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APRIL 2009

Nationwide Tour makes 4th stop in Athens Fans gather around 18th hole at Jennings Mill

he Athens Regional Foundation Classic will tee it up for the fourth time this month at Jennings Mill Country Club, with a strong field expected for what has become one of the tour’s top events. Jennings Mill, an outstanding Bob Cupp design, ranks as one of the most demanding courses the Nationwide Tour visits, ranking fourth in difficulty last year. Robert Damron won with an 11-under 277 total, among the highest for a Nationwide Tour champion in 2008. The course has played harder each succeeding year, with the winning score going up five strokes from 2006 (267) to 2007 (272) and five more last year. At just a few steps over 7,000 yards, Jennings Mill is not among the longer courses on the Nationwide Tour, and with three short par 4s and a pair of par 5s that are reachable in two by just about every player in the field, the course offers several excellent scoring opportunities. But there are an equal number of holes where pars do not come easily, with two of them ranking among the 50 most difficult on tour. The ninth, which the members play as their 18th, tied for 13th toughest last year, and is one of four par 4s at Jennings Mill measuring between 469 and 480 yards.

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the most inviting on the course. But among the four finishing holes are two demanding par 4s and the quirky par-5 18th, which features an island landing area that makes it a three-shot hole for all but the most aggressive and daring players. Jennings Mill’s 18th, which plays as the ninth for the club’s members, has decided the tournament each of the last two years.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

STEVE DINBERG

Those four holes, along with the par-3 third, form the heart of Jennings Mill’s challenge, with both nines providing some birdie opportunities early before closing with the most demanding holes on the course, the third being an exception. The tournament back nine offers players a chance to make up some ground on the first five holes, which including some of

(See Nationwide Tour, page 6)

Georgia Golf Business

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Governors Towne Club among Atlanta’s best

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Tiger Woods shoots for 5th Masters title

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Matt Peterson claims Match Play victory

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COVER ARTICLE PHOTOS BY ATHENS REGIONAL FOUNDATION CLASSIC

By Mike Blum

Jennings Mill poses stern test

wel com e t o t h e dr iving ra ng e. (golf optional)

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Instruction Fore You

How to raise a champion By Phil Kelnhofer PGA Director of Instruction Atlanta Golf Center My first goal in teaching juniors is for them to learn a swing and a game that will enable them to play to their potential and enjoy the game the rest of their lives. Anyone who took the game up later in life knows it would have been much easier to learn had they started as a youngster. Any youth can learn to play in the mid 80s, but as it is in any other sport, it takes special qualities to become a champion. Several years ago my brother George and I taught at the Atlanta Golf Center. Charles Howell III at age 11 would come over from Augusta for lessons with George. Skinny as a rail, you could tell immediately a champion was in the making. The four keys to making a champion, assuming the talent is there, are: Instruction, Practice, Play and Competitive Play. For instruction the least expensive way to begin is in large groups. In most cases this will not suffice and individual help is needed. When asked why college players are so much better today, Tiger Woods replied, “It’s the new technology, not the golf equipment, but the computers we use with video cameras. The instruction is so much better and the kids have better technique at an earlier age.” Atlanta has many teachers using computerized video. If you have a teacher you trust, stay with him or her and leave the teaching to them. It pains me to see a parent adding to the teacher’s lesson. Many times I have seen this happen. Most parents over-teach and the lesson is wasted. How much will lessons cost and how many are needed? I would start with six

and let the teacher advise from there. With talent, lessons may lead to a college scholarship so the money would be well spent. David Ledbetter has a school for juniors in Bradenton, Fla. Cost is $80,000 annually. This does not include regular school tuition. It is much less expensive here. For play, it’s best once your child is 11 or 12 that there is a way for them to play with other kids, walk and carry their bags. If a youth cannot afford green fees it is possible to find work at a club where free play is offered. Augusta Country Club and Dalton Country Club have produced many college players. Both have excellent junior programs and encourage the kids to play and they walk. Competition is readily available today. U.S. Kids Golf and Atlanta Junior Golf offer excellent programs. At age 14 and with

proper credentials, they are eligible to play in American Junior Golf Association events. This is where the college coaches do most of their recruiting. For boys to play at major colleges they must be able to average close to par or better. For smaller school programs their average may be a little higher. If a girl can break 80 she is guaranteed a scholarship. Many schools do not have enough girls to field a team What about other sports? I would encourage you to let them play them all up until the age of 12. Jack Nicklaus was a very good basketball player in high school. To be a champion once the youth reaches age 14, it is best they stay away from sports that interfere with their summer golf time. Because basketball is off season, I see nothing wrong with playing it through high school. With good instruction, practice, lots of regular play and competition who knows, you may have a college player or future tour player in your family. At worst if you play too, you can count on many pleasurable hours together on the golf course. Do your kids a favor. Introduce them to golf. Phil Kelnhofer PGA Director of Instruction Atlanta Golf Center 770-923-4653 404-384-0369 (cell)

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Golf Media, Inc. John Barrett EDITOR Mike Blum CONTRIBUTORS

Phil Kelnhofer Jackie Cannizzo, Women’s Golf Editor Steve Dinberg Lake-Finlay Image Group Georgia Golf Course Owners Association Cindy Acree, Executive Director MARKETING & ADVERTISING

J.R. Ross, Sales Representative Rick Holt, Corporate Sales ART DIRECTOR

Lori Montgomery [email protected] GEORGIA SECTION, PGA OF AMERICA PRESIDENT

Jim Arendt, Chicopee Woods Golf Course VICE-PRESIDENT

Patrick Richardson, Wilmington Island Club SECRETARY

Brian Stubbs, Country Club of Columbus HONORARY PRESIDENT

Danny Elkins, Georgia Golf Center BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bud Robison, West Point, Ga Marten Olsson, The Club at River Forest Steve Godley, Jekyll Island Golf Club Bob Elmore, Bacon Park GC Ted Fort, Marietta Golf Center Richard Hatcher, Ansley GC Jeff Dunovant, First Tee of East Lake Scott Mahr, Barnsley Gardens Resort Clark Spratlin, Blue Ridge Golf & River Club Dan Mullins, Classic Golf Management Michael Raymond, Reynolds Landing John Crumbley, Mystery Valley Golf Club Daryl Batey, Charlie Yates Golf Course Roger Cherico, Dunwoody Country Club John Godwin, Godwin Creek/US Kids Golf

Forecast

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mike Paull

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ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/

Nationwide feature: Blake Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

GSGA tournament preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

JUNIOR GOLF DIRECTOR Scott Gordon

South Georgia Classic preview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Georgia's mini-tour pros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

OPERATIONS MANAGER Jeff Ashby

Legends of Golf preview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chip shots: Tournament round-ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Champions Tour feature: Larry Mize . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Golf Fore Women: Reynolds, Shirley win . . . . . . . . 27

Governor's Towne Club. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Golf Fore Juniors: Rain makes impact . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Masters pick: Tiger or Phil? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Fore Georgia tournament schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Peterson completes GPGA Grand Slam . . . . . . . . . 20

Course reviews: Savannah Harbor, Manor. . . . . . . 30

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Pat Day SECTION ASSISTANT Traci Waters

FOREGeorgia is produced by Golf Media, Inc. Copyright ©2008 with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without permission, of editorial or graphic content is prohibited. Georgia PGA web site: www.georgiapga.com

PGA pro-file: Michael Parrott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Nationwide Tour returns to Athens [ Continued from the cover ]

Martin Laird birdied the 18th on Sunday in 2007 to win by one stroke over a pair of challengers. Last year, Greg Owen birdied the 18th to force the first playoff in the tournament’s brief history, but Damron followed with a birdie on the 18th – the first extra hole — for the victory. The field that will compete for first place money of $99,000 from the purse of $550,000 will include a number of familiar names. But a sizeable number of Georgia players on the Nationwide Tour will have to go through Monday qualifying to earn a spot in the event. The tournament is held the same week as the Heritage Classic on Hilton Head Island (April 16-19), and few if any of the players who divide their schedules between the PGA and Nationwide Tours will get into the Heritage field. The Athens event is likely to pick up some PGA Tour members who won’t be able to play the Heritage, bumping some of the non-exempt Nationwide players, which includes several Georgians. Chris Kirk, Scott Parel, Jonathan Fricke and David Robinson will likely need to successfully compete in Monday qualifiers to earn spots in the field, as will former Georgia Bulldog Tommy Tolles. Blake Adams received a sponsor’s exemption into the field and is one of approximately a dozen players guaranteed spots in the field who either live in Georgia or attended college in the state. In the first three years of the tournament, only one Georgia golfer has posted a top-10 finish, and he returns to the field after missing the 2008 Athens Regional Foundation Classic. Roswell’s Justin Bolli, who made the U. of Georgia golf team in the late 1990s as a walk-on, tied for fifth at Jennings Mill in 2006 and was second in ’07, finishing just one shot behind Laird. He played on the PGA Tour last year and continued his outstanding play in his home state, tying for fifth in the AT&T Classic at TPC Sugarloaf. Bolli ended the year just outside the top 150 on the money list and is back on the Nationwide Tour, where he placed in the top 10 in both 2004 and ’07 to earn spots on the

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Scott Dunlap

PGA Tour the following year. The 33-year old Bolli has two Nationwide wins in his three seasons on the tour, with two other Georgians who have played well at Jennings Mill also capturing two Nationwide titles in their careers. Paul Claxton, like Bolli a former Bulldog, and Scott Dunlap posted back-to-back top20 finishes at Jennings Mill in 2006 and ’07. Claxton returned to the PGA Tour for a fourth season last year after picking up his second Nationwide victory in ’07, while Dunlap struggled for most of ’08 after winning the season-opening event in Panama. Claxton, a Vidalia native now living on St. Simons Island, is playing his 11th year on the Nationwide Tour and is second on the career money list. He was No. 1 before returning to the PGA Tour at the end of the ’07 season, when he enjoyed his best year on the Nationwide Tour, placing 10th in earnings. Dunlap, a Duluth resident, is playing his seventh straight year on the Nationwide Tour and ninth overall after six years on the PGA Tour from 1996-2002. Much of Dunlap’s success has come outside the U.S., with his win in Panama last year propelling him to his highest finish ever on the Nationwide Tour (37th). Also in the field are Albany’s Josh Broadaway, a 5-year Nationwide Tour player who is coming off his best season in 2008, and former Augusta State golfer Major Manning, a Nationwide Tour rookie. Manning, who grew up in Clarkesville, won on the Hooters Tour last year. John Kimbell of LaFayette, who won the Nationwide Tour event in Valdosta in 2007, is trying to rebound after a tough season in ’08, and will be joined by several veteran Nationwide Tour players who also have tour

wins on their resumes. Dalton’s Michael Clark won on the Nationwide Tour in 1996 and ’98 and captured a victory during his rookie year on the PGA Tour in 2000. But the former Georgia Tech golfer has rarely been heard from since, and is attempting a comeback on the Nationwide Tour, where he has played sparingly in recent years. Clark made the cut in three of the first four Nationwide events this season. Tripp Isenhour, also a former Georgia Tech golfer with PGA Tour experience, was a top-10 finisher on the Nationwide Tour in 2000, ’03 and ’06, winning a total of four tournaments. He has five seasons on the PGA Tour, his last in 2007 when he narrowly missed finishing in the top 150 on the money list. Former Augusta State golfer Richard Johnson also has four career Nationwide wins, three coming in 2007, when he topped the money list with $445,000. But Johnson barely cracked the top 200 on the PGA Tour in his rookie season, and is back for a ninth time on the Nationwide Tour. Kirk, Parel, Tolles and Fricke all placed in the top 100 on the Nationwide Tour money list last year. But because of the large number of veteran ex-PGA Tour players who are eligible to play on the Nationwide Tour, they will likely have to Monday qualify at either Achasta GC or Chicopee Woods, with seven spots available from each site. Kirk, a recent Bulldog standout from Woodstock, lost last year’s Nationwide event in Knoxville in a playoff. Kirk, a tour rookie in ’08, competed earlier this year at Pebble Beach and made the cut for the fourth time in four attempts in a PGA Tour event. The best finish by a Georgian at Jennings Mill last year was turned in by Georgia PGA

APRIL 2009

PHOTOS BY ATHENS REGIONAL FOUNDATION CLASSIC

Justin Bolli

member Sonny Skinner, who has spent a number of years on the PGA and Nationwide Tours and still retains Nationwide Tour status. Skinner, a teaching pro at River Pointe in Albany, tied for 18th in Athens, firing a final round 66 that matched the low score of the day. He played in nine more Nationwide events in ’08 and made it to the finals of Qschool, missing exempt status on the Nationwide Tour for ’09 by just three strokes. From 1990-2004, Skinner competed on either the PGA or Nationwide Tour before joining the Georgia PGA Section as a club professional. He was the Section’s Player of the Year in 2006, and was the national PGA Player of the Year in 2008, largely due to his runner-up finish in the PGA Professional Nationwide Championship at Reynolds Plantation and his strong showing in the Athens Nationwide event. University of Georgia Golf Course head professional Matt Peterson, a veteran former Nationwide Tour player, will compete in Athens for the third straight time thanks to his finish atop the Divots Georgia PGA points list in 2008. Peterson, who is coming off a win the Georgia PGA’s Match Play Championship, has made the cut in both his previous appearances. Country Club of the South instructor Shawn Koch and Chicopee Woods assistant Greg Lee finished 1-2 in Georgia PGA qualifying to earn spots in the field. Koch shot a 68 at Jennings Mill, while Lee, a former Jennings Mill assistant, birdied two of his last three holes to shoot 70. Michael Parrott and Tim Weinhart both shot 72 to earn alternate status, with Skinner next at 73. Also competing in the event on sponsor exemptions are ex-Georgia Bulldog Kevin Kisner from Aiken, S.C., and Athens native Keith Guest, who played his college golf at Augusta State, where he is now an assistant golf coach. Damron, the 2001 Byron Nelson Classic champion, played on the PGA Tour full time from 1997-2006, and has split his time between the two tours the past two years. He will be one of a sizeable number of players with considerable PGA Tour experience in the field. Tournament week for the Athens Regional Foundation Classic begins with a pro-am April 13 at Athens Country Club. A junior clinic will be held the next day at 4 p.m. at Jennings Mill, with the pro-am pairings party set for 6:30 p.m. at Sanford Stadium. The Jennings Mill pro-am is scheduled for April 15. After Friday’s play, the Dogwood Bash will be held at Athens CC beginning at 7 p.m. Jennings Mill is located just west of Athens off Georgia 316, and is easily accessible for metro Atlanta residents. The course is considerably friendlier for spectators than all the courses that have hosted tour events in the Atlanta area with the exception of East Lake. For information on the tournament, visit www.arfcgolf.org.

APRIL 2009

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Adams just wants a shot on Nationwide Tour By Mike Blum

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uring his brief time on the Nationwide Tour, Blake Adams has proven that he has the game to be competitive at the second highest level of professional golf in the U.S. The main problem now is just getting the opportunity. Adams, a resident of the Lake Oconee area and a Georgia Southern graduate, is playing on the Nationwide Tour for the third year. He made it to the tour for the first time in 2007 after reaching the finals of Q-school in ’06. Tee to green, Adams’ game held up well in his rookie season, but struggles with the putter resulted in his making just five of 16 cuts, with only one top-25 finish, a tie for 13th in Omaha. When Adams was unable to again reach the finals of Q-school, he began 2008 with no status on the tour, requiring him to play in Monday qualifiers for a chance to gain entry into tournament fields.

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Adams received a sponsor’s exemption into last year’s South Georgia Classic at Valdosta’s Kinderlou Forest GC, where he won a Hooters Tour event in 2005. Adams took advantage of his opportunity, tying for sixth to earn a paycheck of almost $21,000 and secure a spot in the field the next week in Arkansas. But after shooting a 68 in the opening round, Adams fell back the next day and missed the cut. He did not play again on the Nationwide Tour for two months. Such is the life of golfers in Adams’ situation, trying to climb the ladder of success while having to produce every week to earn another chance. Adams’ next chance last year came in the inaugural Nationwide Tour Players Cup, where he earned a spot in the field thanks to his standing on the money list. He played well, tying for 27th, but missed by one stroke of a top-25 finish required to play again the next week. The following week, however, Adams was back in the field of another of the top Nationwide Tour events in Columbus, O.

This time he managed a top-25 finish, tying for 17th. The next two weeks he was 18th in Omaha and 12th in Wichita, and got into five more tournaments the rest of the season, twice playing himself into contention early in the tournament before slipping down the leader board on the weekend. The 33-year-old Adams finished the year 94th in earnings with just over $45,000, enabling him to regain the status he lost after the 2007 season. Unfortunately, his status won’t do much for him early in ’09, and he’s back to the grind of Monday qualifying. At least when the Nationwide Tour plays outside Georgia. Thanks to a pair of sponsor exemptions, Adams will be in the field in both Athens and Valdosta, and could use a showing comparable to that of last year at Kinderlou Forest to ensure his playing status for the remainder of 2009. Because he has status on the tour this year, Adams does not need a top-25 finish each week to get into the next tournament. A strong showing or two early in the year will improve the status he already has, as the tour periodically “re-shuffles” its players with non-exempt status, rewarding those who are playing well. “Golf is hard enough without the added pressure,” Adams said last month in an appearance at Jennings Mill to publicize the upcoming tournament. “But if you play well, it will take care of itself.” Status or no status, Adams knows what he has to do to succeed on the Nationwide Tour. And it starts with just getting the opportunity to play, something he will have at least twice this month. Adams took advantage of his opportunity last year in Valdosta. “That was huge,” he said of his tie for sixth. “I was able to parlay that into more events. Then in the summer I got on a good run and played about five in a row. It’s a tough process if you don’t get off to a good start. It can be a real tough grind.” Adams has already gotten off to a good start in 2009, which was a relief after his ’08 season ended with an injury. Adams was sidelined with a hip injury for the late stages of 2008, but returned to action last month with a tie for second in the season-opening event on the Tar Heel Tour. After rounds of 66 and 70, Adams had the lead heading to the final round in Okatie, S.C., but one of his challengers surged past him with a 64. Adams still came away with a check for $13,250, a nice start to a season in which he says he is “on my own,” after previously having some help from sponsors. “I had a chance after 36 holes, but I hit some good shots the last day that did not turn out well,” Adams said. “But it was nice to be

ATHENS REGIONAL FOUNDATION CLASSIC

Hopes to parlay limited status into success

Blake Adams

in contention and get some of the rust off.” Adams turned pro after graduating from Georgia Southern in 2001, and has enjoyed some success on the mini-tour circuit, winning on the Hooters, Gateway and Tar Heel Tours. He closed out last season with a Tar Heel title in Columbia, S.C., and has made that his primary tour thanks to its Wednesday-Friday tournament schedule, which enables players like Adams to get to and from Monday qualifiers on the Nationwide or PGA Tour. Thanks to his win last year in Columbia, Adams finished the season eighth on the money list, adding three other finishes of sixth or better to his victory. Adams put up some impressive stats in his relatively brief tournament stay on the Nationwide Tour in ’08, including a fifth place finish in the all-around category. The 63, 205-pound Adams is one of the longest hitters on the tour, placing second last year in driving distance with an average of 309 yards. Unlike many of his fellow big hitters, Adams is not wild off the tee, finishing a respectable 42nd in fairways hit to also place second in the total driving category, which factors in both distance and accuracy. He was also a solid 38th in greens in regulation and improved his putting stats considerably, moving from well outside the top 100 to 50th and 55th in two main putting stats. Thanks mainly to his length, Adams is a terror on par 5s, scoring birdie or eagle 57 percent of the time last year to lead the tour. Adams began his college golf career at Georgia, transferring to Georgia Southern for his final seasons. During his stay in Athens, he got plenty of opportunities to play Jennings Mill, and still shares the course record of 63. Adams missed the cut in his only start in the Athens Regional Foundation Classic in 2007, but he also missed the cut that year in Valdosta, and came back the next year to tie for sixth.

APRIL 2009

APRIL 2009

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Valdosta event has been kind to Georgia pros

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n its first two years, Valdosta’s Kinderlou Forest Golf Club has been a hospitable host for a sizeable number of Georgians competing in one of the state’s two Nationwide Tour events. The South Georgia Classic debuted in 2007, with LaFayette’s John Kimbell scoring the victory in his rookie Nationwide Tour season. Canadian Bryan DeCorso won the tournament last year, but the top 10 included five golfers who attended college in the state, three of whom are current Georgia residents. With the 2009 Nationwide Tour including a sizeable Georgia contingent, several of whom have played well at Kinderlou Forest, it’s likely that the weekend scoreboards will include a healthy number of Georgians competing for the winner’s check of $112,500. The third South Georgia Classic will be played April 23-26, the week after the Nationwide Tour stops in Athens. The tournament features a purse of $625,000 with $112,500 to the winner and will again be televised on the Golf Channel, but will be broadcast on tape delay after competing for viewers against the Champions Tour

Legends of Golf last year. Kimbell and DeCorso will both be in the field, with neither player able to earn enough money to qualify for the PGA Tour even with their victories in Valdosta. Two of the Georgians who were among the contenders at Kinderlou Forest in 2007 both went on to win on the Nationwide Tour later that year and played on the PGA Tour in ’08, but both are back this year. Vidalia native Paul Claxton tied for sixth in ’07 and was the Nationwide Tour’s leading career money winner at the end of that season. After his fourth unsuccessful stint on the PGA Tour in ’08, he is playing in his 11th season on the Nationwide Tour. Roswell’s Justin Bolli, like Claxton a former Georgia Bulldog, was just two strokes off the lead after 54 holes in Valdosta in ’07, but struggled the final day and ended up tied for 20th. His disappointment did not last long, as he tied for second the next week in Athens and picked up his second career Nationwide Tour victory later in the season to earn a second trip to the PGA Tour. Kimbell scored an impressive win that year, firing a final round 69 in difficult conditions for the low score of the day. Kimbell won by one stroke over current PGA Tour

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member Matthew Jones of Australia. DeCorso’s win was considerably easier, as he led after the second and third rounds and went on to a comfortable 4-stroke victory over England’s Greg Owen and former Georgia Tech standout Bryce Molder, both of whom are on the PGA Tour this year. Joining Molder in the top 10 were Augusta’s Scott Parel (5th), Eatonton’s Blake Adams (T6) and ex-Georgia Bulldogs Brendon Todd and David Miller (T9). Parel, who graduated from Georgia but did not play on the golf team, and Adams, who played his college golf at Georgia Southern after transferring from Georgia, both finished among the top 100 on the money list year and have non-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour in ’09. Miller earned his spot in the field in a Monday qualifier, while Todd, who has settled in Atlanta after graduating from Georgia in 2007, was making just his third Nationwide Tour start and went on to earn a spot on the ’09 PGA Tour. Tournament officials have awarded one of their sponsor exemptions to Valdosta State senior golfer Brent Witcher of Duluth, a Division II All-American last year, with Adams receiving a sponsor’s exemption for the second straight year. The South Georgia Classic field will tee

ATHENS REGIONAL FOUNDATION CLASSIC

Paul Claxton

John Kimbell

it up on the longest course to host a tour event, with Kinderlou Forest measuring 7,781 yards from the tips. Kinderlou Forest, which was designed by Davis Love’s design group, ranked as the third most difficult course on the Nationwide Tour in scoring average in 2008, with the average score a fraction under 73. DeCorso’s winning score of 14-under 274 was four strokes lower than Kimbell’s total in 2007, with more favorable weather conditions a factor in the improved scoring. In its two years as tournament host, Kinderlou Forest has not played its full length, typically playing in the 7,400 to 7,500-yard vicinity. For information, visit www.southgeorgiaclassic.com. APRIL 2009

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Legends of Golf retains team format Savannah again hosts top Champions event

By Mike Blum

he tournament that essentially gave birth to the Senior PGA Tour returned to its roots last year, although it has strayed a bit from its Texas origins to find a home near the Georgia coast. The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf returns to the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort this month for the seventh time, and will again play under the team format that made the event one of the most popular on what is now known as the Champions Tour. The first Legends of Golf was played in 1978 at Onion Creek in Austin, Tex. At the time, the only event for senior professionals was the Senior PGA Championship, which was played for the first time in 1937 at Augusta National. After a successful inaugural tournament, which was won by the team of Sam Snead and Gardner Dickinson, the Legends of Golf enjoyed an even more noteworthy

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return engagement in 1979. Julius Boros and Roberto De Vicenzo won in a lengthy playoff over Tommy Bolt and Art Wall, with a national broadcast capturing the exciting, highlight reel finish that went on well past the allotted time frame for the final round. Thanks to the response from that tournament, and the impending 50th birthday of Arnold Palmer later in 1979, a handful of events banded together to form a senior tour in 1980 and their numbers grew every year, reaching 38 within a decade. Although it was never considered an official event because of its team format, the Legends of Golf remained one of the tour’s cornerstones, with Liberty Mutual signing on as the tour’s first title sponsor in 1980. During the 1990s, the tournament left its home course for another in Austin and spent several years in the southern California desert before moving across the country to Florida’s northeast coast. In 2002, the tournament abandoned its team format for stroke play, making it an official tournament for the first time, although it did maintain team divisions for the tour’s older and less competitive players. Competing for attention against the Players Championship was a losing battle, and the tournament again moved in 2003, this time a short hike up the Atlantic coast. The highly regarded Bob Cupp design at Savannah Harbor made its debut as host course that year, and the city of Savannah has proven to be a nice fit for the tournament, even with a PGA Tour event played only one week and a one hour drive away. As one of approximately 30 stroke play events on the Champions Tour, the Legends of Golf had lost its unique distinction, and the decision was made to return to its original format last year.

Other than Hale Irwin, every Champions Tour player of note competed in one of the three divisions, although a few of the tour’s rank and file members did not meet the qualification standards. A total of 32 teams competed in the Legends Division, with 11 more in the unofficial Raphael Division and 16 more in the Demaret Division for golfers age 70 and older. “It was very well-received,” Tournament Director Tim Iley said of the change to an all-team play format. “We had record crowds even though we lost Saturday afternoon to weather. We had over 46,000 for the week. And the players enjoyed it. It was a big success.” The Demaret Division again will be played on Monday and Tuesday of tournament week (April 20-26), with the Raphael Division held Friday and Saturday after two days of pro-am play, making the tournament the only one on any tour with an entire week of tournament action. The first two rounds of the Legends Division will be played concurrently with the Raphael competitors on Friday and Saturday. Both Saturday and Sunday’s play will be broadcast on CBS, making it one of a just a handful of Champions Tour events on a noncable network. Al Geiberger and Jimmy Powell won last year’s Demaret competition with a recordbreaking total of 18-under 126. It was the sixth title for Powell, three each in the Raphael and Demaret Divisions, who won his first five with the late Orville Moody. Three teams were five strokes back in tie for second, including Gainesville’s Tommy Aaron and Don Bies. NBC broadcasters Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie won the Raphael Division for the second time, shooting a tournament record 60 in the second round for a 16-under 128 total, one stroke ahead of Bob Charles and Stewart Ginn. Even with a new format, the tournament

had a familiar winning duo last year. Tom Watson and Andy North won the team portion of the event each of the previous three years against lesser competition, as almost all the tour’s top players elected to compete for official money in the stroke play half of the tournament. Even with all the tour’s big guns aimed at them, Watson and North again prevailed, this time by just one stroke over the team of Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler. Watson played only five more events in 2009 before being sidelined by injury, while North did not enter another tournament the rest of the year. North, who won two U.S. Opens among his three career PGA Tour victories, has amassed six titles in the event, two with Jim Colbert in 2000 and ’01 prior to his four straight victories with Watson. Among the teams Watson and North beat out to take home first place money of $225,000 each last year were: Sandy LyleIan Woosnam; John Cook-Joey Sindelar; Jerry Pate-Andy Bean; David EdwardsBernhard Langer; Larry Nelson-Jim Thorpe; Mark O’Meara-Nick Price; Tom Kite-Gil Morgan; Loren Roberts-Scott Simpson; Allen Doyle-Dana Quigley; Fred Funk-Scott Hoch; Mark JamesEduardo Romero; and Jay Haas-Curtis Strange. Langer, who is currently the top player on the Champions Tour, will have a new partner this year, as he will team with Tom Lehman, who will be making his debut on the tour. Georgian Larry Mize, like Langer a former Masters champion, will also make his first appearance in the tournament, playing with fellow Champions Tour rookie Blaine McCallister. Langer has been the tour’s top player through the early stages of the ’09 season, winning the season opener in Hawaii and placing in the top 10 in each of his next four starts, finishing within four strokes of the winner in all four events. For information, contact the tournament office at 912-236-1333.

APRIL 2009

APRIL 2009

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Larry Mize a ‘rookie’ on Champions Tour By Mike Blum

lthough he might not have necessarily circled Sept. 23, 2008 on his calendar at home, that date was one Larry Mize had been anticipating for some time. That was the day Mize turned 50 and became eligible to compete on the Champions Tour. Three days after his 50th birthday, Mize teed it up in the SAS Championship and did what he had done many times in his career on the PGA Tour. Mize, a native of Augusta and a long time Columbus resident, played three steady rounds of golf, cashed a decent check and moved on to the next tour stop. He did that three more times before the 2008 season ended and headed back out in February to begin his first full year on the Champions Tour. “I really enjoyed it,” Mize said of his initial experience last year. “I like the atmosphere out there. It’s competitive, but you can really enjoy yourself.”

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While a relatively small number of PGA Tour players remained very competitive right up to their 50th birthdays, Mize was part of the much larger group that began to lose some steam in their 40s. Mize was an exempt player on the PGA Tour for two decades, but suffered a back injury in 2002 and spent his last six seasons as an occasional participant who would manage one or two strong showings a season. As his 50th birthday approached, Mize began to prepare for what has become a career mulligan for veteran PGA Tour players. “I talked to some guys and knew what to expect. The guys are good out there, which was pretty much what I had expected. I had done my homework” Mize used his late 2008 arrival on the Champions Tour as a chance to get his feet wet before jumping into the water on a full time basis this year. In his first Champions Tour appearance, he was one or two shots under par in each of

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the three rounds and placed a respectable 27th. He got into the final Champions Tour major for his second start and again was right around par every day, tying for 27th. Mize was not that far off the lead heading to the final round in his last two starts of ’08, but did not play especially well either day and settled for a pair of top 20 finishes to close out his year. The feeling of being in contention going to the last round was something Mize had not experienced in some time, and is one of the adjustments players like him have to make transitioning from the PGA Tour to the Champions Tour. Mize had actually made his way onto leader boards twice last year on the PGA Tour, but in both cases it was earlier in the tournament. He was one shot off the lead after the Larry Mize opening round in the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico, but fell back after a disappointing score the next day. Shortly before turning 50, Mize was tied game’s bigger hitters, he managed to compile for second after 36 holes in the Reno-Tahoe an excellent record in the Masters, beginning Open, but a poor third round dropped him with his first appearance, when he tied for out of contention. 11th in 1984. Mize’s latter years on the PGA Tour conTwo years later, he finished a quiet T16 sisted primarily of playing in lesser events despite shooting a final round 65, matching with weaker fields. But as a fully exempt the low score of the day. Someone else shot player on the Champions Tour, he will be 65 that day and attracted a little more attenable to compete in all the top events. tion. Mize received his due the next year, From his brief stay on the Champions winning a playoff over Seve Ballesteros and Tour last year, Mize says the differences Greg Norman with the help of one of the between it and the PGA Tour are “subtle. most replayed shots in golf history. The courses are a little shorter. They’re still Mize continued to contend in the over 7,000 yards, but not the backbreakers Masters for the next dozen or so years, tying like some of the 7,400 or 7,500-yard courses for sixth in 1992 and challenging for a on the PGA Tour.” second green jacket in ’94, placing third In recent years, the PGA Tour has set up its behind Jose Maria Olazabal. He added three courses differently than in the past, growing more top-25 finishes, the last in 2000, but the rough a little deeper and cutting pin has made the cut just once since, that positions closer to the edges of the greens. coming in ’06. “The Champions Tour does what the After his Masters victory, Mize won twice PGA Tour used to do in the way they set the more on the PGA Tour, both times in 1993. courses up. That’s one of the main differ- He has realistic hopes of picking up his first ences from what I saw.” win in more than 15 years, and made a run Other than the Masters, where Mize is on at victory in his first start of 2009, tying for the invitation list as long as he chooses seventh in Boca Raton, Fla., after beginthanks to his memorable victory in 1987, he ning the final round just two off the lead. has likely played his last tournament on the Mize will make a second start in his PGA Tour. The Champions Tour has several home state this month, competing in the off weeks during the season, but Mize said Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at he is unlikely to return to the regular tour for Savannah Harbor. Mize will team up with a token appearance or two. Blaine McCallister in the best-ball event “I’ll play the Masters and that will be it. and said he is “looking forward to the The Champions Tour has everything I need Legends. out there.” “I’m excited about that, but I’m looking Although Augusta National has gotten a forward to every one of them.” little too long for Mize, never among the APRIL 2009

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APRIL 2009

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15

Governors Towne Club a shining gem Course layout, conditions both first class

By Mike Blum

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he golf course construction boom in metro Atlanta went silent almost a decade ago. But in the years since, the quality of the newer arrivals on the local golf scene have made up for the decline in quantity. Among the best of an excellent group of relatively recent additions to the private club roster of the Atlanta area is Governors Towne Club, which opened for play in the Spring of 2004 in northwest Cobb County on the Paulding border outside Acworth. At the time, the course was the first to open in the metro area in 18 months, and there have been only a handful of similarly upscale private clubs to debut in the succeeding five years. Governors Towne Club received strong positive reviews when it opened for play five years ago, and the course has not lost any of its luster since, with its conditioning remaining first rate and the layout maturing nicely. Atlanta based golf course architect Mike Riley provided the design for Governors Towne Club with a consulting assist from two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange. Over the past decade, Riley has been one of the busiest course architects in Atlanta in an otherwise depressingly slow time in his business. Among Riley’s creations in the metro area are Crooked Creek (now Alpharetta Athletic Club East) and Reunion GC, with his most recent work consisting of renovations of some of the area’s top private clubs. Riley has done re-design work on Atlanta Country Club, Brookfield, the Standard Club and Rivermont, and his work at each club has been very well received by the membership. At Governors Towne Club, Riley and Strange have created a layout that features significantly rolling terrain with a healthy number of hazards in play, along with some large and demanding greens complexes that will give your short game all the challenge it can handle. The five tee boxes are separated by substantial amounts of real estate, and to compensate for the considerable differences in yardages, two composite courses have been created. Governors Towne Club measures around 7,250 yards from the Black tees despite two short-ish par 5s and a 290-yard par 4. The Gold tees are around 6,750, with the Blues a very comfortable 6,125. There are two sets of women’s tees (5,004 and 4,339) and even a par-3 set of tees on each hole that can double as a kids’ course. Thanks to the combination of length,

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Governors Towne Club layout rates high for quality, scenic appeal

hazards and the demanding greens complexes, the Course Rating/Slope numbers are Governors Towne Club are on the high side – 75.0/142 from the Blacks, 72.6/136 from the Golds. Even with its modest yardage, the Blues have a Slope of 131, with a Course Rating of 70.0. There are also two composite courses (Gold/Black and Gold/Blue) that take a little bit of the teeth out of some of the longest holes for low handicappers, while offering more of a test for low double digit handicappers than the Blues. The disparity in distances between some of the tees, especially the Golds and Blues, is a product of the rolling terrain, as well as the presence of creeks, ravines and wetlands throughout the course. The Gold and Blue tees at the par-4 eighth hole are separated by more than 100 yards, with several other gaps of 50 and 60 yards. As a result, the course can play significantly different depending on which tees you play, and Governors Towne Club head professional Todd Gilgrist says that is one of the characteristics of the course that most appeals to its membership. “The members like to mix it up,” Gilgrist says. “That makes things enjoyable for them because they can play a totally different golf course. And with the greens as large and expansive as they are, we have multiple hole locations. Our owner (Ken Horton) wanted it to be tour quality.”

Governors Towne Club will host one of the state’s top amateur events this month, as the GSGA will play its 4-Ball Championship there April 24-26. They will encounter a course Gilgrist describes as one with “phenomenal conditions, beauty and topography that changes from hole to hole. It has a real flair to it.” Previously, Governors Towne Club has hosted the Georgia PGA’s Match Play Championship, and Gilgrist says the club would be interested in serving as a future host of a USGA event or perhaps a Champions Tour tournament, although TPC Sugarloaf may have first dibs on that. With the combination of considerable length, plenty of hazards and testy greens complexes, Riley and Strange were generous in providing ample fairways which allow the driver to be pulled from the bag on just about every hole. The course, however, is not of the grip-it-and-rip-it variety, with some strategic thinking required, especially on the risk/reward group of par 5s. Riley is of the opinion that three-shot par 5s “are kind of boring,” and the par 5s at Governors Towne Club are anything but. Two are on the short side, and should be easily reachable for most of the players in the 4-Ball Championship field, but not without risk. All four have hazards in play, with some thought and precision required to handle each of the quartet. When Riley designed the course, he said

one of his primary aims was to “mix things up constantly and have no two holes alike.” He achieved that goal, and the layout’s diversity is among its strengths, with some help from the topography. Among the more memorable holes are the all-carry-over-water, par-3 9th, which plays in the 200-yard ballpark from the blues (almost 230 from the tips), and is as scenic as it is perilous. There is some bailout room short and right, but back left pin positions can make for some interesting short game shots across the green. Riley follows up that treacherous hole with one of the most benign par 4s you’ll encounter. The 10th maxes out at 290 yards (230 from the blues), and even though it plays sharply uphill, it will provide golfers who may have never driven a par 4 the opportunity to do so. However, a truly devilish green with all manners of slopes, tiers and fall-offs make the hole a little sportier than its minimal yardage, with some exceedingly difficult to get to pin positions making it an entertaining but potentially perplexing hole. The state’s top amateurs who will tee it up in the 4-Ball Championship will encounter several extremely stout par 4s. But with Riley’s spacing of tees, Governors Towne Club is eminently playable for those who pick the right set, with the superb greens that are very quick with ample undulation making it a worthy challenge regardless of the length. As with other area upscale private clubs, the current economic situation has been a major concern for club owner Horton, but he says he is “not discouraged” with the slower-than-anticipated progress the club has made in attracting members. “It’s a tough thing to do, but one thing I chose not to do is to lower the standards of the product. It would be an easy thing to cut back on maintenance, but we haven’t.” The construction of the clubhouse has been slowed a bit, and Horton expects it be to ready by the Spring of next year. He says the impressive looking structure “will be fabulous.” Even in these difficult economic times, Governors Towne Club has steadily added new members, with the quality of its golf course and its prime location in northwest Cobb County the primary draws. “It’s as fine a layout as you’ll find in Georgia,” Horton asserts. “And I think we’re positioned to be the elite private club in northwest Atlanta.” For information on Governors Towne Club, call 770-966-5353, or visit its web site (www.governorstowneclub.com).

APRIL 2009

APRIL 2009

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Masters favorite an either/or proposition Despite last 2 years, it’s Tiger or Phil

n recent years, almost all pre-Masters speculation has focused on exactly two players – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. That’s the case again this year, but should it be? Woods has won just one of the last six Masters, and was very fortunate to score his lone victory in that span. Mickelson has won two of the last five, but since his 72nd hole meltdown at Winged Foot in 2006 (which denied him a shot at a Mickel-Slam), he has not been a serious factor in a major championship. Instead of Woods or Mickelson, the last two Masters were won by the unlikely pair of Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman. The significant lengthening of Augusta National, done primarily prior to the 2002 and 2006 Masters, was supposed to enhance the chances of the game’s longer hitters. But since ’03, the trio of Immelman, Johnson and Mike Weir are tied 3-3 with Woods and Mickelson. Neither Johnson nor Immelman was on anyone’s radar screen as a potential Masters champion. Johnson was making just his third Masters start, and made the cut for the first time the previous year, tying for 32nd. He had made just four of 11 cuts in majors and never placed higher than 17th. He had the grand total of one PGA Tour victory – the 2004 BellSouth Classic his rookie season, and had done nothing earlier in ’07 to indicate that he was going to contend in the Masters. Shorter than average off the tee, Augusta National was not considered to be

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a course conducive to his style of play. Immelman had given some indication he could compete for a green jacket, tying for fifth in Augusta in 2005. But in his other three starts as a professional in the Masters, he missed the cut twice and almost finished dead last the other year. He had tied for sixth in the previous major – the ’07 PGA – but came into the Masters having done absolutely nothing previously in ’08. He hasn’t done much more since. Yet, the two unlikely players managed to capture the most coveted title in the game, with Johnson winning on the strength of a determined final round effort and Immelman playing three near-flawless rounds before limping a bit to the finish line. Their victories – and that of Weir in 2003 – should give pause to those whose list of serious Masters contenders starts with Tiger and ends with Phil. But as the two best and most compelling players in the game, that won’t deter any of the Woods vs. Mickelson talk that will reach a crescendo Wednesday of Masters week. Both players come into the Masters with enough question marks to provide plenty of hope to others in the field hoping to be the 2009 version of Johnson or Immelman. Woods will be making just his fourth start since knee surgery last year, and came back with a healthy game (and knee) but a rusty putter. His Masters resume includes four wins and four top-5 finishes in 12 starts as a professional, including a third and two seconds the last three years. But Woods has not been able to produce any Sunday magic in Augusta the last three years, and the increased difficulty of Augusta National has made it less likely that he will add a fifth green jacket to his closet, at least based on his track record in the Masters. Woods wins the Masters when he goes low. The four years he’s won, his 72-hole scores were 270, 272, 276 and 276, a combined 58-under (59-under counting his playoff birdie in ’05). The eight years he has not won the Masters a professional, his lowest score is 283 and his average is 1under 287. He has finished over par for the tournament as often as he’s broken par for 72 holes in his eight non-winning efforts. For most of his career, that stat also applied to Woods in the other majors. With an exception or

Phil Mickelson

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two, either he went deep into red figures or he did not win. But several of his most recent major titles came on courses that were not going to yield low winning scores, so that aspect of his track record may no longer apply. It’s been four years since Woods last won the Masters and a lot of folks think he’s due to claim a fifth green jacket. But is he ready to win again considering his lack of competition? We’ll find out soon enough. Woods appeared in prime form in his come-from-behind win at Bay Hill that included another memorable Tiger moment on the 72nd hole, but Bay Hill is one of several courses where he can basically show up and win no matter the state of his game. Augusta National is not one of those courses. As for Mickelson, he comes into the Masters off victories at Riviera and Doral, a good sign for a streaky player who tends to play his best golf in extended stretches. Mickelson was playing the best golf of his career coming into the 2004 Masters and won. The week before the 2006 Masters, he completely obliterated the field to win by 13 strokes at TPC Sugarloaf and made it two in a row in Augusta. Mickelson has compiled an impressive Masters record apart from his two wins. He’s finished third four times and has five other top 10s in Augusta. But he hasn’t contended in a major since Winged Foot in ’06, although he managed two unnoticed top 10s last year. Judging by his play of late, Mickelson appears very capable of ending his postWinged Foot major championship funk. But he remains an inconsistent performer in two crucial elements of the game (driving and putting) and if he is off in either area in Augusta, he will not be taking home a third green jacket. Other than Tiger or Phil, who else is likely to contend for a Masters title? Given Johnson’s win in ’07, a previous record of success in the tournament is not required. And given Immelman’s nondescript play coming into last year’s Masters, recent form is thrown out the window. Vijay Singh and Ernie Els are the two most popular usual suspects, but their time may be past as potential Masters champions. Singh has produced a commendably consistent Masters record, but has contended just once since his win in 2000, and fell apart on the back nine on Sunday that year (2002). He has struggled all season on a bad knee and is now fighting a bad back. Els has won just once in the U.S. since

2004 and has missed the cut the last two years in Augusta. Since Mickelson flew past him on the back nine in 2004, Els’ record in the Masters is pretty dismal, and at age 39, his best days seem to be behind him. Unlike Els, there are a lot of possible challengers whose best days should be ahead of them. Geoff Ogilvy has won a U.S. Open, two Match Play titles and another WGC event. But in three starts in the Masters, he has more rounds in the 80s (one) than the 60s (none). Augusta National should be a relatively good fit for him, but then there’s that Aussie thing. Lots of his talented countrymen have tried to take home a green jacket, but none have succeeded. Then there’s the whole twenty-something group. Sergio Garcia. Adam Scott. Camilo Villegas. Anthony Kim. Paul Casey. Garcia hasn’t been heard from in Augusta since his fast-finishing fourth place finish in 2004. Plus he has putting issues, which never translates into success in Augusta. Scott is not 100 percent physically and hasn’t contended in a major since ’06. Villegas has already established himself as a big event performer, but has not figured out Augusta National in his first two attempts. Kim is making his first start in Augusta, but did well in his initial efforts in the British Open and Tour Championship. Like Scott, he’s had some aches and pains this year and his game has suffered of late. Casey could be a guy to watch. He’s finished 11th or better in three of his five Masters and has played well this year. His problem has not been getting into contention in Augusta, but staying there on the weekend. For someone who has won the last two majors, Padraig Harrington hasn’t received that much notice, mostly due to his indifferent play of late. Harrington has compiled a quite respectable record in the Masters (three top 10s, including the last two years), but he has apparently lost something in the wake of his back-to-back major titles last summer. Johnson and Immelman demonstrated that you can beat Augusta National without overpowering it, which means that Jim Furyk must be considered. His record in Augusta is comparable to that of Harrington. The same applies to Weir, who has played pretty well at Augusta since his win six years ago, and got off to a solid start to the ’09 season. All of the above are more plausible Masters champions than either Johnson or Immelman were. It is possible that a surprise winner could emerge for a third straight year, and players like Luke Donald, STEVE DINBERG

By Mike Blum

APRIL 2009

PHOTOS BY STEVE DINBERG

Tim Clark and Ian Poulter fit into their general category. After his tie for third last year, Duluth’s Stewart Cink also deserves a mention, but other than the Match Play Championship, where he finished third, he has not been in top form in the early stages of the ’09 season. Ultimately, however, it comes down to the two most likely players who will smile broadly as Immelman places a green jacket on their shoulders. Most folks side with Woods. Here’s a vote for the other guy.

Padraig Harrington

APRIL 2009

Love bumped from Masters field After battling his way back into the top 50 in the World Rankings, Sea Island’s Davis Love was knocked out of the field for the Masters at the last minute by the narrowest of margins. Love was 47th in the rankings going into the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with the top 50 after the tournament earning spots in the Masters. When the rankings were re-calculated after the Bay Hill tournament, Love had fallen to 51st. Love missed the cut and was knocked out of the Masters when No. 52 Soren Kjeldsen won on the European Tour that weekend, No. 50 Prayad Marksaeng finished second on the Asian Tour and No. 58 Pat Perez jumped to 48th by tying for fourth at Bay Hill. Perez saved bogey on the 18th hole in the final round after hitting his second shot into the rocks short of the green. Had he made double bogey, Love would have remained in the top 50. Unless Love won in Houston in the final PGA Tour event before the Masters, he will miss the tournament for the second straight year. Love played in Augusta every year from 19912007, qualifying in 1995 when he won in New Orleans the week before the Masters. Also narrowly missing out on a late invitation was Augusta native Charles Howell, who tied for second the previous week in Tampa, finishing one stroke behind Retief Goosen. Marksaeng was one of four players to earn invitations to the Masters by ranking in the top 50 as of late March. European Tour player Alvaro Quiros wrapped up a spot in the top 50 with his win earlier this year in the Dubai Desert Classic.

Davis Love

Australia’s Matthew Goggin and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen were ranked 49th and 48th going into Bay Hill, and both made the cut to end up 49 and 50 at the cutoff date for Masters invitations. The Masters field will consist of 96 players, 97 if someone not eligible won in Houston.

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Peterson completes Georgia PGA ‘Grand Slam’ Opens ’09 season with Match Play title

By Mike Blum

att Peterson spent 15 years as a tour professional, most of it on the Nationwide Tour, where every shot counts and one bad hole can mean the difference between earning a check for the week or missing the cut. Match play is not something Peterson has much background in, and he admits to being somewhat out of place when not competing in a medal play format. But in his first three years competing in the Georgia PGA’s Match Play Championship, Peterson has found himself right at home in unfamiliar territory. Peterson captured the recent Yamaha Georgia PGA Match Play Championship at Callaway Gardens, winning six matches in three days, one of them against the defending champion in the semifinals. The championship match pitted a pair of former members of the Georgia golf team, with a weary Peterson prevailing 2-up over surprise finalist Michael Parrott. Thanks to finishing first in the 2008 Georgia PGA Divots points standings, Peterson was seeded first in the tournament. Parrott was the 54th seed in the 64-player

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Matt Peterson, Champion from UGA Golf Course

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field, drawing the low seed because of his status as a PGA apprentice. Parrott, an assistant at Brookfield CC, took out a series of top-seeded players to reach the finals, beginning with No. 11 Jordan Arnold of Achasta GC in the first round. He defeated No. 22 Josh Williams of Savannah GC later the first day, and followed with a win over fellow assistant Dano Korytoski of Orchard Hills before knocking off No. 3 seed Jeff Hull of the University course in Athens. That put Parrott in the semifinals with three more of the Section’s top players – Peterson, defending champion Shawn Koch and three-time Match Play champion Clark Spratlin. Parrott, who won three of his first four matches by 2&1 margins, went to the 18th hole for the first time in the semifinals against Spratlin, winning 2-up. That put him in the finals against Peterson, the head professional at the University course, who defeated Koch 2&1 in the other semifinal match. Peterson had gone to the 18th hole at Callaway’s Mountain View course just once in his five matches, winning 1-up in his opener over Ben Schwaderer of Mirror Lake. The Peterson-Parrott final also went

the distance, and Peterson admitted that neither player was in top form, playing their six matches in just over 50 hours. “We were both so beat by that match that whoever made the least mistakes was going to win. Neither one of us played all that well.” Peterson’s only excuse was fatigue. Parrott was playing with a torn ACL in his left knee, which will likely require surgery. The match was close all the way, with Peterson never trailing after winning the first hole. A birdie at the fourth put Peterson 2-up, but that proved to be the widest margin of the match, as Parrott pulled even after eight holes. Peterson twice took 1-up leads before Parrott pulled even for the last time after winning the 16th hole. Peterson appeared to be in trouble after driving into the left rough on the par-4 17th, with a pine tree obstructing his path to the hole. But Peterson lofted a wedge within two feet of the hole for a conceded birdie and the hole, and wrapped up the match when Parrott 3-putted the 18th for bogey. The victory puts Peterson in some select company as one of just three players to win the four “Grand Slam” Georgia PGA events – the Georgia Open, Atlanta Open, Section Championship and Match Play Championship. DeWitt Weaver and Gregg Wolff are the only other Georgia PGA members to sweep the four championships, and had held that distinction to themselves since 1991. “I had been thinking about it quite a bit,” Peterson said of his rare feat. “The two men I joined are two of my all-time heroes in golf. “I’ve known Gregg for 20 years and he’s always been somebody I looked up to. The same for Mr. Weaver. They’re both extra special gentlemen.” Peterson has a connection to both men. His father-in-law is a member at Willow Lake in Metter, where Wolff is the club’s long time head professional. He played college golf at Georgia with Weaver’s son, DeWitt III. Since becoming a full time player in the Georgia PGA Section in 2007, Peterson has won the Section Championship and Atlanta Open, as well as the Section’s qualifying event for the PGA Professional National Championship. He won the Georgia Open in 1993 while in the early stages of his tour career that included 11 years on the Nationwide Tour and one season as a PGA Tour member. “This is a bit of a surprise,” Peterson said.

“I did not think I was going to do well. It was my first event of the year and my amount of play has been limited. And match play is a tough thing for me. I’ve always been a medal play player.” Peterson has long been known as a steady player who keeps mistakes to a minimum, a style of play that isn’t always conducive to match play, where birdies are the order of the day. But Peterson has played well in the tournament, reaching the finals in his first appearance in ’07. The Mountain View course, which was the site of a PGA Tour event for more than a decade, proved to be a good fit for Peterson, as its small, well-guarded greens played firm and fast, limiting the number of birdies other than its par 5s. “I played solid until I got tired at the end,” Peterson said. “But in match play, who knows.” After struggling to get through his opener against Schwaderer (the match was all square before Peterson won with a par on the 18th), Peterson got sharper as the tournament went on. Peterson won 3&2 in the second round against Country Club of the South assistant David Potts, breaking the match open early on the second nine. After losing the first two holes to Jarred Reneau of International City GC in Warner Robins, he came back with his best play of the week to win 4&3, taking the next three holes after falling 2-down. In the quarterfinals, Peterson got past Bill Murchison of Towne Lake Hills 2&1 before winning by the same score in the semifinals against Koch, an instructor at Country Club of the South. Koch, the fourth seed, took an early lead and the two were all square after 14 holes before backto-back bogeys by Koch at 15 and 16 turned the match in Peterson’s favor. Koch claimed third place by defeating the seventh-seeded Spratlin 1-up in the consolation match. He did not go to the 18th hole in the tournament until the quarterfinals when he defeated No. 5 seed Tim Weinhart, the 2005 champion, 2-up in one of the best matches of the tournament. Spratlin, the head professional at the yet-to-open Blue Ridge River and GC, had to go 19 holes to win his opening match over Andy Blanton of CC of Columbus. He closed out his next three matches on the 17th hole, ousting Wolff, who won the tournament in 1984 and 2003, in the second round. The sizeable number of young [ See Peterson, page 22 ]

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Parrott hopes bad knee doesn’t ground him Brookfield assistant falls in Match Play final

By Mike Blum

I

n his first tournament as a full-fledged member of the Georgia PGA, Michael Parrott made an impressive debut, reaching the finals of the Yamaha Match Play Championship before losing to Matt Peterson on the 18th hole. Unfortunately for Parrott, there’s a chance the tournament appearance might be his last this year.

PGA Pro-file GEORGIA

Parrott, an assistant professional at Brookfield Country Club in Roswell, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee recently while playing basketball. He says the injury “is not as bad as it sounds,” but admitted that by the end of the tournament, which consisted of two matches a day for three days, he could definitely feel its effects. “It held up for the first two days,” Parrott said. “But it bothered me the last day.” Parrott planned to attempt to qualify for the state’s two Nationwide Tour events this month through the Georgia PGA, with both qualifiers requiring the participants to walk, unlike Section tournaments which allow the use of carts. “I haven’t tried to walk 18 holes since I injured it,” Parrott said. “We’ll see if I can. The rehab has been going great and for the first two days of the tournament, it was really strong. But if the doctor says I need the surgery, I’ll have it. I’m just not sure when.” Parrott is no stranger to knee surgery. He was playing on the Hooters Tour in 2006 and had gotten off to a good start when he had to have surgery on his right knee. That sidelined him for several months, and he said he did not play as well after the injury as he did prior to it. After playing a handful of Hooters events in 2007, Parrott returned to Brookfield, where he has worked off and on as an instructor and assistant professional since 2003. With a family that includes two young children and two knees that are less than 100 percent, Parrott’s days as a minitour player are likely behind him. But he hasn’t completely ruled out taking a shot at PGA Tour qualifying if his game (and his injured knee) is in good shape. Parrott has some idea about life on the PGA Tour. He caddied for good friend Justin Bolli in his rookie season in 2005 and saw how difficult it is to make it in golf’s

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Michael Parrott

major leagues. “It was great,” Parrott said the experience. “It was fun to be on the road with such a good friend. I always wanted to see what it takes to play at that level. Being out there was really an eye opener. “I jumped at the opportunity, but Justin didn’t play his best. It was tough to see him struggle.” Bolli and Parrott both came to the Atlanta area with their parents from Portland, with Parrott briefly attending Marist High School as a senior before completing the school year in Portland. Like Bolli, who moved to Roswell at an earlier age and played his high school golf for the Hornets, Parrott went on to play on the golf team at Georgia along with his brother Jeremy. All three were members of Georgia’s 1999 NCAA Championship squad, but it was a relatively empty experience for both Michael Parrott and Bolli, who both spent the entire spring season on the sidelines. The same five golfers played in every competition for the Bulldogs, with Jeremy one of the five. Michael saw some action during his career, but with players like Ryuji Imada, Bubba Watson, Erik Compton and Bryant Odom on the roster throughout his four years in Athens, he had to fight to earn to his playing privileges. “It was tough to get into the lineup,” said Parrott, who would have liked to play more but still thoroughly enjoyed his college experience. From an early age, Parrott seemed headed for a life in sports, but that sport wasn’t golf. Both his parents are tennis teaching professionals, and both Parrott and brothers Jeremy and Travis started out in that sport.

Jeremy attempted both sports, playing golf in college, while Travis stuck with tennis and is currently a doubles specialist on the ATP Tour, ranking among the top 30 in the world. Michael made the switch to golf full time at the age of 13, and is making a career of it, although not in a strictly playing capacity. Like his parents, Parrott is more drawn to the instructional side of his profession. “I love teaching and I get to do a lot of it here,” he says. After his stints as a caddie and player, Parrott returned to Brookfield with the intent on becoming the club’s Director of Instruction, but his current situation is more of a traditional assistant professional, combining teaching with time spent in the shop. Parrott hopes to build a large enough base of students to concentrate on teaching full time, but says, “I feel very comfortable doing a little bit of both. This is where I should be.” If his knee permits, Parrott will also include playing in Georgia PGA events on his schedule, and judging by his showing in

Peterson [ Continued from page 20 ]

apprentices in the field made their presence felt, scoring a number of upsets over some of the Section’s top players. Jason Fober of Maple Ridge in Columbus, eliminated No. 2 Sonny Skinner of Albany’s River Pointe GC 1-up in the first round, then defeated No. 15 Russ Davis, Director of Instruction at Cherokee CC, 3&2 in the third round. Skinner, the 2008 PGA Player of the Year, won the tournament in 2006, when he

the Match Play Championship, will be a very competitive addition to the Section. Parrott provided a preview of things to come when he tied for second last year in the Griffin Classic, shortly before he achieved his Class A assistants’ status with the PGA. Along with a number of other assistants new to the Section, Parrott got into the Match Play Championship as one of the lower seeds in the 64-player field, and proceeded to knock off one higher seed after another. Parrott defeated No. 11 Jordan Arnold, No. 22 Josh Williams and No. 38 Dano Korytoski in the first three rounds before facing No. 3 Jeff Hull, the 2007 Georgia PGA Player of the Year, in the quarterfinals. The match was all square after 15 holes, but Parrott rolled in a 30-footer for birdie on the long and demanding par-3 16th at Callaway Gardens’ Mountain View course, then hit his second close at the 17th to wrap up the match 2&1. In the semifinals, Parrott faced three-time Match Play champion Clark Spratlin. Parrott was 2-up after 14, but Spratlin won the next two holes to square the match. Parrott again hit it close at 17 to win the hole with a conceded birdie, then rolled in a 20-footer for birdie at the 18th to win 2-up. By this time, Parrott’s injured knee became as factor, as did fatigue from playing his sixth match in three days. “It was rough on both of us,” Parrott said of the match against Peterson. “We were both running on fumes. I would have liked the opportunity to play him under different circumstances, but he outlasted me at the end.” Despite his loss in the title match, Parrott said, “There’s no doubt that this was big for me. I’m new to the Section events and I didn’t have any expectations. I was pleased the way it turned out and I’m looking forward to competing against these guys in the future. “I hope I get the chance this year.”

earned Georgia PGA Player of the Year honors. Fober lost to Spratlin 3&1 in the quarterfinals. Prior to losing Peterson in the quarterfinals, Murchison defeated No. 8 Craig Stevens, a two-time tournament champion, 1-up in the first round and No. 9 Brian Dixon 4&3 in the third round. Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods, the sixth seed and 2007 champion, lost in the first round to Flat Creek’s Brandon Lovelady. Todd Ormsby of Planterra Ridge defeated No. 10 Winston Trively of Crooked Oak in Colquitt 2&1, also in the first round. APRIL 2009

GSGA’s top event set for CC of Columbus

T

he Georgia State Golf Association will help the Country Club of Columbus celebrate its 100th anniversary, holding its Amateur Championship at the club in July. This will be the fourth time the GSGA has held its championship event at the club, with CC of Columbus hosting the eighth Georgia Amateur in 1925. The last time CC of Columbus was the tournament site was 1960, the first year the event was played in a stroke play format. Gainesville’s Tommy Aaron, who went on to win the Masters 13 years later, was the 1960 GSGA Amateur Championship winner, with Billy Key of Columbus taking second. Key went on to win the Georgia Amateur seven years later at Green Island in Columbus, which has hosted the event twice since. Although it’s been almost 50 years since CC of Columbus has been the host course for the Georgia Amateur, the club is very familiar to most of the state’s top players. The club hosted the Mid-Amateur

APRIL 2009

Championship in 1998 and 2007 and the Senior Championship in 2004. It also is the site of the annual Southeastern Amateur, which attracts some of Georgia’s best young talent. Country Club of Columbus is an original Donald Ross design, and is a traditional layout in the mold of Idle Hour, Coosa CC, Savannah GC and Athens CC, courses that have hosted four of the last five GSGA Amateur Championships. The course plays to a par of 71 and measures in the 6,500-yard range. Members of the current U. of Georgia golf team have won the event three of the last four years, with former Bulldog golfer Bill Brown the 2006 champion. Macon’s Russell Henley is the defending champion, edging out 2007 winner and Georgia teammate Harris English at Idle Hour, Henley’s home course. This year’s tournament date is July 9-12, with 10 qualifiers held around the state from June 1 to June 22. The GSGA will also hold is Senior Championship in Columbus this year,

with that event scheduled Sept. 26-28 at Green Island. Two of the GSGA’s top early season events will be played at two of the best modern courses in the Atlanta area, with the 4-Ball Championship at Governor’s Towne Club April 24-26 and the Mid-Amateur Championship at White Columns May 15-17. The Atlanta Amateur Match Play Championship returns to Rivermont CC Oct. 23-25, with the Public Links Championship visiting Overlook Links in LaGrange for the first time Sept. 12-13. The course, formerly known as the Fields, hosted the Junior Sectional Challenge Match last year. The GSGA women’s season begins April 15-17 at Sunset Hills in Carrollton, the long-time host of the Match Play event. Teen-ager Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale has won the tournament the last two years. The Atlanta Women’s Amateur will be played at Newnan CC May 18-20, with the Top 60 Classic at Reynolds Landing July 29-30. The Georgia Women’s Golf Association Championship will be played June 23-25

at Idle Hour, with Stackhouse the defending champion of that event. The boys and girls Junior Championships will be separated by one week on the calendar after being played concurrently at different sites in recent years. The girls will play June 15-17 at Polo G&CC in Cumming, with the boys heading to the coast June 22-24 to play the Retreat Course at Sea Island GC. The Junior Sectional Challenge Matches are July 20-21 at Augusta’s West Lake CC. The first event on the GSGA schedule was the 4-Ball Tournament, which was played March 27-29 at Kinderlou Forest and Valdosta CC. The Super Seniors will play their championship at one of the state’s top courses – Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek – April 15-16. Jack Benson of Dunwoody and Pete Malcolm of Duluth won the event in a playoff over Danny Daniels of Kingsland and Phil Alday of Valdosta. Both teams shot 7-under 137, with the tournament rain-shortened from 54 to 36 holes. Benson and Malcolm came out of the second flight to win the overall title.

GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM

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Georgia mini-tour pros have 2 main options Tar Heel, Hooters Tours provide places to play

By Mike Blum

or most of Georgia’s tour players with aspirations of playing at the game’s highest level, the road to that destination typically includes some time spent on one of two mini-tours based in the Southeast. The two tours of choice for most of Georgia’s pros looking to move up golf ’s ladder are the Hooters Tour, which has its headquarters in Myrtle Beach, and the North Carolina-based Tar Heel Tour. For most of the last two decades, the Hooters Tour was the primary home for the state’s mini-tour players. Some played on tours based in Florida, the Midwest or Southwest, but most toiled on the Hooters Tour, which spun off from another tour in the early 1990s and called Fayetteville’s Whitewater Creek its home for a number of years. In recent years, however, more and more Georgians have joined the Tar Heel Tour, which does not venture far outside the Carolinas, as opposed to the Hooters Tour, which includes annual swings through the Southwest and Midwest along with its Southeastern base.

F

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Chris Kirk

The Tar Heel Tour is more convenient geographically and not as expensive as the Hooters Tour, but the latter is changing. The Tar Heel Tour has increased its membership and cost per tournament fees to support purses that are significantly larger in 2009. In addition, the Tar Heel Tour has

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expanded its geographic reach a bit, including two tournaments this year in Savannah. The Hooters Tour schedule includes three tournaments in Georgia, plus several others just across the state border in Florida, South Carolina and Alabama. The Tar Heel Tour is divided into threeday tournaments played over two courses, with purses listed at $220,000, and several four-day events over one course with purses of $300,000. Last year’s tournament purses were typically in the $100,000-$125,000 range, with two events offering $200,000 or more. Currently, 19 tournaments are listed on the 2009 Tar Heel Tour, beginning last month and concluding in October. Both its tournaments in Savannah are scheduled for four days with purses of $300,000 each. Savannah Quarters hosted an event April 1-4, with Savannah Harbor, the site of the Champions Tour Legends of Golf, on the schedule for Aug. 26-29. Last year’s leading money winner was David Robinson of Sandersville, who became the first Tar Heel Tour player to surpass $100,000 in earnings. Robinson, who placed seventh in earnings the previous year, won three times in ’08, and posted top 10 finishes in 12 of his first 14 starts. He finished with $106,645 and reached the finals of PGA Tour qualifying, earning non-exempt status for 2009 on the Nationwide Tour. Former Georgia Bulldog golfer Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., was third in earnings, picking up his second Tar Heel Tour win. Lake Oconee resident Blake Adams, who enjoyed some success last year in limited starts on the Nationwide Tour, also scored a Tar Heel Tour win and finished ninth on the money list. Jay McLuen of Athens, D.J. Fiese of Woodstock and Roberto Castro of Alpharetta all were Tar Heel Tour winners in ’08, and placed 11th, 15th and 20th respectively in earnings. McLuen has placed 10th, 10th and 11th in his three seasons on the tour, and has one win every year. McLuen has contended in the Georgia Open several times, losing in a playoff in 2006 and placing fourth and third the last two years. Fiese has wins in each of the last two seasons on the Tar Heel Tour, as does Castro, who picked up his first professional victory shortly after turning pro in ’07. Nine golfers who either live in Georgia or attended college in the state won on the ’07 Tar Heel Tour, including current PGA Tour rookie Brendon Todd, Nationwide Tour player Jonathan Fricke and long-time PGA/Nationwide Tour player Tommy Tolles. Other Georgians who enjoyed success on

last year’s Tar Heel Tour include Ringgold’s Luke List, Gainesville’s Stuart Moore, Cartersville’s Bryant Odom, the 2008 Georgia Open champion, and Jonesboro’s Hank Kim. In the 2009 opener, played over two South Carolina courses in Okatie and Hardeeville, Adams finished tied for second after leading after 36 holes. Augusta native Cortland Lowe, who Monday qualified for the PGA Tour event in San Diego earlier this year, tied for 10th with Robinson 16th. The following week at the Pine Needles Resort in North Carolina, Nationwide Tour player Chris Kirk of Woodstock and Augusta’s Emmett Turner lost in a 4-way playoff. Turner, who led after 36 holes with scores of 65 and 66, missed a short putt on the 18th hole the final day that would have won him the tournament outright. He closed with a 73 for a 7-under 204 total, and made it to the third playoff hole before losing to a birdie. Kirk, who posted scores of 68-65 to enter the final round in second place, bogeyed two of his last five holes and was eliminated on the first extra hole when Turner and tournament winner Tom Gillis both made birdie. Kirk and Turner both collected $14,667 for their second place tie. Last year’s leading money winner on the Hooters Tour was former U. of Tennessee golfer David Skinns, a native of England who is living in Marietta. Skinns won three times and earned $134,800. Like Robinson, he has non-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour this year. Major Manning, a former Clarkesville resident who played his college golf at Augusta State, scored a win and a third place finish in limited action on the Hooters Tour in ’08, and is a fully exempt rookie on the Nationwide Tour this year. Kisner added a Hooters Tour win at Savannah Lakes in McCormick, S.C., to his Tar Heel Tour victory, with former Georgia teammate David Miller placing fifth in earnings thanks to five top-6 finishes. Turner, a teammate of Manning at Augusta State, was 17th on the money list highlighted by a runner-up finish, with Kim and Robinson also posting secondplace showings on the tour. Castro played most of his golf on the Hooters Tour last year and had a solid season. But the only way to make decent money on the tour is to finish at or near the top and his best tournament was a tie for seventh. Will Claxton of Swainsboro, younger brother of Tour veteran Paul Claxton, also played consistently last year and ended up 33rd in earnings. Other Georgians who played regularly on

the Hooters Tour last year and finished among the top 60 on the money were Joe Deraney, Newnan’s Steve Gilley and Duluth’s Ian Hessels. The 2009 Hooters Tour began in March, and will make its first Georgia stop at Royal Lakes in Flowery Branch April 16-19, the same week the Nationwide Tour is playing in Athens. The tour returns to Savannah Lakes outside Augusta April 30-May 3, with Augusta’s annual Hooters Tour stop scheduled for Gordon Lakes Sept. 24-27. The tour is back at Southern Hills in Hawkinsville, with the dates Aug. 27-30. Currently, 18 tournaments are listed on the 2009 Hooters Tour schedule, with purses expected to be at least $200,000 for each event. All the tournaments are played over 72 holes, with the tour including stops in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas, in addition to its traditional Southeast base. Miller placed third in the ’09 season opener in Amelia Island, Fla., with former Georgia Bulldog and State Amateur champion David Denham of Tifton tying for fourth. List shot a final round 64, the second lowest score of the tournament, to tie for seventh, with Will Claxton 12th and Ringgold’s Thomas Hagler 14th. Turner tied for fourth the following week in a rain-shortened event in Conover, N.C. Kim, Denham and Castro all tied for sixth with Miller 13th. The Sunbelt Senior Tour, a Southeast mini-tour for players age 47 and older, will also make two stops in the Atlanta area this month. The tour plays April 22-24 at Chateau Elan and April 29-May 1 at Chestatee, which also hosted an event on the tour last year along with four other Georgia courses. Both the fields and the purses for the tour are on the small side, but there are some recognizable names on its list of players, among them former PGA Tour winners and current Champions Tour players Kenny Knox and Gary Hallberg. A number of players with some status on the Champions Tour have been regulars on the Sunbelt Senior Tour, including Georgians Tim Conley, Javier Sanchez and James Mason. Conley and Sanchez finished 1-2 on the Sunbelt money list last year, with both players winning twice and posting a combined 20 top-5 finishes. One of Conley’s wins came at Jones Creek in Augusta, with Sanchez scoring both his wins in his home state, one at Flat Creek and the other at Chestatee, where he shot an opening round 63 and went on to win by three strokes. Mason, who is fully exempt on the Champions Tour this year, made a limited number of starts on the Sunbelt Senior Tour last year, but had four top-3 finishes and ended the year seventh in earnings. APRIL 2009

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Chip Shots Arendt, Miller win marathon playoff It took eight playoff holes to decide the Club Car Pro-Pro Scramble at Berkeley Hills CC, with the team of Jim Arendt and Gary Miller finally prevailing over Steve Ridge and Ted Fort. The two teams both posted scores of 10under 62, with six other teams missing the playoff by just one stroke. Arendt birdied the eighth playoff hole, the first hole at Berkeley Hills, to finally end the marathon. Arendt, the head professional at Chicopee Woods, and Miller, a club professional at Reynolds Landing, split first place money of $1,800. Ridge, the golf professional at the College Park Municipal Course, and Fort, an instructor based at Marietta Golf Center, divided $1,200 for their runner-up finish. Tying for third at 63 were: defending champions Jeff Hull (University of Georgia GC) and Chris Asbell (Georgia Golf Center); Nationwide Tour player Jonathan Fricke and Sean Cain (Legends at Chateau Elan); Craig Stevens (Swing Time Driving Range) and Bill Murchison (Towne Lake Hills); 2004 tournament champions Jon Hough (The Manor) and Wyatt Detmer (Orchard Hills); Chan Reeves (Atlanta Athletic Club) and Ben Schwaderer (Mirror Lake); and Jarred Reneau (International City GC) and Winston Trively (Crooked Oak). The tournament was presented by Oxford Golf.

Ridge claims pair of senior victories

Steve Ridge scored back-to-back wins in Georgia PGA Senior Division events in March, taking first in the stroke play portion of the Jamboree at Meadow Links and also winning the one-day event at The Creek at Hard Labor. Ridge, the golf professional at the municipal course in College Park, shot a 67 at Meadow Links in Fort Gaines to edge Craig Hartle of the Georgia Tech Club by one stroke. Wyatt Detmer of Orchard Hills was third at 69, followed by amateur Mark Benefield and Georgia PGA member Dan Mullins at 71. Detmer teamed with amateurs Terry Traynor, Tom Toombs and Porter Thomas to win the scramble event with a score of 18-under 54, four strokes ahead of three teams that tied for second. Tying for second were: host professional Aaron Feyes and amateurs Paul Cobb, John Holle and Nick Kirkland; Ridge and amateurs Terry Moon, Karl Simon and John Minkley; and pros DeWitt Weaver

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Pro-Pro Scramble winners Jim Arendt (left) and Gary Miller

and Charlie King (Griffin GC) with amateurs Charlie Busbee and Sydney Welch. Ridge shot a 3-under 69 to take first at The Creek at Hard Labor, with Mike Schlueter of West Pines second at 70. Russ Davis (Cherokee CC) and Bill Johnstone (Atlanta CC) were third at 71, followed by Lonnie Reece (Spring Lakes) at 72, Detmer at 73 and Weaver and John Nigh (Indian Hills) at 74. Amateur Don Marsh of Alpharetta won a Senior Division event at Albany’s Doublegate CC with a 142 total for 36 holes, including an opening round 68. Scott Curiel (Standard Club) was second at 143, with Weaver third at 144 and amateur Rocky Costa fourth at 144. Carlen Webb (Brookfield CC) and John Godwin (Godwin Creek) tied for fifth at 145.

Windom’s team shares first in Pot O’ Gold

A team headed by Sunset CC head professional Bob Windom tied for first in the 54th annual Pot O’ Gold Pro-Am, played at Sunset CC in Moultrie. The Sunset team tied for first with a team from International City GC in Warner Robins, headed up by club pro Jarred Reneau. Both teams finished with 185 totals in the 54-hole event, four strokes ahead of three teams that tied for third. Among them was a team from Chattahoochee GC in Gainesville, with Don Williams Jr., the team pro. Tying for sixth at 190 were teams from Cartersville CC (Scott Hamilton), Marietta CC (Stephen Keppler), Eagle’s Landing (Allen Thompson) and a second team from Sunset CC. Out-of-state PGA members Fred Holton and Jeff Peck shared low pro honors at 213, with Georgians Brian Dixon (Griffin

CC), Hiland Sanders (Valdosta CC) and Jason Fober (Maple Ridge) tying for third at 215. Phil Taylor (Ansley GC) and Andy Blanton (Columbus CC) were tied for second after 36 holes and finished tied for sixth at 217. Former GSGA Mid-Amateur champion Dave Womack, playing on the Eagle’s Landing team with former Georgia State teammate Thompson, shot a final round 66 to take low amateur honors at 204. Moultrie native Kevin Blanton (Sunset CC), who shot a second round 66, tied for second at 208 with Rob Butler (Chattahoochee GC).

Bulldogs bounce back with win at Reynolds

The Georgia Bulldogs rebounded from a disappointing showing in Las Vegas to win the Linger Longer Invitational at Reynolds Landing, edging out Oklahoma State by two strokes. The Bulldogs posted a 3-over 867 total on the demanding Bob Cupp layout, breaking a tie after 36 holes with an even par 288 score the final day. Sophomore Harris English of Thomasville was low for the Bulldogs, placing fourth at 6-under 210. Adam Mitchell tied for fifth at 216, with Macon’s Russell Henley seventh at 217. Augusta’s Michael Green, competing as an individual for the Bulldogs, also tied for seventh. The tournament medalist was an Oklahoma State player, who like Green played as an individual. Mercer placed fourth at 885, with the Bears’ Bill Jones III tying for second at 209. In Georgia’s previous tournament, the Bulldogs finished third in the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, coming back after a poor first round knocked the

Bulldogs out of contention. Georgia shot 303 the first day, and despite posting under par scores the next two rounds, wound up 18 strokes behind UNLV. Savannah’s Brian Harman led the Bulldogs, finishing eighth at 1-under 215 after a final round 69. Georgia Tech was sixth in Las Vegas at 884, but the Yellow Jackets’ Cameron Tringale claimed medalist honors with an 11-under 205 total, five strokes ahead of his closest competitor. Tringale locked up his win with a final round 68. Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational: Roswell’s Sam Braver helped lead South Carolina to victory in the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational, played at Forest Heights in Statesboro. Braver tied for 11th with a 216 total, with the Gamecocks finishing at 1-over 865 to edge Tennessee and North Carolina State by two strokes and Florida by five. Host Georgia Southern was sixth at 876. Augusta State’s Taylor Floyd, playing as an individual, tied for fourth at 214. Drew Lathem was low for Georgia Southern, tying for 11th at 216.

Auburn women take Liz Murphey title

Auburn won the rain-shortened Liz Murphey Invitational at the University of Georgia Golf Course, posting a 299 total in what was scheduled to be a 54-hole tournament. The first two days of play were rained out. Alabama and Kent State tied for second at 302, with Alabama’s Kathleen Ekey low individual with a 69. Georgia tied for sixth at 305. Mallory Hetzel shot 75 to tie for 13th, with Marta Silva and Carolina Andrade tying for 19th at 76. Hetzel and Silva shared medalist honors in a tournament in Las Vegas with scores of 2-under 214, but Georgia finished third, 10 strokes behind host UNLV with an 894 total.

AGA Tour winners

Flight winners from the most recent Amateur Golfers Association tour events were: At The Frog: Flight 1 – Rob Bohannon, Villa Rica, 72; 2 – Bubba Kizer, Alpharetta, 74; 3 – Donald Long, Cumming, 81; 4 – Michael Mahler, Acworth, 82; 5 – Mark Ellis, Athens, 82; net – Jimmy Peel, Stone Mountain, 72. At The Georgia Club: Flight 1 – John LoSchiavo, Roswell, 67; 2 – Tom Spencer, Sharpsburg, 78; 3 – Jason Lord, Maysville, 76; 4 – Sue Loeffler, Monroe, 83; 5 – Mark Ellis, Athens, 87; net – Klaren Alexander, Woodstock, 71. APRIL 2009

Golf FORE Women

Reynolds wins Futures Tour season opener The future of women’s professional golf in the state of Georgia has looked a bit grim the past few years. The LPGA is still looking to return to the state with a tour stop as sponsors have fallen by the wayside. In 2009, there is no fully exempt player on the LPGA tour from the state. But there is hope. The Duramed Futures Tour began its season in Florida in March with five players hailing from the state of Georgia participating and as well as two other UGA grads also in the field. The Futures Tour is part of the LPGA Tour with its mission being to prepare players for a successful career with the LPGA. The Futures is known as the “road to the LPGA” with over 500 players earning their LPGA cards through the tour. At this time the Futures alums account for 345 LPGA tour victories and 37 majors. The Futures is a proven winner. In 2009, the Futures Tour will feature nine of Georgia’s best at this time; six players that have already competed and played on the Futures and three in their first year on the tour. The most notable players are Vicki Goetze-Ackerman and Angela Jerman. Both of these players actually have nonexempt status on the LPGA, but will spend a decent amount of time on the Futures. Goetze-Ackerman, and Cartersville resident, has 22 top-10 finishes on the LPGA,

Women’s Events UPCOMING

April 15-17 GSGA Match Play Sunset Hills May 18- 20 GSGA Greater Atlanta Women’s Amateur Newnan CC April 28-29 GWGA Four Ball Jekyll Island GC May 13 Women on Course Golf Experience Country Club of Roswell

APRIL 2009

played in 13 U.S. Women’s Opens, and is a two-time winner of the USGA Women’s Amateur and an NCAA individual champion. Jerman, from Columbus, has played in 5 U.S. Opens, including being low amateur in 2002. GSGA

By Jackie Cannizzo Women’s Editor PGA Professional Country Club of Roswell

Jean Reynolds

Then there is the talent of Jean Reynolds of Newnan, who returns for her second year on the Futures Tour. Reynolds started off the season with a win in a threehole playoff in the Florida Natural Charity Championship in Winter Haven over Korea’s Song Yi Choi. Both players finished regulation with a 54-hole total of 4 under par 212. Entering the final round, Reynolds trailed Choi by 5 shots, but the temperatures dropped and the wind picked up, and Reynolds believes that played into her hand. “I am used to this type of weather growing up and playing in Georgia. It was a typical winter golf day,” she said. Choi still held the lead by one shot going into the 18th hole, but saw her approach taken by the wind and end up wet. She bogeyed and Reynolds parred. After matching par on the first two sudden death holes, Reynolds had a tap in birdie for her first win on the tour. “I knew this day was coming, but it feels so awesome,“ said Reynolds, “It was really a bizarre week, because I felt so calm”.

Other Georgians on the tour are: Jennifer Kovach of Flowery Branch, who is entering her sixth season on the Futures with her best finish being 15th; Carmen Bandea of Atlanta is embarking on her second season, with her best finish 31st; and Christy Cheek of Eastman is also in her second year and was runner up Georgia Women’s Open in 2008. Nicole Wildes of Baxley, Garrett Phillips of St. Simons Island and Zakiya Randall of Atlanta are first year players after going to qualifying school this past fall. Phillips, who played on the UGA golf team last year, narrowly missed earning LPGA status with her finish in qualifying. One of the most interesting stories is that of Randall, a 17 year old junior in high school who attended Futures qualifying school last fall and earned status. She will play the circuit as an amateur. The decision was one that her mom Tanya Randall said was in part because of Zakiya’s love of the game. “She loves it so much; we wanted to shift her into bigger and better competition.” Zakiya is home schooled and was competing on the American Junior Golf Tour up until last summer. A product of the “First Tee” program at John A. White Park, Zakiya seemed to excel at a fairly young age. “She is one of the best we have had at the First Tee,” says William Lewis, the Director of Instruction there. According to Mrs. Randall, Zakiya is working towards starting to her career on the Futures in mid April or early May. “She is working hard on her game in hopes of competing well on the Futures and in the fall we will decide if she should turn professional.” Zakiya has many accomplishments in Atlanta Junior Golf, US KIDS Golf, the Plantation Golf Tour and most recently on the “Georgia Golf Channel Tour” where she won as not only the youngest player, but most importantly as the only female to win it. Zakiya has her eye firmly on the LPGA and has the drive and determination to succeed.

Shirley captures first tour victory

Margaret Shirley of Roswell scored her first professional win on the SunCoast Women’s golf tour. The event was held at Deer Island GC in Tavares, Florida. Shirley, an Auburn grad and a two-time Georgia

Margaret Shirley

Women’s Open champion, is working her way toward the Futures and eventually the LPGA Tour. After shooting a 78 in the first round, Shirley was six strokes off the lead. But she came back with scores of 72 and 70 for a 4-over 220, one stroke ahead of three players who tied for second. Her 70 was the low score of the tournament and enabled her to win after being four behind after 36 holes. She is currently 4th on the SunCoast tour’s money list.

The EWGA Challenge

The Atlanta Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association is challenging all of its members to recruit two new members to the association by May 1.The EWGA is one of the largest women’s golf associations in the world and would like to grow even more in 2009. The cost to join the EWGA is $125 a year and includes six 18hole tournaments, a Chapter Championship, opportunities for discounts on golf, networking with other golfers, clinics, special events and much more. The member that recruits the most members will receive a free night’s stay at Reynolds Plantation that includes a round of golf for a foursome. Also on a national level, the member that recruits three or more members will receive their dues for the following year. So if you are interested in joining and you have a friend that is already a member, make sure you use them as a reference. Go to www.ewgatlanta.com for more info.

[ See Golf FORE Women, page 28 ]

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Golf FORE Juniors Whatley, rain winners on Georgia PGA Tour The big winner on the Georgia PGA Junior Tour in March was the weather, as one of two scheduled events was rained out and the other was reduced from 36 to 18 holes. The Cateecchee Junior Classic at Cateechee GC in Hartwell was postponed, and has been re-scheduled for June 29-30. The Brickyard Junior Classic in Macon was reduced from 36 holes to 18, with the second round of the tournament washed out. The overall boys winner was Ross Whatley of Decatur, who shot a 1-under 71 to win the overall title by five strokes and the 14-15 division by six. Max Sheldon of Roswell and Brian Beringer of Macon were second in the 14-15 division with scores of 77, with Thomas Rimel of Roswell fourth at 78. Paul Bruckner of Alpharetta and Joel Sawyer of Elberton tied for first in boys 1618 with scores of 76. Dominique Worthen of Macon and Drew Czuchry of Auburn tied for third at 79. Parker Derby of Columbus was the boys

11-13 winner with an 84. Jacob Reeves of Trion was second at 85, followed by Jonathan Mason of Rome at 87. Kendall Wright of Suwanee shot 77 to win the girls division by seven strokes over Brooke Spinks of Tifton. Elizabeth Kim of Martinez was the girls 11-14 winner by one stroke over Diane Lim of Norcross. The next Georgia PGA Junior Tour event will be played April 25-26 at the Georgia Vets course in Cordele.

Rain also impacts Southeastern Tour

The Southeastern Junior Golf was similarly effected by rain in March, with one scheduled event in Georgia postponed and another reduced to 18 holes. The scheduled tournament at Callaway Gardens was postponed, and will be played Nov. 7-8. The tournament at Dublin CC managed to get one day of play in, with playoffs required to decide two of the three boys divisions. Max Von Dresser of Alpharetta shot even par 72 to win the boys 16-19 and overall titles in a playoff over Justin Cho of

Kendall Wright

Norcross and Cole McIsaac of Marietta. Four players shot 79 to tie for first in the boys 12-13 age group. Buster Bruton of Dallas won the playoff over Harrison Brown of Marietta, Parker Derby of Columbus and Tyler Young of Kennesaw. Joe Philaphet of Riverdale and Russell Sabol of Martinez missed the playoff by one shot with scores of 80. Brian Beringer of Macon was the 14-15 winner with a 74, with Carson Willis of Griffin second at 76. Sloan Shanahan of Suwanee shot 77 to win the girls 12-14 division by four strokes. Carrie Metz of Carnesville was the 15-19 winner with a 79, and Kelly Pearce of Albany was next at 82. In an SJGT event in Dickson, Tenn., Jordan Janico of Duluth was second in boys 16-19 with a 148 total, one stroke behind the winner. Will Evans of McDonough, the leader after an opening round 71, took third at 149. The next SJGT event in Georgia will be played at The Lakes at Laura Walker in Waycross on April 18-19.

AJGA to play twice in Georgia in April

The American Junior Golf Association will hold tournaments in the Atlanta area on consecutive weekends this month. Chateau Elan, which hosts the organization’s headquarters, will be the site of a

Golf FORE Women (Continued from page 27)

CC of Roswell to host Women on Course event

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The Country Club of Roswell’s professional staff will host a special golf event in conjunction with the “Women on Course” networking group. The event will be held Wednesday, May 13 from 2-7 p.m. There are opportunities for all three different GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM

Ross Whatley

tournament April 10-12, with the event limited to juniors ages 12-15. A total of 90 boys and 42 girls will compete, with the field including 18 boys and 8 girls from Georgia. Among the boys in the field are: Jimmy Beck, Columbus; Brian Beringer, Macon; Jack Gibbs, Evans; Michael Hines, Acworth; Sanders Park, Alpharetta; and brothers Sam and Sepp Straka of Valdosta. Girls competing include Emily Kurey, Alpharetta; and sisters Ashlan and Taylor Ramsey of Augusta. The 54-hole event will be played on the Chateau Course. Country Club of the South will host the Aldila Junior April 18-19. The 76-player field includes some of the state’s top juniors, with Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse among three Georgians competing in the girls division. Also entered are Amelia Hill of St. Simons Island and Caitlin Pisciotta of Alpharetta. The boys contingent from Georgian includes Seth Reeves of Duluth, who finished fourth last year in an April tournament at Horseshoe Bend, just one stroke out of a playoff. Also in the field are: Franco Castro, Alpharetta; Drew Czuchry, Auburn; Ben Greene, Duluth; Kevin Lee, Dacula; Ollie Schniederjans, Powder Springs; Jack Walsh, Lawrenceville; and Shawn Yim, Buford.

levels of women golfer: those that are new to golf, intermediate or some experience and those that have more experience. The event will have clinics, on course instruction, a scramble for those that play, a Callaway golf demo and club fitting, prizes, a guest speaker, food and wine. It is open to all women golfers whether you are a member of the group or not. So come out to the Country Club of Roswell and learn more about the game of golf, meet some new people, and of course have some fun. To learn more about the event and women on course go to www.womenoncourse.com. APRIL 2009

Tour Events April 9-12: Masters, Augusta National April 16-19: (Nationwide) Jennings Mill April 23-26: (Nationwide) Kinderlou Forest April 24-26: (Champions) Legends of Golf, Savannah Harbor Sept. 24-27: Tour Championship, East Lake (MINI-TOURS) April 1-4: Tar Heel Tour, Savannah Quarters April 16-19: Hooters Tour, Royal Lakes April 22-24: Sunbelt Sr. Tour, Chateau Elan April 29-May 1: Sunbelt Sr. Tour, Chestatee Apr 30-May 3: Hooters Tour, McCormick, S.C. Aug. 26-29: Tar Heel Tour, Savannah Harbor Aug. 27-30: Hooters Tour, Southern Hills Sept. 24-27: Hooters Tour, Gordon Lakes

Georgia PGA

April 7: Valdosta Nationwide qualifier, Orchard Hills May 18-19: Georgia Senior Open, Callaway Gardens May 26: Pro-Assistant, Champions Retreat June 8-9: Atlanta Open, Heron Bay June 23-24: Players Championship, Chicopee Woods July 8-9: Georgia Women’s Open, SummerGrove July 13-14: Griffin Classic. Griffin CC Aug. 5-8: Georgia Open, Barnsley Gardens Aug. 17: Assistants Championship, TBA Aug. 31-Sept. 2: Section Championship, Sea Island (Retreat) Sept. 21-22: Georgia PGA Professional Championship, Achasta GC Oct. 5-6: GPGA Senior Championship, Cartersville CC Oct. 18-19: Billy Peters Cup, Capital City-Crabapple Nov. 16-17: Senior-Junior Championship, Wallace Adams GC Dec. 7-8: Pro-Pro Championship, Jekyll Island GC

(Qualifiers) Atlanta Open

May 20: The Frog May 28: Glen Arven June 1: Champions Retreat June 2: Barnsley Gardens

Georgia Open

July 15: Griffin CC July 20: Berkeley Hills, Champions Retreat July 22: The Frog, Wilmington Island GC July 23: Glen Arven July 27: Cartersville CC

APRIL 2009

Tournament Schedule 2009

(SENIOR DIVISION) April 6-7: Willow Lake (Dan Parrish) May 5: Orchard Hills June 1: Chicopee Woods June 29-30: Granite City Classic July 20-21: Newnan CC Aug. 10-11: Jekyll Island GC (Championship) Sept. 14-15: Canongate GC (Lee-Weir) Nov. 2-3: Summit Chase Nov. 30-Dec. 1: Challenge Cup, Barnsley Gardens

GSGA/GWGA

April 15-16: Super Senior, Settindown Creek April 15-17: Women’s Match Play, Sunset CC April 24-26: 4-Ball Championship, Governor’s Towne Club April 28-29: GWGA 4-Ball, Jekyll Island May 15-17: Mid-Am Championship, White Columns May 18-20: Atlanta Women’s Am, Newnan CC June 15-17: Girls Championship, Polo G&CC June 22-24: Junior Championship, Sea Island GC June 23-25: GWGA Championship, Idle Hour July 9-12: GSGA Championship, CC of Columbus July 20-21: Jr. Sectional Challenge, West Lake July 29-30: Top 60 Women, Reynolds Landing Aug. 26-28: Senior Championship, Green Island Sept. 1-2: Sr. Women’s Championship, Arrowhead Pointe Sept. 12-13: Public Links Championship, Overlook Links Oct. 1-2: Women’s Team Championship, Sea Palms Oct. 22-25: Atlanta Amateur Match Play, Rivermont Oct. 31-Nov. 1: Team Championship, Georgia Club Nov. 11-13: Senior 4-Ball, Lakes @Laura Walker/Okefenokee CC

Aug. 15: Women’s Mid Am, Landings Aug. 18: Senior Amateur, Cherokee CC Aug. 25: Women’s Mid Am, Rivermont Sept. 1: U.S. Mid-Am, Brickyard @ Riverside

College/Amateur

April 4-5: Augusta State Inv., Forest Hills April 5-7: U.S. Collegiate Championship, GC of Georgia April 17-19: SEC Championship, Sea Island GC June 18-21: Southeastern Am, CC of Columbus July 1-4: Dogwood, Druid Hills July 23-26: Oglethorpe Inv., Wilmington Island

Georgia PGA Junior Tour

April 25-26: Georgia Vets May 16-17: Bartram Trail May 27-28: The Frog June 1-2: Junior Championship, Cartersville CC* June 17-18: Barnsley Gardens

GEORGIA

June 29-30: Cateechee GC July 6: Pro-Junior, Callaway Gardens* July 8-9: Glen Arven July 14-15: Stone Mountain Aug. 15-16: Callaway Gardens Sept. 19-20: Wilmington Island Oct. 10-11: Georgia Club * Not a GPGA Jr. Tour event

Other Junior Tours (SOUTHEASTERN) April 4-5: Jekyll Island April 18-19: Lakes @ Laura S. Walker May 16-17: Meadow Links May 27-28: Orchard Hills June 8-9: Marietta CC June 29-30: West Lake July 9-10: Idle Hour July 27-28: Hawks Ridge Aug. 22-23: Doublegate CC Sept. 12-13: CC of Columbus Sept. 26-27: Forest Hills Oct. 3-4: Glen Arven Oct. 17-18: U. of Georgia GC Nov. 7-8: Callaway Gardens Nov. 21-22: Valdosta CC Dec. 5-6: Kinderlou Forest (Tour. of Champions)

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Course Reviews The Club at Savannah Harbor (Semi-Private) 2 Resort Drive, Savannah 912-201-2007; www.theclubatsavannahharbor.net STAFF: Dan Schmid is the General Manager; Jamie West is the Director of Golf. PAR/YARDAGE: Savannah Harbor plays to a par 72 with four sets of tees: Black (7,288 yards); Gold (6,627); Silver (6,048) and Jade (5,261). COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 75.1/137 (Black); 72.5/131 (Gold); 69.6/126 (Silver); 70.8/124 (Jade). ABOUT THE COURSE: Among the state’s best layouts, the superb Bob Cupp design has received national attention as the host of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf since 2003. The Champions Tour players have developed a strong respect for the course, and in its six years of hosting the Legends as an individual event, only one player went deep into red figures for the tournament. The course is a strong but playable test for its members and resort guests, with ample length from the back tees, and a stout 6,600 yards from the next set. A composite member set of tees splits the difference between the Gold and Silver, with a handful of holes maybe a little more than some can handle from the Golds. The course sits below the Talmadge Memorial Bridge on Hutchinson Island just across the river from downtown Savannah, and the splendid view from above gives you an idea of the treat you’re in for once you tee it up. Cupp makes excellent use of the native areas throughout the course, with most of the marshland areas in play along the borders of the holes. On the holes where marshes or water are uncomfortably close to the putting surfaces, Cupp typically provides some bailout room to the other side. Savannah Harbor is reasonably generous off the tee, with Cupp providing open angles to most of the greens, with bunkers situated along the edges, with an exception or two. The greens and greens complexes are on the gentle side, with the absence of elevation allowing for some options with short game shots, depending on your proximity to the greenside bunkers, which are plentiful on a number of holes. The diverse mixture of holes is among the layout’s strengths, as are the course conditions and the beauty of the course in its natural setting.

The Manor Golf & CC (Private) 15951 Manor Club Drive, Alpharetta 678-366-3975; www.themanorgolfandcountryclub.com STAFF: Doug Meredith is the General Manager/Director of Golf; Jon Hough is the Golf Professional. PAR/YARDAGE: The Manor plays to a par of 72 with five sets of tees: Watson (7,177 yards); Blue (6,738); White (6,338); Yellow (5,807); Red (5,206). COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 74.9/142 (Watson); 72.5/138 (Blue); 70.4/134 (White); 68.4/128 (Yellow); 70.4/127 (Red). ABOUT THE COURSE: As golf legend Tom Watson’s career winds down, he has branched out into the design field. While he has limited the number of clients he has accepted, his lack of a deep resume does not cast any shadow over his abilities in his new occasional occupation. Watson’s work on The Manor, which opened in 2006, is first class, working well for both players who will tackle the course from the tips, named for its designer, or those playing from a shorter set. Watson has done an excellent job in spacing the tees, providing multiple playable options for the members. Thanks to the relatively generous landing areas off the tees and the minimal number of hazards in play, you can move back a set and not feel overwhelmed, with the rolling terrain an ally on some holes but a potential concern on others. While there are no huge elevation changes, the rolling terrain will impact tee shots that miss the fairway, leaving you with some hilly lies you definitely want to avoid. The same holds true around many of the greens, which provide much of the challenge of Watson’s well-balanced, superbly conditioned layout. The outstanding putting surfaces at The Manor are large and feature a significant amount of undulation, with many of the greens divided into distinct sections that will produce some perplexing putts and short game shots. Watson also has guarded several of the greens with bunkers cut into mounds that border the putting surfaces, making for some very uncomfortable sand shots. Watson’s bunkering is also distinctive from a visual standpoint, and that aspect of his work is as impressive as the course itself. There are some striking views of landing areas from tee boxes and of greens complexes from landing areas, as Watson makes use of the terrain to create a layout that is memorable both for its scenic appeal and playable nature.

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