worked at top private and semi-private clubs in the metro Atlanta area after playing professionally for a decade.

Hough won the Atlanta Open in consecutive years in the late 1980s, the first year as an amateur, the next as a pro, and competed on the Nike (now Web.com) Tour in the ‘90s, making it to the Tour Championship at Roswell’s Settindown Creek in 1996. Hough also qualified for the 1991 U.S. Open.

The club features one of Atlanta’s better practice facilities, with BridgeMill’s Golf Academy headed up by Master Professional Tom Losinger, one of the state’s most respected instructors.

Former LPGA Tour player Denise Killeen is BridgeMill’s Director of Player Development and is in charge of the club’s sizeable junior program.

Veteran instructor Chad Phillips works with some of the area’s top junior golfers and adds to the experience of the BridgeMill teaching staff.

BridgeMill’s golf course is among the best accessible to daily fee golfers in metro Atlanta, and sports one of the more significant names in modern golf history as its primary architect.

Desmond Muirhead was one of the most influential figures in the concept of

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combining golf course design and the surrounding residential community, and worked with Jack Nicklaus during the 1970s, teaming with the golf legend to create Muirfield Village near Nicklaus’ hometown of Columbus, O. Mission Hills, the host course for decades of the LPGA major championship formerly known as the BridgeMill's island gre Nabisco Dinah Shore, is en par-3 16th Muirhead’s most noted project, which includes unique creations throughout the U.S. as 71.0/136. The white well as various internatees measure 5,700 yards tional designs.

(67.5/125), with senior BridgeMill was one of member tees that include six Muirhead’s final golf holes played from the blues course designs, and he playing 5,875 yards and rated lived for only four years at 68.4/129. The forward tees after the course opened for are listed at a modest 4,636 play in 1998. He worked yards. with 1987 Masters chamThe golf course is surpion Larry Mize who a rounded by a large residential par-4 second hole Columbus resident, conBridgeMill's perilous community, but Muirhead did sulted on the design of an excellent job of keeping the BridgeMill, with Mize home sites removed from play, with the providing a player’s perspective to the the Atlanta area’s best conditioned main encounters golfers have with the layout. courses. Hough says long-time members houses in the development coming as During his later years as a golf course and daily fee veterans say the course is they drive from a green to the next tee. architect, the somewhat eccentric currently “the best it’s ever been,” with a Although the slope numbers are reaMuirhead was known for his artistic healthy spread of Bermuda grass in the sonably high, BridgeMill is not a flourishes, with Ashton Hills (formerly fairways, complete grass coverage around particularly demanding layout. Only a Covington Plantation), a more obvious the greens and smooth-rolling Bent grass handful of holes have water hazards or example of his flair for visually unique putting surfaces that have held up wetlands areas in play and almost all the touches. extremely well despite the intense fairways have ample width to enable The best example of that at BridgeMill Summer heat. better players to hit driver on all but a is its signature hole – the island green Hough credits superintendent Andy hole or two, and to keep those who par-3 16th. The hole has been altered a Robbins and his staff with keeping struggle to hit it straight from feeling bit since Muirhead’s original design, but BridgeMill in outstanding condition, uncomfortable on the tee. remains the most distinctive hole on an and the combination of a first rate layout Much of BridgeMill’s challenge is otherwise conventional but first class that is both challenging and playable found on and around its large sloping layout that has held up well since it along with the quality conditioning putting surfaces, several of which feature opened for play in the late 1990s. makes BridgeMill one of Atlanta’s most ridges which divide them into separate Hough said that the club’s members popular daily fee accessible clubs. tiers. A number of the greens complexes and regular daily fee visitors “love the “We get a lot of returning non- were carved out of hillsides, resulting in layout and the variety of shots.” member play,” says Hough, with the club the necessity of having a relatively skilled With five nicely spaced sets of tees, also able to retain its active membership vertical short game, although you can get BridgeMill offers a multitude of options base. away with keeping your ball lower to the for low and mid-handicappers. There is BridgeMill can play as long as 7,110 ground on chips or pitches from the same also a friendly set of tees for its senior yards from the back tees, with the golds level as the green. players and forward tees of modest length 6,720 and the blue tees a comfortable BridgeMill begins with a straight, for women and juniors just getting intro- 6,245. The course is rated at 74.1/142 inviting par 4 of minimal distance and duced to the game. (black), 72.2/138 (gold) and 69.8/134 difficulty, but it’s followed by one of the Along with the quality of Muirhead’s (blue), with a 6,500-yard course comlayout, BridgeMill is consistently among bining the golds and blues rated at [ See BridgeMill, page 21 ] SEPTEMBER 2016

2016 SEPTEMBER

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17

Edges Jimenez for first Champions Tour title

Savannah’s Sauers takes U.S. Senior Open

By Mike Blum

hen Savannah native Gene Sauers left the PGA Tour in 2005, he did not expect to return to golf as a profession.

Six years later, Sauers was told he had only about a 25 percent chance of survival as a result of a mysterious skin ailment he contracted that doctors could neither diagnose nor treat.

Fortunately for Sauers, his condition was finally diagnosed and treated, and he was able to return to his livelihood at the age of 49 after an absence of seven years.

Sauers returned to golf with the hope of competing on the Champions Tour, and played well in a brief stint on the tour after turning 50 in the summer of 2012. Any questions Sauers had about successfully competing were quickly answered in 2013, as he placed third in his second start as a “rookie,” tied for second in his hometown of Savannah in the Legends of Golf team event and got into a playoff the following week in Houston,.

He finished the year among the top 20 on the money list and had an even better year in 2014, moving up to 14th in earnings with another playoff loss, this time in the U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree.

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Open, Sauers again found himself in contention for the most coveted title on the Champions Tour, competing against another one of Europe’s elite players over the age of 50.

Sauers battled Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez for 18 holes in the rain-delayed final round at Scioto CC outside Columbus, O., outplaying the colorful Spaniard over the tense final holes to capture a trophy that barely eluded him two years earlier.

Less than a week shy of his 54th birthday, and just five years removed from his return to golf after his lengthy stay on the sidelines, Sauers is the champion of the most prestigious event in senior golf. He shot 3-under 277 to edge Jimenez and Billy Mayfair by one stroke each, earning $675,000 to move from 34th to 4th on the Champions Tour money list.

“I can’t put it into words. I’m speechless,” Sauers said after his victory, which had to wait an extra day after the scheduled fourth round was completely washed out the day before.

Thoughts of his heartbreaking loss to Montgomerie two years earlier were fresh in Sauers’ memory, but proved to be a positive force as he battled Jimenez down the stretch.

“The more times you’re in there, the easier it’s going to be,” Sauers said.

“I’m not saying it was easy today, but I got it done.”

Two years ago, Sauers surged to a 4shot lead over Montgomerie after firing a third round 68, but after leading for most of the final round, wound up in a three-hole playoff, which Montgomerie won.

This time, Sauers began the final round one shot out of the lead after hanging close to the top of the leader board the first two days. Sauers ED C. THOMPSON PHOT OGRAPHY

Gene Sauers

Two years after losing in extra holes to Colin Montgomerie in the U.S. Senior

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opened with scores of 68 and 69 to trail by two at the end of both rounds, and closed with birdies on two of the final three holes in the third round for a 71 to enter the final day of play one behind Jimenez in outright second.

When Sauers holed a 35-footer for birdie on the first hole of the raindelayed final round and Jimenez made double bogey on the second, Sauers was suddenly two shots in front and held the lead for most of the day. After both players birdied the third, Sauers bogeyed the fourth to lose one shot of his lead, and the margin held firmly at one shot for the next 10 holes before Jimenez took the lead with a birdie at the 14th to Sauers’ bogey.

During that 10-hole stretch, Sauers carded nine pars and a birdie on the par5 12th, but had to struggle to make bogey on the 14th, holing a clutch putt to limit the damage.

Sauers had chances for birdie at both 16 and 17 after a pair of outstanding iron shots, but could not capitalize on the opportunities. When Jimenez bogeyed the 17th, the two went to the final hole tied, but both players drove in the rough on the 18th, needing pars to stay ahead of Mayfair.

Jimenez was unable to save par after hitting his second shot on the par-4 finishing hole into a greenside bunker, but Sauers chipped to about five feet for a winning par after just missing the green with his approach from the rough that had to deal with a tree that obstructed his second shot.

“I lipped out to win a couple of years ago,” Sauers recalled. “I said, ‘Just don’t let this one get away’.”

This time, he holed the putt for the victory, Sauers’ first since he scored a surprise win in 2002 in a now-defunct PGA Tour event in Vancouver.

Sauers won three times during his PGA Tour career, the first two coming in 1986 and ’89, his third and sixth seasons on tour. Sauers played his college golf at Georgia Southern and turned pro in 1984, going straight to the PGA Tour.

From 1986 to ’92, Sauers was a remarkably consistent performer, placing between 31st and 42nd on the money list all seven years. But after finishing outside the top 125 in 1993, Sauers never regained the consistency he displayed the previous seven years, and was effectively

done as a productive PGA Tour player after two respectable seasons in 1994 and ’95.

Other than his one week revival in Vancouver in 2002, Sauers never finished higher than 148 on the money list after ’95, and called it quits at the age of 43 in 2005.

“I got to really just hitting it awful, driving myself crazy, missing putts. I was really fed up with the game,” Sauers said of his decision to step away. “I was about to pull my hair out of my head.”

Sauers worked hard to make his way back to the PGA Tour after losing his game in the late 1990s, spending five seasons playing mainly on what is now the Web.com Tour before his victory in Vancouver offered the prospect of a legitimate comeback. But he did not threaten the top 125 in either 2003 or ’04, and after playing a limited schedule the next year, put his clubs away.

“After I didn’t finish in the top 125, I said. ‘This is it. I’m done’.”

Physically, Sauers was OK when he called it quits, but things changed a few years later. Arthritis began to attack Sauers’ joints, and for a while he said he “couldn’t get off the couch.” Then his mysterious skin condition began to manifest, with the skin on his arms and legs starting to turn black and burning from the inside out.

“I saw the light at the end of a tunnel and I was heading there,” Sauers recalled before doctors finally reversed the deterioration of his health.

With his 50th birthday approaching, Sauers decided to give golf another shot, and made a dozen starts in late 2011 and ’12, primarily on the Web.com Tour, with an eye on August 2012, when he reached golf’s magic number for career mulligans. His first three-plus seasons on the Champions Tour produced four runner-up finishes, four thirds and a total of 15 top 10s, with Sauers qualifying for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup all three years.

Prior to his U.S. Senior Open victory, Sauers had contended only once this year, tying for fourth in a first-year event in Wisconsin, but was 12th, 14th and 18th in the first three majors of 2016. As the U.S. Senior Open champion, Sauers will be eligible to compete in the 2017 U.S. Open, which will be played at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.

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5 from state finish in Web.com top 10

6 Georgians earn 2016-17 PGA Tour cards USGA

By Mike Blum

ix players who either live in Georgia or played their college golf in the state were among the top 25 finishers on the Web.com Tour’s final regular season money list, and will be rookies on the PGA Tour for the 2016-17 season.

Four other Georgia residents finished in the top 75 on the money list and will compete in the Web.com Finals, a series of four tournaments beginning Sept. 8 that will determine 25 more members for the 2016-17 PGA Tour.

Those four will join six PGA Tour members with Georgia ties who finished between 126 and 200 on the FedExCup points list and have lost their fully exempt status for the upcoming season, which begins Oct. 13 with the Frys.com Open.

Among the six were five members of the top 10, led by leading money winner Wesley Bryan of Augusta, who won three times to earn an immediate promotion to the PGA Tour with a few weeks left in the 2015-16 season. All six will be rookies on the PGA Tour for the 2016-17 season, with three of the six Web.com rookies this past season.

Bryan, a 2012 graduate of South Carolina, was best known as part of a trick shot duo of brothers who were popular on the internet before emerging as the Web.com Tour’s best player. He won three tournaments, tied for second once and had seven top-10s in just 13 starts,

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Ollie Schniederjans

finishing almost $100,000 ahead of the money list runner-up with earnings of almost $450,000.

The key to Bryan’s success this season was his putting, as he ended up No. 1 on the Web.com Tour in all three putting stats and was second in scoring average.

He made four starts on the PGA Tour this year, with his best finish a tie for eighth in the John Deere.

Placing second behind Bryan was recent Georgia Tech golfer Richy Werenski, who scored a victory in Greenville, S.C., and was second three times, twice finishing just one shot behind the winner. Werenski was 79th as a Web.com rookie last year, and increased his earnings from $62,000 to almost $352,000 despite missing more cuts (10 of 19 vs. 6 of 20) this year. Those four finishes of first or second more than compensated for the 10 missed cuts.

Ollie Schniederjans, Werenski’s teammate at Georgia Tech for three seasons, placed sixth on the Web.com money list as a rookie, winning a playoff in Wichita after losing earlier in the year in a playoff in Colombia. Schniederjans, who grew up in Powder Springs and is

living in Alpharetta, had five top-10 finishes, all of them coming in two stretches of four tournaments each when he played his best golf of the year.

Schniederjans has already made 14 PGA Tour starts the last two years, including a pair of strong showings as an amateur in the U.S. and British Opens in 2015.

Like Werenski, St. Simon’s Island resident Trey Mullinax showed tremendous improvement in his second Web.com season after going straight from college to the tour. He moved up from 60th to eighth on the money list, winning in Raleigh, and finished 12th or better five times. Mullinax, a member of two national championship teams at Alabama, led the tour in driving distance and was sixth in putting.

JT Poston, one of three St. Simon’s residents who earned a PGA Tour card, began the year with no Web.com status after concluding his college career at Western Carolina in 2015. He finished third in his second start of 2016 and added a pair of runner-up finishes as he vaulted up the money list, ending the year in 10th place. Poston led the tour in

scoring average and placed sixth in the all-around statistical category.

Rick Lamb, who also has moved to St. Simon’s Island, had limited status on the tour for 2016, and as of July 4th, had made only two starts and missed the cut in both. He played his way into an event in the Lake Erie area in a Monday qualifier and won the tournament, but was still well outside the top 25 with two tournaments left in the regular season.

The 2014 Tennessee graduate tied for third in Knoxville to move up to 27th and tied for 19th in Portland, Ore., to finish the season at 24th. Lamb, who made seven Web.com starts in 2015, will be making his PGA Tour debut next month along with Poston.

The four Georgians who played on the Web.com Tour this year and will compete in the Web.com Finals include two veterans and two recent graduates from the state’s two most prominent college golf programs.

St. Simon’s resident Jonathan Byrd has five wins on the PGA Tour since his rookie season in 2002, but spent most of 2016 on the Web.com Tour, finishing 48th on the money list after a fast start.

Byrd, who has struggled since undergoing wrist surgery in 2013, had top-5 finishes in two of his first three Web.com starts this year and three top 10s in his first five events. But he managed just three top 20s the rest of year, missing four of his last five cuts.

Woodstock’s Anders Albertson, Schniederjans’ teammate for all four seasons at Georgia Tech, placed third in an early-season event in Brazil, but had just two other top 20s and missed 12 of 20 cuts in his first full season as a pro. Even if he fails to finish in the top 25 on the Finals money list, he will be exempt for the 2017 Web.com Tour.

Like Byrd, Blake Adams’ PGA Tour career has been derailed after surgery, in his case for hip replacement. Adams enjoyed three solid seasons on the PGA Tour from 2010-12 and played off a medical extension after seeing limited action in 2013 and ’14. He played primarily on the Web.com Tour this year, tying for second in the Dominican Republic and adding a tie for sixth to finish 62nd in earnings despite missing 10 of 15 cuts.

Adams is an Eatonton native who [ See Web.com Tour, page 27 ]

SEPTEMBER 2016

Famed course architect Cupp passes away at 76 nternationally renowned golf course architect Bob Cupp passed away last month in his adopted hometown of Atlanta, leaving behind an impressive legacy of golf course designs in Georgia, all over the U.S. and overseas.

Cupp, 76, operated his golf course design firm in Atlanta for more than 30 years after 15 years of serving as the senior designer for Jack Nicklaus. He was elected to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 2014, and remained active after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, working extensively this year on the

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small number of holes that features a hazard that is a definite concern.

The par-4 second lacks for length, with water in play well right of the fairway and more prominently around the green, especially when the hole is cut on the lower right side of the putting surface, with water short, right and long and sand front and rear. Only a short iron is required for the approach shot, but it is one of the testiest shots on the course when the pin is on the lower right tier.

The uphill, par-4 third is shorter in yardage than the first two holes but plays longer, with the second shot likely hit from an uneven lie in the rolling fairway.

A large front left bunker gets plenty of play and guards one of the more undulating greens on the course.

The par-4 seventh also includes an uphill approach, but the downhill tee shot shortens the hole considerably, although you again face the prospect of hitting your approach off an uneven lie.

The par 3s and par 5s offer contrasting challenges, with the long, downhill par3 fifth one of the most visually appealing holes at Bridge Mill, but one of the more difficult from the longer sets of tees. The green sits at the base of a pronounced hill to the right, with a sharp drop-off just off the left edge. The deep green produces more than its share of three-putts.

The significantly shorter eighth features a wide, shallow green with several tiers, with the putting surface well above most of the surrounding terrain.

The double dogleg fourth is the shortest and most inviting of the par 5s, with the ninth the longest of the four with a fairway that is very ample off the 2016 SEPTEMBER

plans for the complete re-design of the Bobby Jones Golf Club.

During his long career in the golf course architecture field, Cupp worked with Nicklaus on the designs of Glen Abbey in Canada, Shoal Creek in Birmingham and Desert Highlands in Arizona.

Among his many prominent golf course creations throughout the U.S. are Sunriver Resort and Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, Liberty National in New Jersey, Indianwood in Michigan, the Legends Club in Nashville, Council Fire in Chattanooga, Greystone in Birmingham, Old Waverly in Mississippi, Starr Pass in

Tucson, Emerald Bay in Destin, and Woodside Plantation and the Cupp Course at Palmetto Hall Plantation in South Carolina.

Cupp also designed many of Georgia’s top courses. Among them are Settindown Creek, Hawk’s Ridge, Marietta CC, Port Armor (now Reynolds Landing) and Reynolds Plantation, Jennings Mill, Savannah Harbor and Savannah Quarters.

Cupp’s courses, including many of them in Georgia, have hosted major events.

With fewer courses being built the past decade, Cupp has been busy doing re-design work, most notably at Capital

City Club’s Brookhaven Course, which he completely transformed before it hosted the recent Georgia Amateur.

Cupp also did extensive redesign work on Druid Hills GC, Forest Heights in Statesboro, Augusta CC and the First Tee facility at John A. White in Atlanta.

Cupp played professionally for several years after graduating from the U. of Miami, and wrote a golf novel and a book on golf course architecture in his later years. Cupp is survived by his wife Pam Amy and five children, with son Bobby expected to complete the Bobby Jones GC project.

tee but narrows as you near the distant green.

BridgeMill’s back nine also closes with a lengthy par 5 that includes hazard stakes just right of the fairway that are a concern for those hitting their second or third shot from long range. The toughest par 5 is the 13th, among the narrower holes on the course. A hill down the left side and trouble right makes it one of the more demanding tee shots on the round, and a creek that bisects the fairway can be a concern for shorter hitters on the second shot. Even if you avoid trouble, a well-protected green that sits at an angle from the fairway will make par a serious challenge.

The back nine begins with the longest of the par 4s, with a testy second shot to an angled green without surrounding bunkers that is raised up above the areas around it.

Following is the shortest par 4 on the course and likely the easiest hole. A sizeable hill right and some trouble lurking to left are a concern for those who stray from the tee, but an accurate tee shot will set up a short iron second to a green that has a few very accessible pin locations and a few that may not be so easy to find.

The downhill, dogleg left 14th is appealing visually from the tee, but is on the narrow side with a wide green that includes a number of difficult front pins behind a sprawling bunker. The straightaway 15th features a false front on a green that has plenty of movement and makes two-putting a challenge no matter where the hole is.

The final par 4 is one of the few where driver may not be needed off the tee. The dogleg left has a wetlands area at the end of the fairway, with the second to a long narrow green with multiple levels and surrounding bunkers requiring consider-

able precision.

The par-3 12th bears some similarity to the eighth, but the 16th is a hole unique to itself. The hole, which can play as long as 200 yards from the back tee, originally included an island green surrounded by a thin bunker. A strip of grass within the bunker gave the hole the look a shooting target from above.

The bunker has been altered into separate sections without the grass strip, but

the island green nature of the hole remains, along with its intimidating quality. For a while, a commercial area just beyond the green to the right made for an odd view, but trees bordering the edge of the hole have grown, returning the aesthetic appeal of a memorable golf hole.

For information on BridgeMill Athletic Club, call 770-345-5500 or visit www.bridgemillathleticclub.com.

FOREGEORGIA.COM

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Overtakes Skinner for first GPGA win in 4 years

Final round 66 earns Section title for Weinhart

By Mike Blum

A

FOREGEORGIA.COM

A GEORGIA PG

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art Tim Weinh

GEORGIA PGA

fter four years without a victory in a Georgia PGA Section event, Tim Weinhart shot a final round 66 at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside course to erase a three-stroke deficit and end his winless drought in the EZ-GO Georgia PGA Championship.

It was Weinhart’s second career win in the event, one of the Georgia PGA’s four majors, and put him on the verge of a ninth Player of the Year title. He now has 15 victories in Georgia PGA points events over the past two decades, including all four majors, along with five team titles, three Assistants’ Championships and numerous other tournaments conducted by the Georgia PGA. “This was gratifying,” said Weinhart, whose last win in a Section event came in the 2012 qualifier for the national club professional championship. “Winning never gets old. I hit a couple of squirrely shots, but I putted pretty well, and that makes up for everything.”

Since his last victory four years ago, Weinhart has had multiple close calls, including a number of tournaments in which he finished as low Georgia PGA member behind an amateur winner.

Weinhart managed to earn section Player of the Year honors in 2015 without a tournament title, relying on his consistency over the course of the year.

Coming into the Section Championship, Weinhart was again at the top of the points standings without a victory, again on the strength of his consistent top finishes, including a runner-up showing at Berkeley Hills that earned him first place points and money when an amateur won.

Weinhart began the final round three strokes behind Sonny Skinner in a tie for second with Paul Claxton, who was second on the Web.com career money list when he left the tour after the 2014 season.

The three were paired in the final round along with defending champion James Mason, like Skinner and Claxton a long-time tour player, in his case the Champions Tour. Because of the threat of inclement weather, tee times for the final round were moved up, with the field of approximately 100 players teeing off in a

shotgun start.

Claxton, the head pro at Hawk’s Point in Vidalia, managed just one birdie the final day and finished fourth at 1-over 211.

Mason made a move with three birdies in a five-hole stretch beginning at the seventh, but settled for a 68 to place third at 210.

That left Weinhart and Skinner, who was looking for a second win in one of the Sonny Skinner Section’s 2016 majors following his repeat victory in the Atlanta Open earlier this Summer.

Skinner shared the first round lead with the PGA Tour RSM Weinhart at 68, but moved ahead by Classic, an event he has played well in three after 36 holes with a second round previously but has just missed making 69. the 36-hole cut.

Skinner’s lead reached four early the “Every time you get to play in a Tour final day, but Weinhart ran off consecu- event, it’s fun,” said Weinhart, who has tive birdies at holes 6, 7 and 8, holing a played in PGA Tour events in the state, 10-footer at the par-3 sixth, an 8-footer as well as five PGA Championships and at the par-5 seventh and 4-footer at the the U.S. Open. “You get to play against par-4 eighth. That pulled Weinhart the best players in the world and you within one of Skinner’s lead, who also have to play well to play on the birdied the eighth to maintain his slim weekend.” margin. That proved to be Skinner’s last Weinhart is about three years away birdie of the day, and Weinhart moved from eligibility for the Champions Tour, past him with consecutive birdies at 13 but still has a while before thinking and 14. about giving that tour a shot.

Weinhart rolled in a putt in the 25-toWell before that, Weinhart has a 30-foot range at the 13th to tie Skinner, scheduled trip next June to Oregon for and followed with another putt of about the national club pro championship, half that distance at the 14th to claim the where he has competed three times prelead. The two players parred in from viously. He will be looking to qualify for there, but not without a little drama on the PGA Championship for a sixth time. the long and difficult par-4 18th at Weinhart will still compete in the Seaside.

Section’s qualifier, looking to wrap up Both players hit their second shots into Player of the Year honors for the ninth the front right bunker. Skinner was left time. with a par putt of around 12-to-14 feet, “Player of the year has always meant a with Weinhart about five feet closer. lot to me,” Weinhart said. “I don’t have Skinner made his to put the pressure on it quite sown up, but I’m close. I like my Weinhart, who responded by holing his chances.” par attempt for the win.

During his two decades of competing Weinhart’s closing 66 gave him a 4- in Georgia PGA events, Weinhart has under 206 total, while Skinner matched piled up a sizeable number of top finpar of 70 in the final round to finish at ishes, and the Section Championship is 207. Weinhart collected $5,100 for his no exception. Weinhart scored his lone victory and earned a spot in next year’s previous win in the tournament at Sea PGA Professional Championship in Island’s Seaside course in 2005, and after Oregon, the national championship for going several years without contending, the country’s PGA club professionals. has been a consistence presence near the The win also put Weinhart in excellent top of the leader board since 2010. He position to take Player of the Year honors finished second, third and fourth in the for the ninth time, which would earn event from 2010-12, and was second the him a return trip to Sea Island this fall for last three years, coming up one shot short

in 2013.

Weinhart did not get off to the best of starts in this year’s tournament with bogeys on two of his first three holes. But five birdies, including one at the tough 18th to conclude his round, gave him a 68 and a share of the lead with Skinner and Chris Shircliff of the Standard Club, who shot himself out of contention in the second round.

For the second straight day Weinhart struggled early, with a double bogey at the 14th leaving him 3-over after five holes. He was 4-over after 10, but carded three birdies over his final eight holes for a 72 to stay within three of Skinner, a former PGA and Nike Tour member who is the head pro at Spring Hill in Tifton.

Clark Spratlin, the Director of Golf at Currahee Club in Toccoa, closed with a 68 to finish fifth at 212. Stephen Keppler, the Director of Golf at Marietta CC and a four-time tournament champion, was sixth at 213, the first time since 2004 he has finished outside the top five in the Section Championship. Since then Keppler has been runner-up six times and third on three other occasions, winning in 2011 for the first time in 15 years.

Weinhart has a comparable record in recent years, with his victory coming in his first year as the Director of Instruction at Heritage Golf Links.

Weinhart is a long-time teaching pro in the Atlanta area, but this is the first time he has been in charge of his club’s instructional operation.

In fact, Weinhart is teaching at two facilities, as he divides his time between Heritage and Woodmont, which has the [ See Weinhart, page 26 ] SEPTEMBER 2016

2016 SEPTEMBER

FOREGEORGIA.COM

23

Defeats Weinhart in semis, Skinner in finals

McCain claims Georgia PGA Match Play title

By Mike Blum

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FOREGEORGIA.COM

Seth McCain

GEORGIA PGA

he four semifinalists in the Georgia PGA Match Play Championship represented a broad age range, with three of the four in their mid-60s, mid-50s and mid-40s.

The fourth member of the quartet was 29-year-old Seth McCain, who stands out in a Georgia PGA Section where almost all the top players are in their 40s, 50s, or in the case of James Mason, his 60s.

McCain was also the lowest seeded of the four players who advanced to the semifinals at Peachtree Golf Club, entering the tournament as the No. 13 seed. The three other semifinalists were seeded 1 (Tim Weinhart), 2 (Sonny Skinner) and 3 (Mason).

Neither experience nor seeding had much of an impact in the final two rounds of the tournament, as McCain defeated the top two seeds in the semifinals and finals, both by scores of 1-up, to record his fourth victory in the Georgia PGA Section.

McCain, an assistant professional at Jennings Mill outside Athens, rallied from 1-down after 16 holes in the morning semifinals to defeat Weinhart 1-up, then won the 17th hole in the afternoon finals to win 1-up against Skinner, who trailed the entire match before pulling even after 16.

“It feels really cool to take down the top dogs in the Section,” said McCain, whose last victory came in the 2012 Atlanta Open, where he defeated Mason in a playoff at Chattahoochee GC. His two previous Georgia PGA victories came in consecutive tournaments in 2009 at Chicopee Woods and Griffin CC in events that are no longer part of the Section’s schedule.

“I hit it fantastic in the morning match, but my putting was a little suspect,” McCain offered. “At 17 I was one down and made a good birdie putt. The one on 18 was hit and hope.”

Both McCain and Weinhart were above the hole on the severely sloping green, with both their birdie efforts featuring extreme breaks. Weinhart, who putted on a similar line, went first and watched his putt roll out well past the hole.

“Seeing his putt first helped,” McCain said. “I didn’t see a line. I just found a spot.”

McCain holed the slick, big-breaking putt to win the match, which McCain described as having “not too many birdies (at least until the last two holes), but not too many mistakes.”

According to McCain, a key to victory in the two matches was that “All day long, I hit my tee ball really well and hit my approach shots to spots where I had good runs at birdie and not have to worry about three-putts.”

While McCain had to battle to the last putt in his semifinal match, Skinner easily dispatched Mason 4&3 in the other semifinal.

Skinner jumped out to an early lead with three consecutive birdies and added a fourth birdie on the front nine to lead 4-up at the turn. Mason cut his deficit to 2-down before losing two holes to again fall 4-down, with Skinner closing out the match at the 15th.

Unlike the morning match, Skinner started slowly in the afternoon, while McCain continued his stellar play from the last two holes of his semifinal match.

McCain took the lead with a birdie at the par-5 second after Skinner snaphooked his second shot into trees left of the green and barely got his third shot back in play, taking a bogey. McCain layed up on a hole he could have easily reached in two, and wedged his third within conceded birdie range.

Another birdie at the par-4 third put McCain 2-up after Skinner drove in the rough, missed the green and made bogey.

Skinner again drove into trouble at the par-5 fifth, but extricated himself nicely and holed a 15-footer for birdie while McCain settled for par from a greenside bunker.

Skinner came up short with his tee shot at the par-3 sixth and lost the hole with a bogey from the front bunker, and again missed the green at the par-4 seventh for bogey, but got away with a halve when McCain three-putted from long range.

A second 15-foot birdie putt by Skinner at the par-4 ninth pulled him within 1-down at the turn, and both players birdied the par-5 10th. McCain earned a half with a beautiful bunker shot when Skinner missed his eagle

attempt after an outstanding second.

Both players missed the green at the long, par-3 11th, with McCain going 2up when he lagged his lengthy downhill putt from off the putting surface to within a few feet for a winning par.

Skinner again came right back with a superb approach to about five feet for a conceded birdie at the 12th against just McCain’s second bogey of the round.

McCain returned the favor at the 13th, splitting the fairway with his tee shot and hitting his second within six feet for a birdie to again go ahead 2-up .

With another chance to go 3-up, McCain missed a 6-footer for birdie at the watery par-3 14th, and Skinner came right back with his fifth birdie of the round, hitting his approach within five feet for birdie at 15 after a sand save par

by McCain.

Skinner pulled even for the first time since the first hole at the par-5 16th, carding a routine par after his drive found thick rough and he had to wedge out short of the hazard that crosses the fairway. McCain found a better lie in the rough on the opposite side of the fairway, but hit his second shot into a cross bunker short of the green, and sailed his third well over the putting surface, leading to a bogey and a loss of the hole.

After fighting so hard to catch up, Skinner had a chance to go to the 18th hole all square, but missed a short par putt at the 17th. Both players had short

but treacherous birdie putts at the 18th, with Skinner not playing enough break on his attempt. McCain barely touched his slippery 6-footer from above the hole, and had to make a comebacker of about half that length for the win.

Skinner, the head pro at Spring Hill in Tifton, was pleased with his play in both matches, but admitted to a little fatigue as the afternoon match wore on. The one shot he regretted was the par miss at the 17th, which resulted in his sixth bogey of the round. Skinner won the Georgia PGA Match Play Championship in his first year of eligibility in 2006, and has reached the semifinals three times since, including last year.

Weinhart, the Director of Instruction at Heritage Golf Links, has won the Match Play three times, including backto-back in 2011 and ’12. He has lost twice in the finals and was a losing semifinalist for a fourth time and the second year in a row.

Mason, who played on the Champions Tour for more than a decade and plays out of the Orchard, was making his first appearance in the Match Play Championship since he began his Champions Tour career in 2002.

McCain also had to survive a pair of tight matches in the early rounds to reach the semifinals. He needed 20 holes in the first round to get past Justin Martin of Atlanta’s First Tee facility, and edged Gary Cressend of Augusta CC 1up in the third round. Cressend knocked out fourth-seeded Matthew Evans of Rivermont in the second round, with fifth-seeded Bill Murchison of Towne Lake Hills losing in the third round to Chris Cartwright of West Pines.

McCain defeated Cartwright 4&3 in the quarterfinals.

Winning the Match Play Championship “means a lot,” McCain said, and provided him with “a big confidence boost” going into the last two points events of the year – the Section Championship and national club professional championship qualifier.

McCain is third in the Player of the Year points standings behind Weinhart and Skinner, who have combined to win Player of the Year honors 10 times.

McCain collected $1,500 for his victory, with Skinner taking home $1,000.

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2016 SEPTEMBER

FOREGEORGIA.COM

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Seniors compete in first of 2 September events

Georgia PGA pros look to qualify for nationals

By Mike Blum

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MONTANA PRITCHA RD/THE PGA OF AME RICA

Karen Paolozzi

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FOREGEORGIA.COM

Craig Steven s

GEORGIA PG A

he Georgia PGA will conduct both its national qualifying events on consecutive weeks this month, with both tournaments to be played outside the metro Atlanta area.

Georgia’s senior club professionals will travel to Thomasville on Sept. 19-20 for the Georgia PGA Senior Championship, which also serves as the Section’s qualifier for the PGA Senior club professional championship later this year.

A number of the Section’s top senior club pros will join their under-50 counterparts the following week (Sept. 26-27) at the Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation for the Georgia PGA Professional Championship qualifier, with the national club pro championship set for June of 2017.

The state’s senior club professionals will be playing at one of the country’s oldest golf clubs, with Glen Arven opening in 1892. The course, which was renovated in 2014 by the late Atlantabased architect Bob Cupp, was part of the fledgling PGA Tour in the late 1930s, with Byron Nelson winning in Thomasville in 1938.

The Georgia PGA Section features one of the strongest groups of senior club pros in the country, with the state’s top senior competitors regular entrants at nationals in recent years.

Sonny Skinner, head pro at Spring Hill in Tifton, has qualified for the PGA Senior Professional Championship every

year since he became eligible in 2010, winning the GPGA Senior Championship in 2010 and ’13. He tied for fourth last year at Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek, the site of his 2013 victory and the host of the event the last three years.

Brookstone instructor Craig Stevens has qualified for nationals each of the last five years, winning the Georgia PGA qualifier in 2012 at Pinetree and last year. Marietta CC Director of Golf Stephen Keppler has qualified four straight years, winning in 2014.

Russell Davis, Director of Instruction at Ansley GC, has qualified for nationals seven of the last eight years with Augusta CC head pro Tommy Brannen qualifying five times since 2007.

Griffin Golf Course head pro Charlie King and Brunswick CC instructor Mark Anderson have qualified each of the last two years, with King tying Davis for second last year.

James Mason has become a regular in Georgia PGA senior events after playing for a decade on the Champions Tour, and has been a major factor in the PGA Senior Professional Championship the last two years, placing second in 2014 and 11th last year after coming into the final round just one shot out of the lead.

Clark Spratlin, Director of Golf at Currahee Club, qualified for nationals in his first attempt last year, and tied for 21st at PGA GC in Port St. Lucie, Fla., which will again be the site of this year’s PGA Senior Professional Championship Nov. 17-20.

The top six finishers will earn spots at nationals.

Stevens, Skinner, Spratlin and Brannen have also been among the top finishers in the Georgia PGA’s qualifiers for the PGA Professional Championship in recent years, with Stevens making a total of 17 appearances at nationals, including three wins in the Section’s qualifier.

Skinner qualified for nationals nine straight times before missing for the first time last year, and has a pair of runner-up finishes in the national club pro championship, one of them coming at Reynolds Plantation.

Spratlin has made nine appearances at nationals, most recently last year, with

Brannen making his 11th start in 2014. Keppler has competed in the national club championship 13 times, but not since 2009.

Ansley GC Director of Golf Phil Taylor has qualified for both national events in recent years, winning the Section’s qualifier for the PGA Professional Championship in 2014, two years after his most recent appearance at senior nationals.

The Georgia PGA’s most successful qualifier for the PGA Professional Championship won’t have to worry about making it to nationals for the 2017 event.

Tim Weinhart, the Director of Instruction at Heritage Golf Links, qualified for nationals 15 straight times from 1999-2013 before his streak was broken in 2014. Weinhart qualified for the 16th time last year, placing third in the Georgia PGA Professional Championship at Dunwoody CC, and is exempt into next year’s field after winning the recent Georgia PGA Championship at Sea Island GC.

Weinhart

[ Continued from page 22 ]

same ownership as Heritage Golf Links.

Fortunately for Weinhart, he lives about equidistant from the two clubs, but the increased administrative duties and the challenge of dealing with separate groups

Weinhart has won the Section’s qualifier for nationals four times since 2006, including back-to-back victories in 2011 and ’12.

Karen Paolozzi of Druid Hills GC became the first woman to win the Georgia PGA Professional Championship last year, finishing two shots ahead of Anderson, who qualified for nationals for the first time after previously qualifying for the senior club professional championship.

Also qualifying last year were Brian Puterbaugh, an instructor at the Hooch, Highland CC head pro Todd Ormsby and Frederica GC head pro Hank Smith. It was the second appearance at nationals for all three, with Puterbaugh and Smith qualifying two years in a row and Ormsby two out of the last three after winning the Section’s qualifier at Champions Retreat in 2013. Puterbaugh was second behind Taylor at the Legends at Chateau Elan in 2014.

Some of the Section’s frequent qualifiers for nationals have come up short the past few years. Brannen, who has made it to the club professional championship 11 times over the years, last played in 2013, the same year Chicopee Woods head pro Greg Lee made the last of his nine starts.

Bill Murchison of Towne Lake Hills made four straight appearances at nationals from 2010-13, but has missed out the last two years, with CC of the South Director of Instruction Shawn Koch last appearing in 2012 after qualifying four of the previous five years.

Cherokee T&CC instructor Kevin Roman made it four straight times from 2008-11, but has not qualified since.

The top six finishers will qualify for nationals next June in Oregon along with Weinhart. of students at the two facilities has cut into his practice time.

“I’m having to juggle my schedule quite a bit more, but it’s good. I have zero complaints,” Weinhart says.

The Georgia PGA Championship was presented by TaylorMade-adidas golf, Ashworth, Adams Golf and the PGA Tour.

SEPTEMBER 2016

Wesley Bryan

Web.com Tour [ Continued from page 20 ]

played at Georgia Southern and is serving as a volunteer assistant for the current Georgia Southern golf team.

Adams earned his shot on the PGA Tour by placing third on the Web.com Tour in 2009, enjoying one of the best seasons in tour history by a non-winner.

Recent UGA golfer Keith Mitchell played well late in the season to finish 70th on the money list, scoring his only two top 10s during that stretch.

Mitchell, who has joined the sizeable list of tour players living on St. Simon’s Island, was sixth on the tour in driving distance as a rookie and ranked fourth in total driving.

Atlanta resident Casey Wittenberg came up about $2,000 short of a top-75 finish, ending up 76th with $61,600.

Wittenberg has played on the Web.com Tour seven of the last nine years, leading the tour in earnings in 2012 to play his way onto the PGA Tour for a second time. Wittenberg tied for second in Chicago in mid-July, but did not have a finish better than 50th after that to fall out of the top 75. He will have limited status on the tour next year.

Veteran Reid Edstrom, who grew up in metro Atlanta, did not have a finish better than 25th before ending the season with a career-best tie for fourth in Portland to advance from 139 to 91 on the money list. Edstrom, who has spent four seasons on the tour – the first in 2008 -- played in college at Auburn and has settled there.

Drew Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion, was a top-10 player on the Canadian Tour last year and was 97th as a Web.com rookie in 2016. He led the tour in greens in regulation, and was ninth in fairways hit, but made just 11 starts, making the cut in eight with three top-25 finishes. Weaver resided in Atlanta before moving to St. Simon’s.

2016 SEPTEMBER

Among those finishing outside the top 100 on the money list were Savannah’s Mark Silvers (102), former UGA golfer Bryden Macpherson (115), former Georgia Tech golfer Kyle Scott (135), Atlanta’s Adam Mitchell, who played at Georgia (146), and Snellville’s Jonathan Fricke, who played at Georgia State (154). They will all have to return to qualifying school to regain their status.

Eight players with Georgia ties will join Byrd, Albertson, Adams and Keith Mitchell in the Web.com Finals. They include ex-Clayton State golfer Will Wilcox (138 in the FedExCup standings), who did not play in the final month of the PGA Tour season and was not in the field for the Finals opener; St. Simon’s residents Michael Thompson (145) and Scott Langley (167); and a trio of former Georgia collegians – Chesson Hadley of Georgia Tech (159), Henrik Norlander of Augusta State (164) and Erik Compton of Georgia (173).

Wilcox and Thompson are guaranteed limited status for next year by finishing in the top 150, with former Georgia Tech golfer Stewart Cink (147) of Duluth in that same category, although he will have the option of retaining his exempt status thanks to his standing on the all-time money list.

After being sidelined for most of 2016, former Georgia Tech golfer Nicholas Thompson is playing in the Finals on a medical exemption, while St. Simon’s Island resident Bobby Wyatt, a teammate of Mullinax on Alabama’s championship teams, earned his spot in the Finals by placing fourth in New Orleans to qualify on points as a non-member.

The four Web.com Finals events will be played in Cleveland, Boise, Columbus (Ohio) and Jacksonville, with the top 25 money winners (not including the top 25 from the Web.com regular season) earning their PGA Tour cards for 2016-17. The 50 PGA Tour qualifiers will be ranked by their earnings from the Finals.

FOREGEORGIA.COM

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Bulldogs enter season as state’s top contender

Greyson Sigg

Tech looks to move up with entire roster back he 2016 Fall college golf season begins this month for Georgia’s Division 1 teams, with the Georgia Bulldogs again the state’s most likely NCAA Championship contenders.

Georgia was the lone men’s team from the state to reach the NCAA Championship last May, but failed to make it to the final round of stroke play, narrowly missing the 54-hole cut after finishing first in its Regional.

The Bulldogs are coming off a threewin season in 2015-16, also collecting an SEC title at Sea Island GC, but will be without the team’s top player – Clarkesville’s Lee McCoy, as well as long-time starter Sepp Straka of Valdosta.

Georgia returns the only two players who were in the lineup for every one of the team’s tournaments last year – senior Greyson Sigg from Augusta and junior Zach Healy of Peachtree Corners.

Sigg won three times last season, including an individual title in the Regionals, had a scoring average of 71.25 with six top 10s and finished the year ranked 35th in the country. Healy was the individual champion in Georgia’s tournament in Hawaii, was sixth in Regionals and had a 71.55 scoring average, ending up ranked 80th nationally.

There will be plenty of competition for the other three spots in the lineup.

Griffin sophomore Tye Waller finished last season as the Bulldogs’ fifth starter, with fellow sophomores David Mackey of Bogart and Jack Larkin, Jr. of Atlanta also making a handful of starts as freshmen.

Two of the state’s top junior golfers will make a push for starting time as freshmen, as Gainesville’s Spencer Ralston and Atlanta’s Will Chandler will likely contribute in their first season in Athens. Macon’s Matthew Beringer, like Larkin a redshirt sophomore, is also looking to move into the lineup, with Jaime Lopez Rivarola, the fifth starter

Nathan Mallonee

Chris Guglielmo

UGA PHOTOS

By Mike Blum

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GEORGIA STATE

FOREGEORGIA.COM

KENNESAW STATE

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for most of last season, looking for better results as a senior.

Three of Georgia’s five Fall tournaments are in either northern California or Hawaii, including events at Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. The Bulldogs also play at Colonial CC in Ft. Worth, Tex., as well as an annual stop in Nashville.

Georgia Tech returns its entire roster from a team that struggled last season after the graduation of Ollie Schniederjans and Anders Albertson.

Senior Vince Whaley, a three-year starter, and junior Jacob Joiner of Leesburg are the team’s top returnees, but neither ended the 2015-16 season ranked in the top 100 in the country.

Whaley scored his second career victory at Clemson and had four top 10s, finishing the season ranked 107th. Joiner won Tech’s season opener in the Carpet Capital and had five top-20s, ending his sophomore season ranked 184th.

Junior James Clark of Columbus returns after notching a pair of top 10s last season, with senior Michael Hines of Acworth looking to bounce back after a mostly disappointing junior campaign.

The Yellow Jackets’ fifth returning starter is junior Chris Petefish, who matched Clark with two top 10s in his second season as a starter.

Junior Michael Pisciotta of Alpharetta is looking to move into the lineup after playing sparingly in his first two seasons, with sophomore Tyler

Joiner, Jacob’s younger brother, also looking for more playing time.

The team’s most prominent newcomer is freshman Luke Schniederjans of Powder Springs, Ollie’s younger brother, who is coming off some strong amateur showings in his final year as a junior golfer.

The Yellow Jackets are the host team for two annual Fall tournaments – the Carpet Capital at The Farm outside Dalton Sept. 9-11 and an event at Golf Club of Georgia Oct. 21-23. The team’s other Fall events are in Arizona and at famed Cypress Point in northern California.

Like Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship after winning the Atlantic Sun title. The Owls, in their second season under head coach Bryant Odom, return a veteran roster, losing only two-year starter Fredrik Nilehn.

Odom is a Cartersville native who played in college at Georgia before competing on what is now the Web.com Tour.

Among those returning for the Owls are senior Chris Guglielmo of Cumming, a two-year starter, Jake Fendt, also from Cumming, who had a strong debut as a freshman, and junior Wyatt Larkin of Morganton, who has been a semi-regular in each of his first two seasons.

Guglielmo had three top 10s including a tie for fourth in the Atlantic Sun Championship and a total of seven

top 20s, and was the team’s highest ranked player nationally at 111. Fendt had three top 10s and six top 20s as a freshman, with Larkin contributing a trio of top-20 finishes.

Kennesaw’s other returning starters are Teremoana Beaucousin, who had an off junior year after two strong seasons, and Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernero, who contributed as a freshman.

Junior Buster Bruton of Dallas has seen limited action the past two seasons, and is joined on the roster by freshmen Walker Bottomley of Milton and Connor Coffee of Peachtree City.

Kennesaw opens its season in the Carpet Capital and hosts its annual event at Pinetree Oct. 24-25. The Owls will not travel far this Fall, with its other three tournaments in Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama.

Georgia State loses four-year starter J.J. Grey, but returns all the other front line players from a team that won two tournaments, finished first in the stroke play portion of the Sun Belt Championship and had a lot of middleof-the-pack tournament finishes.

Lexington’s Nathan Mallonee is the team’s lone senior and had a solid junior season in his third year as a starter.

Woodstock’s Nick Budd broke into the starting lineup as a freshman and recorded three top-20 finishes.

Junior brothers Alex and Max Herrmann both turned in strong sophomore seasons, with Alex recording four top 10s and Max seven top 25s, the same number as his brother.

The competition for the fifth starter will involve Gainesville sophomore Nathan William, Atlanta sophomores James Kyles and Sam Asbury, and SEPTEMBER 2016

Johns Creek junior Hayden Poole, who all made a handful of starts last season.

The Panthers host their annual event at Berkeley Hills Oct. 17-18, and travel to Arizona and Hawaii along with a pair of tournaments in the Carolinas.

Georgia Southern started strong last Fall, but had little success during the Spring. The Eagles lost only one lineup regular – Griffin’s Henry Mabbett. Five of the other six starters return, including Steven Fisk of Stockbridge, who led the team with a 72.25 scoring average as a freshman and was the Eagles’ only player who competed in all 11 tournament, recording four top-10 finishes.

Fisk’s top-10 total matches that of the remaining returnees – senior Cody O’Toole, and juniors Archer Price, Tom Storey and Jonas Vaisanen.

A trio of Georgia freshmen – Atlanta’s Alexander DeRosa, Cumming’s Brett Barron and Valdosta’s Luukas Alakulppi, join the roster this season and will look to get some playing time along with Statesboro’s Crawford Simmons, who played sparingly as a freshman.

The Eagles visit Atlanta to play in the tournament hosted by Georgia State at Berkeley Hills, and also have Fall events scheduled in the Carolinas and Virginia, as well as a Fall finale in Hawaii.

2016 SEPTEMBER

Augusta loses two of its top players from its MEAC Championship squad, with senior Broc Everett, whose runnerup finish in the conference championship was one of his four top 10s, the leading returnee. Senior Jake Marriott, who had three top 10s including a third in the MEAC, also returns along with fellow senior Emmanuel Kountakis of Augusta, who struggled in his first season with the Jaguars after transferring from Mercer.

Senior Viktor Edin, a part-time starter in his first three seasons, will look to become a full-time starter this season.

Marietta’s John Yi, who has played little in his first two seasons with the Jaguars, is also looking to move into the lineup along with junior college transfer Ryan Johnson.

The Jaguars’ Fall schedule includes two events on Kiawah Island, S.C., one at the Ocean Course, a tournament hosted

by North Carolina State with Kennesaw in the field, and one in Scottsdale, Ariz., along with Georgia Tech and Georgia State. Augusta also plays at Isleworth in Orlando.

Mercer opened its 2015 Fall schedule with a tie for second in Myrtle Beach, but the Bears were not competitive for the remainder of their 2015-16 schedule.

The team returns almost its entire roster team including a quartet of Georgians, three of whom are sophomores.

McDonough senior Austin Connelly made seven starts last season, sharing team medalist honors in the Southern Conference Championship with Cumming’s Brennan Bogdanovich, who started in the team’s last eight tournaments as a freshman.

Starting the team’s last five tournaments in the Spring as a freshman was Eatonton’s Hayes Rule, who finished just behind Connelly and Bogdanovich in the conference championship.

Stanton Schorr of Columbus also made four starts as a freshman and returns along with junior Jerry Ren, who started all 11 tournaments with a pair of top 10s, and senior Sean Smothers, who started in all but one of Mercer’s 2015-16 events.

The Bears don’t venture outside the South this Fall, playing twice in Kentucky and once each in South Carolina and Tennessee before closing out their 2016 schedule in Kennesaw’s event at Pinetree.

Early results: Georgia opened its season with a second place finish in the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach. The Bulldogs shot 30-under 1050 in the 6players, 5-count format, finishing eight

behind Oklahoma State. Georgia led by four after 36 holes, but Oklahoma State shot 16-under the final day.

Sigg led the Bulldogs, tying for second at 204 with scores of 68-67-69. Waller tied for eighth at 69-69-71—209, with Ralston T11 at 210 (72-68-70) in his college debut. Healy shot 71-69-72— 212 to finish T18 with Chandler T35 at 218 in his first college start.

Georgia Tech shot the low score of the final round (275) to place fifth in the Carpet Capital at The Farm outside Dalton, a tournament hosted by the Yellow Jackets. Tech freshman Luke Schniederjan was the individual champion but was not part of the Jackets’ five-player team, finishing sixth in the team’s qualifying process and competing as an individual.

Schniederjans shot 69-66-70—205 to win by one. Clark was low among Tech’s starting five, tying for 11th at 69-7170—210. Hines shot three 71s to finish 18th at 213, with Tyler Joiner closing with a 64 to tie for 25th at 216. Jacob Joiner and Whaley did not qualify for the team. Tech shot 8-under 856, 23 behind Virginia’s winning total.

Kennesaw placed eighth at 867 led

by Larkin, who tied for sixth at 72-6770—209. Guglielmo was T27 at 217.

FOREGEORGIA.COM

29

Tardy stars as freshman for Lady Bulldogs

Georgia women’s team returns to prominence

By Mike Blum

A

FOREGEORGIA.COM

A

30

Janiga and Payton Schanen,

GEORGI UNIVERSITY OF

fter a string of disappointing seasons, the Georgia Lady Bulldogs returned to national prominence last year, largely due to the arrival of three talented freshmen, two from metro Atlanta.

Georgia won five tournaments in 2015-16, including its NCAA Regional, and finished the year ranked 13th in Division 1 after missing the 54-hole cut in the NCAA Championship.

The Lady Bulldogs return all but one of the team’s front line players, including sophomore Bailey Tardy of Peachtree Corners, who was ranked ninth nationally as a freshman. Tardy won a tournament in Chicago and tied for first in Georgia’s Regional appearance, added four other top-5 finishes and ended the year with a 72.06 scoring average.

Fellow 2015-16 freshman Jillian Hollis was the individual champion in

Tucson, was fourth in Bailey Tardy Regionals and finished the year ranked 46th in the country. Roswell’s Rinko Mitsunaga, the third of Georgia’s trio of standout freshmen, also scored a tournament victory in Athens and was ranked 100th nationally at the end of the Spring season.

Also returning to the starting lineup is senior Harang Lee, who had six top-10 finishes last season and was ranked 26th nationally.

Competing for the fifth spot in the lineup is junior Isabella Skinner of Cumming and senior Mary Ellen Shuman of St. Simons Island, who both saw action in about half Georgia’s tournaments last season. Shuman closed out the season in the fifth spot, playing in both the Regionals and NCAA

Championship.

Georgia opens its Fall schedule Sept. 6 at Berkeley Hills in Duluth in the Cardinal Kickoff, an event hosted by Louisville. Courtney Swain Trimble, Louisville’s coach, is an Atlanta native and has scheduled a season opening event in the Atlanta suburbs for a second straight year. Georgia also makes Fall starts in Orlando, Chicago and at Stanford, defending its title in Chicago.

Augusta returns a trio of three-year starters, but the Lady Jaguars don’t have much experience behind their three returning starters. Augusta enjoyed another solid season in 2015-16, finishing among the top 50 teams in the country, winning its home event at Forest Hills for the first time and qualifying for Regionals.

Eunice Yi of Evans was the team’s top player last season, ending up just outside the top 100 nationally. Yi had four top 10s and led the team in scoring average at 74.1. Roswell’s Jessica Haigwood won in her first collegiate start as a freshman and has been a key contributor since for the Lady Jaguars, recording four top-20s and a season-best T7 in Augusta’s victory in the 3M Invitational.

Augusta’s third returning starter is Josefine Nyqvist, who won an event hosted by Kennesaw State at Pinetree and had six top 20s on the season.

The Lady Jaguars also open their Fall schedule in the Cardinal Kickoff and play four other events in 2016, three in the Carolinas.

The emerging team among Georgia’s Division 1 women’s golf programs is Mercer, which returns all five starters from last season. The Lady Bears won a tournament hosted by Florida Gulf Coast and had a number of other solid showings.

Leading the way are sophomores Mary

who both scored tournament victories as freshmen and were first team all-Southern Conference selections.

Janiga scored top-10 finishes in her first three starts last Fall, including a win in North Carolina.

Schanen, from Alpharetta, won Mercer’s Spring opener in south Florida to lead the team to its victory, and played consistently throughout her freshman season.

The other three returning starters are juniors Hannah Mae Deems of Taylorsville and Jaelyn Tindal, and senior Marin Hanna of Moultrie. Deems and Hanna both closed out the team’s season with their best finishes of the year in the conference championship.

The team has added one of the state’s top junior golfers -- Lauren Lightfritz from Lambert in Forsyth County.

Lightfritz will look to follow Schanen and Janiga and make a major contribution as a freshman.

Mercer plays three Fall tournaments in South Carolina and one in Missouri before concluding its 2016 schedule with a home event at Idle Hour.

Georgia Southern, in just his second season of fielding a women’s golf team, has added freshman Julianna Collett of St. Simons to its roster, while Georgia State has two Gwinnett County freshmen on its otherwise all-foreign roster – Harmanprit Kaur of Lawrenceville and Grace Choi of Buford. All six players listed on Kennesaw State’s roster are from outside the U.S. Georgia wins opener: The Lady Bulldogs won the season-opening Cardinal Kickoff at Berkeley Hills, shooting 9-over 585 in the one-day event to finish six ahead of Auburn. Georgia posted scores of 292 and 293 for a 585 total.

Harang Lee, who competed as an individual for Georgia, tied for first at 73-68—141. Mitsunaga was third (7371—144) and Tardy was fourth (73-72—145). Skinner tied for 12th at 150 and Shuman, also competing as an individual, was T16 at 151.

Augusta tied for third in the 7-team event at 600 with Georgia State T6 at 615. Augusta’s Haigwood led after an opening 70 but struggled the second day.

Kaur tied for fifth at 146 in her Georgia State debut.

SEPTEMBER 2016

Chip Shots

Griffin captures Assistants’ title

Chris Hall wins GSGA Senior

Marietta’s Chris Hall won the GSGA Senior Championship at the Legends at Chateau 2016 SEPTEMBER

GEORGIA PGA

J.P. Griffin of Cherokee Town & CC won the recent Georgia PGA Assistants’ Championship at the UGA course in Athens, shooting 7-under par 135 for 36 holes to finish two ahead of Michael Simcox of Ocean Forest.

Griffin posted scores of 65-70, while Simcox shot 70-67. Bill Daggett of Champions Retreat was third at 70-68— 138, followed by Brandon Cissom of Dalton CC at 69-71—140. Cissom got the fourth and final spot in the national assistants’ championship in a playoff over Chris Nicol (71-69) of Georgia Golf Center.

Nicol is first alternate with defending champion Karen Paolozzi of Druid Hills GC second alternate after scores of 7072—142. Paolozzi was 5-under on her second round after 11 holes, but played her final seven holes in 6-over. Seth McCain of Jennings Mill is third alternate at 70-73—143.

Griffin, who took home $1,200 for his victory, shot 30 on the front nine in the opening round, and carded 17 pars later that afternoon with a lone birdie at the par-5 seventh.

The National Car Rental PGA Assistants’ Championship will be played Oct, 27-30 at PGA GC in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Senior Division: Brookstone G&CC instructor Craig Stevens won a recent Georgia PGA Senior Division tournament at Bent Tree, shooting 71-70—141 to edge James Mason by one stroke. Mason shot 74-68—142. Sonny Skinner of Spring Hill CC was third at 71-72—143.

Scotty Scott was low amateur and fourth overall at 144, with amateur Mel Mendenhall and pro Scott Hare of Collins Hill GC tying for fifth at 145.

Mason won the next Senior Division event at Mystery Valley, taking the annual Red Dobbins Classic with scores of 6667—133. Mason’s 11-under total was five better than amateur Rusty Strawn, who shot 71-67-138. Skinner was third at 7168—139, with Uel Kemp of Lake Arrowhead fourth at 144. Stevens and amateur Jack Kearney tied for fifth at 145.

The Senior Tour Championship will be played Oct. 3-4 at Currahee Club in Toccoa.

J.P. Griffin Elan with a 2-under 214 total. Hall shot 6971-74 to finish three in front of Marietta’s Jeff Belk, who shot 69-74-74. Savannah’s Doug Hanzel was third at 219 followed by Gay McMichael of Macon at 220 and Roswell’s Mark Nickerson at 221.

Waters romps in PubLinks: Atlanta’s Chris Waters won the GSGA Public Links Championship by seven strokes with a 5under 137 at Cobblestone, opening the tournament with a 6-under 65. Waters previously won the tournament in 2014 at Nob North. Roswell’s Billy Mitchell was second at 74-70—144, with Taylor Welborn of LaGrange third at 146.

Three-peat for Coble: Augusta’s Laura Coble won her third straight GSGA Senior Women’s Championship, posting a 148 total at Houston Lake in Perry to finish nine shots ahead of runner-up Sue Rheney of Greensboro. Coble shot backto-back 74s. Mary Riley of Perry was third at 158. Ginette Spinucci of Stone Mountain shot 159 to win the Super Senior division.

alternate and John McGoogan of Atlanta is second alternate. Brad Hondros of Atlanta also shot 72.

Qualifying outside the state were David Noll of Dalton, who tied for second in Chattanooga with a 67, and Nic Daugherty of Valdosta, who advanced in a playoff in St. Augustine. Will Snipes of Atlanta shot 68 and is first alternate from the Chattanooga qualifier. The championship was to be played Sept. 10-15 in Pennsylvania.

Senior Am qualifier: Atlanta’s James Stormont shot a 66 at Atlanta CC to win a U.S. Senior Open qualifier by four over Kingston’s Larry Clark and Kennesaw’s Bill Leonard. Seven players tied for fourth at 72, with Marietta’s Mel Mendenhall, Alpharetta’s Bob Royak and Greensboro’s Larry Vaughan qualifying. Jim Heard of Roswell is first alternate and Atlanta’s Mark Burden is second alternate. .

Augusta’s John Gibbs was medalist in a qualifier in Blytheville, S.C., with a 68, and Savannah’s Frank Costanzo is first alternate from Hobe Sound, Fla. The championship will be played Sept. 17-22 in St. Louis.

Women’s Mid-Am qualifier: Former UGA golf team member Emilie Meason of Atlanta shot a 76 to win a U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur qualifier at Rivermont. Also qualifying were Danielle Davis of St. Simons Island (80), Rebecca Garcia of Marietta (81), Jirapon Carlson of Macon (82) and Deb Jackson of Atlanta (83), who got the final spot in a playoff.

Senior Women’s Am qualifier: Roswell’s Leslie Elkins shot an 80 to finish second and earn one of four spots in a U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur qualifier at Indian Hills. Mary Riley shot 82 and is first alternate. Laura Coble shot 80 in Nashville to tie for second and advanced in a 3-for-2 playoff. The championship will be played in Massachusetts Sept. 17-22.

Wyatt, Strawn top Wolfes, Del Val second in Canada Mid-Am qualifier

Atlanta’s Harold Wyatt and McDonough’s Rusty Strawn shared medalist honors in a U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier at Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee with scores of 70.

Michael Lee of Columbus was third at 71, with seven players tying for fourth at 72 and four of them qualifying. Advancing from the playoff were Joe Young of Athens, Tyler McKeever and Byron Jones of Atlanta and Dave Poteet of Suwanee.

Mark Strickland of Woodstock is first

Former Georgia Southern standout Scott Wolfes tied for second in a recent Canadian Tour event, shooting a 7-under 65 in the final round to finish at 14-under 202, two behind the winner. Wolfes played his last four holes of the front nine in the final round in 6-under, making an eagle on the par-5 seventh and holing out for eagle on the par-4 ninth for a 30 going out.

Chris Wolfe of Warner Robins, who played in college at Armstrong Atlantic, tied for

ninth at 204.

Losing in a playoff in Ottawa was Atlanta’s Samuel Del Val, who played at Berry College and is a former Georgia Open champion. Del Val shot 15-under 269 highlighted by a third round 64, but lost in 7-hole playoff, making six pars and a birdie in sudden death.

Former Georgia Tech golfer Seth Reeves of Suwanee finished fourth in Edmonton, shooting 16-under 272 with a third round 64 to end up three in back of the winner.

Atlanta area resident David Skinns tied for fifth at 273, with Del Val T12 at 276.

Del Val, who was 19th on the money list in Canada despite playing in only six of 10 tournaments, returned to the Latino America Tour when it resumed for the Fall.

Del Val was 10th on the money list there, rattling off consecutive finishes of 14th, 8th, 6th, 6th, 5th, 9th, 16th and 8th. Over that 8-tournament stretch, he was 69under par. Savannah’s Tim O’Neal was ninth with his third career win this season in the Dominican Republic.

Augusta’s Parker wins in home town

Chase Parker scored a win in his home town on the Swing Thought Tour in August, winning at the River Club, which is just across the Savannah River from downtown Augusta in North Augusta, S.C. Parker carded three straight scores of 66 for a 15-under 198 total and won a playoff over former Georgia Tech golfer James White of Acworth who posted scores of 67-66-65, and Chris Hickman, who won the previous tour event in Knoxville.

Parker birdied four of his last seven holes to make it into the three-way playoff and take home first place money of $3,750.

Former Oglethorpe golfer Anthony Maccaglia was fourth at 199, with Chip Deason of Evans ninth at 207 and Augusta’s Dykes Harbin 10th at 208.

The previous week in Knoxville, Albany’s Josh Broadaway placed third at 15-under 269, with Maccaglia T7 at 271, Savannah’s Drew Aimone 10th at 274 and White T11 at 275.

In a full field Swing Thought event with a $100,000+ purse, Seth Reeves finished fifth after leading through 54 holes.

Reeves shot 66 each of the first three rounds and closed with a 72 for a 14under 270 total to finish two behind the winner. Deason was T7 at 271 along with Web.com player and former Atlanta resi[ See Chip Shots, page 33 ] GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM

31

Davis Smith of Johns Creek shot a final round 65 for an 8under 136 total to win a Southeastern Junior Golf Tour event at Augusta’s Forest Hills GC by

32

FOREGEORGIA.COM

Hall, Frank among Hurricane winners

The Hurricane Junior Tour played three recent tournaments at courses formerly part of the Canongate family – Heron Bay, Braelinn and Canongate GC. Jaden Hall won a 54-hole tournament at Canongate GC in a playoff over Isaac Hergott of Martinez after both finished with totals of 220. Lorenzo Elbert of East Point was third at 221. Sammy Brummett of Newnan shot 228 and won the 14-15

Justin Kim

Sanders Hinds

Sarah Edwards

division by one over Duluth’s Nicholas Gibson. Sharpsburg’s Andrew Garger closed with a 70 to win the 11-13 age group at 219.

Macon’s Carol Pyon won the girls division at 224, with Alpharetta’s Alejandro Ayala second at 233. Sierra Fink shot 235 to win won the under-13 age group by two over Morgan Ellison. Both are from Peachtree City.

Dunwoody’s David Frank shot 73-71— 144 to win at Braelinn by two over Hunter Hester. Liam Shinn of Norcross was second in the 14-15 division at 150, one behind the winner. Nicholas Browning of Dexter shot 148 to take first in 11-13 over David Ford of Peachtree Corners, who was second at 150.

Tori Owens of Chatsworth shot 74-68— 142 to win the girls division by three over Heather Kipniss of Alpharetta, with Ellison losing a playoff in under-13 after shooting 154.

Pyon won the girls division in an earlier event at Heron Bay at 146, three shots ahead of Atlanta’s Tori Ramirez. Gage Smith of LaFayette shot 142 in the 14-15 age group to take the overall boys title by one over 14-15 runner-up Myles Jones of

CREDIT

Smith takes title at Forest Hills

seven shots. Hunter Hester of Peachtree City closed with a 69 to take second and Connor Pollman of Cumming was third at 144.

Marietta’s Mac Thompson won a playoff in the 14-15 age group over Will Chambless of Culloden after both players shot 71-74—145. Tucker Windham of Ft. Oglethorpe was third at 147 after also opening with a 71.

There was also a playoff in the 12-13 age group. Brantley Baker of Leesburg shot 75-71—146 and won in extra holes over Will Morlan of Alpharetta, who opened with a 71. Dominy Johnson of Swainsboro was the girls’ winner at 162.

Jackson Toole of Lyons won a SJGT event at Doublegate in Albany by three shots with scores of 70-72—142. Sam Barrett of Thomasville was second at 150 in the 14-15 age group and Baker shot 146 to take second in 12-13. Kaysie Harrelson of Tifton was second in the girls division at 156, with Mailey Grace Buzzell of Warner Robins first in the 12-14 division at 178, At the Furman U. course in Greenville, S.C., Mitchell Taylor of Suwanee was the boys winner with scores of 73-67—140.

Grant Sutliff of Suwanee was second at 142. Windham was third in 14-15 at 147.

Sisters Caroline Craig and Callie Craig of Sautee Nacoochee won both girls divisions, with Caroline first overall at 73-72—145. Emily Haigwood of Roswell was second at 155. Callie Craig shot 169 to finish first in 12-14.

Upcoming SJGT events include Sept.

24-25 at Glen Arven in Thomasville and Oct. 8-9 at both Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta and the UGA course in Athens.

CREDIT

The Georgia PGA Junior Tour played two tournaments last month at courses that have hosted PGA Tour events. Rome’s Justin Kim took the boys title at Callaway Gardens, with St. Mary’s Chase Weathers winning at Sea Island Golf Club’s Plantation course.

The event at Callaway Gardens was played over both the Lake View and Mountain View courses, with the latter the host course for the PGA Tour event played at the resort from 1991-2002. Kim shot even par 70 on Lake View before carding a 3-under 69 on the more difficult Mountain View layout. He finished with a 3-under 139 total for a 4-stroke victory.

Carter Pendley of Dalton was second in the 16-18 division at 143, followed by Jaden Hall of Newnan, Tyler Lipscomb of Carrollton, Brent Hamm of Warner Robins and JonErik Alford of Roswell at 144.

Lipscomb and Hamm shot 68 to lead after the first round at Lake View.

Jack Vajda of Canton won the 14-15 age group at 145, eight shots ahead of William Sluder of Columbus. Connor Macmillan of Canton shot 161 to win the 11-13 division by six. Sanders Hinds of Midland won the girls division by 16 shots with a 162 total, with Sydney Ormsby of LaGrange the 11-14 age group winner at 188.

Weathers won at the Plantation course with a 150 total, one ahead of Midland’s Walker Hinds. Hall was third at 152.

Jonathan Parker of Columbus was the 14-15 winner at 153, seven shots ahead of Rome’s Lindsey Cordell, Evans’ Alex Colligan and Blackshear’s Ian Arnold, who tied for second. Roswell’s Reed Swigart shot 150 to win the 11-13 division by 11 over Macmillan, and Sarah Edwards of Pembroke was the girls’ winner by nine at 160. Alison Crenshaw of Suwanee and Sanders Hinds tied for second.

The Georgia PGA Junior Tour plays Sept.

17-18 at the Georgia Southern golf course, Oct. 8-9 at Chattahoochee GC and Oct. 1516 at Coosa CC.

CREDIT

Kim, Weathers win GPGA events

CREDIT

Golf FORE Juniors

Chase Weathers

Suwanee. Mitchell Kahlert of Atlanta was the 16-18 division winner at 146, one ahead of Matthew Leemann of Milton and Elbert. Robert Alan Lyle of Ringgold was the 11-13 winner with a 152 score.

The Hurricane Junior Tour plays at Flat Creek Sept. 17-18, Jekyll Island GC Oct. 1-2 and Bentwater Oct. 15-16.

Bowles takes third in AJGA tourney

Albany’s Colin Bowles, who won the 2016 Georgia Amateur champion, placed third in an American Junior Golf Association tournament in Kannapolis, N.C., with a 5-under 208 total that included a first round 66.

Luka Karaulic of Dacula was 13th at 216 with Lawrenceville’s Jacob Bayer closing with a 66, the low score of the final round.

Buford’s Skylar Thompson tied for sixth in the girls division at 221.

In an AJGA tournament at the Greg Norman Champions Academy in N. Myrtle Beach, S.C., Evans Copeland of Columbus tied for fifth in the boys division at 220 and Kelly Strickland of Alpharetta tied for seventh among the girls at 229.

SEPTEMBER 2016

Chip Shots

[ Continued from page 31 ]

dent Reid Edstrom. White and Tim O’Neal were T15 at 273.

Fox finishes third in tour qualifier

Roswell’s Bryan Fox placed third in a Web.com Tour qualifier at Brunswick CC, played in early September. It was one of six pre-qualifiers, with players finishing in the top half of the field advancing to one of 12 first stage qualifiers later this month or in October, one of them at Callaway Gardens.

Five second stage qualifiers are set for early November, with the finals Dec. 8-11 in Winter Garden, Fla. Fox, who played at Georgia College, led after 36 holes with scores of 67-66 and closed with a 70 for a 7-under 203 total to finish five behind Chris Hickman, a recent winner on the Swing Thought Tour. Recent Dalton State golfer Sean Elliott of Sandy Springs shot 70-68-67 and tied for fifth at 205.

Also advancing was Lilburn’s Ted Moon (68-73-70—208, T12), Athens amateur Will Evans (76-66-66--208, T12), Alpharetta’s Zach Caldwell and Atlanta’s Brad Smith (both 68-71-70—209, T14), amateur

2016 SEPTEMBER

Michael Motz of Cumming (72-70-68— 216, T16), recent Georgia Southern golfer Henry Mabbett of Griffin (67-73-68—208, T16); Chase Miller of Rocky Face (final round 65 for 213, T26), Riley Davenport of Woodstock (68-73-73—214, T31), and Will Jones of St. Simons Island, who advanced on the number at 216.

Robert Mize of Columbus, a former Georgia Amateur champion, missed by one shot at 217. Also failing to advance was Chase Jones of Chatsworth.

Recent Mercer golfer and Dogwood Invitational winner Trey Rule of St. Simons tied for sixth in St. Augustine at 212 along with recent Georgia State golfer Damon Stephenson. Anthony Maccaglia was second at 208, two behind the medalist. Former Georgia Tech golfer Bo Andrews closed with a 68 to tie for 20th at 216, with Ryan Trocchio of Norcross advancing on the number at 221. Kelby Burton of Evans missed by a shot at 222.

Chad Chancey of Brunswick advanced on the number in Texas, with Alpharetta’s Zach Jaworski and Marietta’s Michael Raines both missing by three. Recent Georgia State golfer JJ Grey advanced on the number in Nebraska, with college teammate Davin White of Locust Grove, the 2015 Georgia Open champion, failing to advance.

FOREGEORGIA.COM

33

who parred the last hole to hang on to the 28th spot and keep Fowler out.

Several of the absent stars are members of the European Ryder Cup team, which will have exactly one player in the Tour Championship field. McIlroy needed his win in Boston to qualify and will be one of just three Europeans in the field.

Casey, who had back-to-back runnerup finishes in Boston and Indiana, has dropped his European Tour membership and is no longer eligible for the Ryder Cup team. Knox, who plays in the U.S. full time, was passed over for a captain’s pick in part because he plays so infrequently in Europe.

Garcia narrowly missed the top 30, while Olympics gold medalist Justin Rose finished 51st. Masters champion Danny Willett elected not to compete in the Playoffs after becoming a PGA Tour

Ryder Cup

[ Continued from page 14 ]

tory in singles, but Dustin Johnson is 20. Watson, on the other hand, is 0-3, which may account for his being passed over when Love made his first three picks.

Holmes was a fairly obvious choice, based on his two top-5 finishes in majors this year, his 2-0-1 showing at Valhalla in the last U.S. win and his strong play at Crooked Stick in the last tournament before Love made his first decision.

Zach Johnson

STEVE DINBERG

Kuchar also played well at Crooked Stick, and with his respectable efforts in his three Ryder Cups, was also an easy pick.

Fowler has not had his best season, with his lone win coming early in the year in Dubai. His only strong showing the past few months was a tie for seventh in the Playoffs event at Bethpage Black, where he had the 54-hole but closed with a 74. He has yet to win in eight Ryder Cup matches, going 0-1-2 in both team formats, but is popular among all his peers, something that can’t be said about Watson.

Watson and Fowler are good buddies, but Bubba likely did not have as many of the eight automatic selections advocating for him as a captain’s pick as did Fowler.

If he does make the team, look for a better ball pairing with Holmes.

Dustin Johnson and Mickelson would make an interesting better ball team and have paired together in the past, but Love may elect to split up some of his more dynamic players. Mickelson has frequently served as a mentor to his younger teammates, so a Mickelson-Koepka pairing is a possibility.

The PGA of America has made a great effort to shake up its process for selecting a captain as well as the team, but all the tweaks in qualification methods seem unnecessary and a little desperate.

If Watson winds up as the final U.S. pick, you will wind up with the

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member this year, while Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood have both given up their PGA Tour memberships.

The most prominent Americans to miss the Tour Championship are veterans Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, who was sidelined for more than half the 2015-16 season. Furyk has been an almost annual participant since before the event came to East Lake, winning the tournament in the rain in 2010 to also take the FedExCup title.

Past champions in the field are Spieth, Snedeker, Mickelson (2000 and ’09) and Scott (2006).

Dustin Johnson comes into the Tour Championship with three wins in his last eight starts and has enjoyed a remarkably successful season with the exception of a poor opening round in the PGA Championship. He has placed fifth in his last two starts at East Lake.

Spieth tied for second in his first appearance at East Lake and will be looking to become the first repeat winner, which would give him three wins in what

has been considered a substandard season. Day, who has three top 10s at East Lake the last five years, has had another big year, but had to withdraw at Crooked Stick with a bad back.

Like Spieth, McIlroy has had a profitable year, but not one considered up to his standards.

Mickelson and Scott are the players with the longest records of success at East Lake. Scott had five top 10s and a win in 2006, and is back in the field after missing out last year.

Mickelson has been absent from the Tour Championship the last two years and has a mixed record in the tournament, twice taking down Tiger Woods in the final round to win and coming within a shot of a playoff in 2008 in one of the bestever Tour Championship finishes.

Among the Georgia contingent, Rory McIlroy

STEVE DINBERG

FedExCup

exact same team as a moderately knowledgeable fantasy golf participant would have selected. The last-minute pick is known as the “Billy Horschel” selection, so named when Horschel went on a torrid run in the 2014 FedExCup Playoffs after the team had been selected.

This time, no American player has gotten hot like Horschel did two years ago, leaving Watson as the default choice if none of the other U.S. players in the Tour Championship field have a big week at East Lake.

The only American player who remotely fits the Horschel mold is Ryan Moore, who has three top 10s in his last five starts, two in the Playoffs openers, with a win in the lower tier John Deere Classic. But Moore finished near the bottom of the field at Crooked Stick, has

Adam Scott

Watson has the best record with a pair of fifth-place finishes, one of them last year. Castro tied for ninth in his lone appearance three years ago, but Kuchar has never been better than 10th in six starts, with Reed and Kisner looking for their first strong showings after three combined starts the last two years.

little record of accomplishment in big events and his game is not a good fit for Hazeltine, which favors the big hitter.

Second-year player Daniel Berger is the most likely player to make the U.S. team with a strong showing at East Lake, assuming that the choice is not Watson.

Berger has a win this year in Memphis and has played well in some big 2016 events , but apart from his victory has not established himself as a player who can handle the final round pressure.

If Watson is not going to be the final pick and neither Moore nor Berger does especially well at East Lake, where does Love turn? Non-winner Kevin Chappell, who has likely played the best this year among the 11 Americans not named Bubba who are in the Tour Championship but not on the Ryder Cup team? Big-hitting Gary Woodland, whose second of two PGA Tour wins came in 2013 in Reno? Kevin Na, who has played well for most of the season but has just one victory in 13 years? William McGirt, who has the most impressive recent win of the 10 on his resume (the 2016 Memorial), but is not that far removed from the life of a mini-tour grinder?

Justin Thomas, like Berger a secondyear Tour member, is being touted by some of the talking heads in the golf broadcast industry and has several strong showings this season, but is he or the equally unproven Berger a better choice that Watson, even considering Watson’s mostly mediocre results the last six months?

Only Love knows.

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