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FALL 2008

Winter golf haven a short drive By Mike Blum

Georgia coast offers diverse options

ith winter weather approaching, golf becomes a less comfortable diversion for most Georgia residents, especially those in the northern reaches of the state. With the U.S. economy in distress, golf travel is likely to take a significant hit in the immediate future. But for Georgians looking to get away to slightly warmer climes and get in a few rounds over the winter months without venturing great distances, the answer can be found a relatively short drive away along the state’s southeastern coast. St. Simons and Jekyll Islands offer plenty of golf in mostly moderate weather conditions over the winter months, and can accommodate the entire spectrum of visitors from a fiscal standpoint. The coastal destinations include some of the best golf for the money you’ll encounter anywhere (Jekyll Island), one of the country’s most respected upscale resorts (Sea Island Golf Club) and two excellent courses that fall somewhere in between on the economic ladder (Hampton Club and Sea Palms).

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Hampton Club on St. Simons Island

Since its renovation by Clyde Johnston in 2002, Pine Lakes has become the most popular of Jekyll’s three courses, and has been completely over-seeded for the winter. The original 1968 layout was designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee, who created the Oleander (Wilson) and Indian Mound (Lee) layouts individually.

LAKE-FINLEY IMAGE GROUP

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Johnston's renovation included some extensive work on bunkers – both fairway and green-side – and a re-design of the greens, with the result making the course the most player-friendly of the three, although it has a bit more length. Mostly generous fairways and gentle greens [ See Georgia coastal golf, page 6 ]

© 2008 PGA OF AMERICA

Jekyll Island Golf Resort has long been a favorite of Georgia golfers, with three quality 18-hole layouts and a unique 9holer that provides a memorable glimpse into golf ’s past. For those who value affordability, you’ll have a hard time finding a better bang for your buck, with new internet specials helping even more in that regard.

Georgia Golf Business

Georgia Golf Course Owners Association

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Matt Peterson claims Player of Year honor

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Davis Love ends year with win at Disney

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Sonny Skinner among Q-school finalists

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Instruction Fore You

Ball Not the Target By Steve Godley PGA Golf Professional Jekyll Island Golf Club In my 25 years of providing golf instruction, many students seem to seek two elusive basics from a golf lesson---distance and consistency. The students explain that their game is “on again - off again” and that they seem to lack the distance they should be achieving. Although each student is unique, they are generally well grounded in fundamentals with one exception. There is a lack of target awareness and/or alignment. These critical elements, when missing, present the player from swinging the club along the intended target line. Consequently, in many cases the ball becomes the target, producing a myriad of inappropriate angles and planes making it difficult to maintain the desired consistent repetitive golf swing. Another detriment to achieving distance and consistency is the motion commonly referred to as “Coming over the top”. More advanced players will recognize this motion and return to the fundamentals to correct the problem, or seek help from a professional, while the average player will continue to struggle through. On a day when his timing is very good, a player can get away with this motion. But let timing be off slightly and he is going to be in for a long day. This common problem is caused by faulty alignment; a backswing that is too much to the inside and no target awareness.

Alignment

Many students do one thing consistently. They aim to the right of their intended target. That is they aim their clubface at the

target pretty well, but also aim their body at the same target. Herein lies a basic problem in improper alignment. While this seems to be correct to the golfer, we as instructors are able to view the body as being well right of the intended target line. Most players understand the definition of parallel, but do not understand how it relates to the proper set up in golf. Set-up is where we establish our target line (ball to target) and our body should be aligned parallel to this established line, just as if we were on a railroad track, with the ball on one side and our body on the other. This mental image will give us the greatest chance of swinging the club down the target line and toward our intended target. The “over the top” motion is caused by an effort to pull the ball back to our target. The mind knows when the target is behind you. To illustrate this I have my students stand behind the ball and extend their arms in front of them, shoulder width apart, parallel but not converging. If your body is aligned square to a straight line from your eyes to your target, then your clubface is going to be aligned square to a straight line from your ball to a spot well right of the target. If the alignment at set-up has been too far to the right, making the adjustment to parallel will initially feel strange; as though you are aiming well left. This change in the set-up may cause pulled shots because you are so used to starting your swing with your upper body and coming over the shot. Remember, the ball goes where you tell it. Alignment is the key and the club has to be traveling down the intended target line to bring about both distance and consistency. If you can easily rotate your head left and see your target, you are

usually pretty good. If you have to lift your head and turn it left, odds are that you are aimed well right.

The Inside Move

On the backswing, the club should be kept on the intended target line as long as possible and allowed to rotate inside naturally. This will help maintain the proper plane and allow you to return the club to the address position. A backswing that is too much inside creates a flat plane that golfers try to correct on the way down by coming “over the top”. You should always remember the target line. It doesn't stop at the ball, it extends on behind.

The Ball is Not Our Target

Everyone is fascinated with distance in this game. After all, we see and hear about tour players hitting the ball over 300 yards, so why can't we? The difference is that these players have spent a great deal of time making sure that their fundamentals (grip, aim and posture) are sound, so that they can concentrate on getting the ball to the target. Clubhead speed and solidness of contact produces distance. Amateur golfers equate brute force with distance, not swinging the club and getting as much possible speed as can be delivered to the ball. The average amateur golfer is not physically prepared to achieve the extreme distances he would desire. Our shoulders are very slow moving, so hitting from the top with our shoulders does not give us the desired effect. All this does is make us very tired. We do not “hit” a golf ball. We “swing” a golf club on a proper target line and allow the ball to get squarely in the way. Very athletic people, older people who have lost some flexibility and muscle tone and beginners are all guilty of “hitting at” the ball in an effort to gain distance.

3021 Kalah Place, Marietta, GA 30067 770-933-04GA (Office) 770-953-6638 (Fax) golfforegeorgia.com [email protected] PUBLISHER

Golf Media, Inc. John Barrett EDITOR Mike Blum CONTRIBUTORS

Steve Godley Jackie Cannizzo, Women’s Golf Editor Lake-Finlay Image Group Joseph Field Steve Dinberg 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 Shawn McKinnon, Berkeley Hills CC 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 Josh Williams, Savannah Golf Club Rodger Hogan, Royal Lakes Golf & CC

Forecast

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mike Paull

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Hull takes PNC qualifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PGA Tour qualifying updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21

Keppler barely avoids DQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Golf Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

First time PNC qualifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chip Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Peterson Player of Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Golf FORE Juniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Love ends winless drought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Golf FORE Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Georgians move up to PGA Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Course reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Pat Day JUNIOR GOLF DIRECTOR Scott Gordon OPERATIONS MANAGER Jeff Ashby SECTION ASSISTANT Traci Waters

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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

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SEA ISLAND RESORTS

Georgia coastal golf [ Continued from the cover ]

complexes more than offset the slight difference in yardage (it’s only 6,700 yards from the back tees and 6,340 from the next set), and water is not as great a factor as on its sister courses. Pine Lakes’ name is an accurate description from a visual standpoint, but neither the trees nor small bodies of water are serious concerns. There are a few exceptions, most notably the demanding pair of par 4s that conclude the two nines. You have to hit it significantly off target to find most of the trouble, with the re-positioned fairway bunkers more a concern for longer hitters. The greens added a little more undulation, and with some re-working of the surrounding bunkers, more of a premium has been placed on approach shots. The changes also included the installation of some kid-friendly tees that make Pine Lakes a wonderful course for families. Indian Mound is a typically well-crafted Joe Lee design, with Lee’s penchant for strategic bunkering and a decent amount of water in play giving the layout a little bite despite its lack of serious length. Oleander is also on the short side, but some uncomfortably encroaching tree lines and the exposed nature of some of the holes to the ever-present ocean breezes make it a bit more of a challenge that its sister courses across the street. Wilson’s classic design places a premium on precision both off the tee and an approach shots and makes it a thoroughly entertaining challenge, with a terrific group of distinctive par 5s and one of state’s strongest par 4s (No. 12). Oleander is favored by better players and was the primary course when Jekyll Island hosted the Georgia Open in the 1990s. No trip to Jekyll is complete without a visit to the 9-hole Great Dunes layout, which has several holes unlike almost anything you’ve encountered. The term quirky does not adequately describe some of the holes featuring very unusual design concepts and greens complexes. Great Dunes is a lot of fun, as well as opening a window to golf’s past. As Jekyll Director of Golf Harry Kicklighter says, the typical reaction of first time visitors is “whoa.” Sea Palms, located in the middle of St. Simons Island, features 27 holes, with the West nine located across the street from the original 18 and playing like a cross between

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[ABOVE AND LEFT:] Sea Island Golf Club

a regulation and executive course, measuring just 2,460 yards with four par 3s and some par 4s and 5s of modest length. The original 18, designed by George Cobb, is a traditional, resort-style layout, with overhanging trees on many holes a constant reminder of the nearby presence of the ocean and the necessity for hitting it straight off the tee. At just under 6,500 yards (6,100 from the next set), Sea Palms is very accommodating to players who don’t hit tour-length drives, but the yardage is a bit deceiving. Sea Palms lost about 225 yards five years ago when the par-4 ninth was altered to a semi-island green par 3, with the course now playing as a par 71. If you can keep the ball between the everpresent tree lines, Sea Palms has its share of scoring opportunities, but some of the more inviting holes are also among the most perilous. About half the holes have water in play, but overhanging moss and tree limbs remain the more constant concern, although you are able to recover from errant shots, provide they aren’t too far off target. Cobb’s thoughtful, well-crafted layout is understated for a resort course, but its traditional design and assortment of palms, pines and palmettos make it a worthwhile attraction for locals and vacationers alike. The course rating and slope suggest that Sea Palms is not an especially difficult course, but making it through a subtly challenging back nine is no easy task, especially the stout trio of finishing holes. The Hampton Club will be undergoing some restoration work in 2009, and will be closed from April 1-October 1. The course will be re-grassed tee to green, with the bunkers renovated and a few new ones added in an effort to make the course conditions again match the quality of Joe Lee’s wonderful layout, which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in ’09. In preparation for the re-grassing, Hampton Club has been completely overseeded for the winter, which will ensure quality playing conditions until the course closes for six months. The club recently

hosted the GSGA Senior 4-Ball Championship shortly after having bare fairways preceding the over-seeding. The Hampton Club, which is owned and managed by the King and Prince Resort, has enjoyed the reputation as one of the state’s most enjoyable and aesthetically appealing layouts. The course is located along the marshes at the northwestern tip of St. Simons Island, with four of the holes separated from the main body of the course by a series of bridges. The holes on the marsh island include one of Georgia’s most memorable ones – the par-5 14th – but the remainder of the layout is not overwhelmed by their appeal. Lee’s design includes a number of traditional, tree-lined holes, along with several where water is a significant concern. Like most of its fellow coastal courses, the Hampton Club is short by modern standards, but the relatively narrow corridors and Lee’s well-bunkered greens complexes make it an enjoyable challenge that will be enhanced by its restoration. Sea Island Golf Club is the state’s premier upscale resort, featuring three outstanding courses that are open to outside play, along with two members-only facilities that are geographically separate from the resort layouts. The three accessible courses are Seaside, Plantation and Retreat, the latter the former St. Simons Island Club that was extensively renovated by Sea Island resident Davis Love III. Retreat is located across the street from Seaside and Plantation, and is a bit removed from the marshes that give its sister layouts much of their character, but the quality of Love’s re-design has made it a big hit with the club’s membership. Love added a number of new back tees that lengthened the course significantly, but also widened some extremely narrow corridors to make the layout much more player-friendly for those playing from shorter tees. A number of bunkers from Joe Lee’s original design were removed to open approach angles and allow for run up shots, with Love adding size and undulation to the

greens, while softening some of the surrounding areas. Hazards are not as prevalent as on the two marsh-side courses, but Retreat features several outstanding holes with water playing a major role, including one of the state’s great short par 4s (No. 6), and a terrific but perilous par-4 18th. Plantation was renovated in the late 1990s by Rees Jones, combining the original nine holes with Dick Wilson’s Retreat nine from 1960. The course borders Seaside, but other than a relative handful of holes, has more of a parkland feel, although water is a serious presence on about half the holes. With some deep greenside bunkers and testy putting surfaces, Plantation is more a second shot course than neighboring Seaside, and features an interesting routing, with two stress-free opening holes, a tough middle stretch and several scoring opportunities at the end of the round. Considerable risks accompany the scoring chances late in the round, with Plantation a more than worthy complement to the more heralded layout adjoining it. With its marsh-side setting, ocean views and rugged sand dunes, Seaside is visually spectacular, but occasionally intimidating for the same reason, As demanding as it is, the course is surprisingly playable, although it can be rather daunting when the wind is whipping and the landing area or green looms in the distance with all manner of trouble in relatively close proximity. Tom Fazio combined the original Seaside nine with Joe Lee’s early ‘70s Marshside nine and with a few tweaks here and there, produced one of the country’s great golf treasures. The greens complexes, which feature a number of close cut run-off areas, add to the distinct feel of the layout, which more than matches its heralded reputation. The coastal golf scene extends beyond Jekyll and St. Simons, with some quality courses in and around Brunswick and an off-the-beaten-path gem (Sapelo Hammock) between Savannah and the Golden Isles. FA L L 2 0 0 8

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Hull adds another Georgia PGA victory Places first in qualifier for 2009 national event

By Mike Blum

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eff Hull was unable to repeat his Georgia PGA Player of the Year title from 2007, but he closed the Section’s 2008 tournament schedule by adding to his growing list of victories. Hull captured the Section’s Professional Championship, which doubles as a qualifier for the 2009 PGA Professional National Championship, edging Sonny Skinner by one stroke at Crystal Lake in Hampton. The Georgia PGA will have at least 10 representatives in next year’s PGA PNC, with Hull among seven state club professionals to qualify at Crystal Lake. Skinner was one of three Section members already in next year’s championship, and had a little more incentive to play well in the tournament than Tim Weinhart and Clark Spratlin, who also had secured spots on the 2009 PNC, which will be played next June in New Mexico. Skinner needed a victory to overtake Matt Peterson on the Divots Points List as the Player of the Year, but Peterson held on to become the fourth different Section member to earn that honor the last four years.

Jeff Hull

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Hull, an instructor at the University of Georgia golf course, posted scores of 71-70—141 over two cold and windy days on one of the strongest new additions to the metro Atlanta golf scene. The victory earned Hull first place money of $4,500 and boosted him to third in the final points standings for 2008. Skinner was second at 142 after two rounds of 1-under 71, moving up with birdies on the final two holes. Greg Lee, the 2004 tournament champion, was third at 143 after holding the lead following an opening round 69. Lee, an assistant at Chicopee Woods, still had the lead after 27 holes at 4-under par, but three bogeys over a 5-hole stretch on the back nine dropped him from the top of the leader board. Kevin Roman, an assistant at Cherokee Country Club, was one of four Georgia PGA members to qualify for the PNC for the first time. (See story, page 12.) He posted the low score of the tournament, a second round 68, to take fourth at 144. Tying for fifth at 146 were Rivermont CC head professional Matthew Evans, Ford Plantation head professional C.W. Canfield and veteran PNC qualifier Stephen Keppler, who was very nearly disqualified from the tournament for a second straight year. (See story, page 10.) Because Skinner had already qualified for the 2009 PNC thanks to his runnerup finish earlier this year in the ’08 PNC at Reynolds Plantation, the eighth place finisher in the tournament also qualified for next year’s event, with four players tying for eighth at 148, Spratlin among them. The playoff, which was conducted with little remaining daylight, involved Country Club of the South instructor Shawn Koch, the winner of the two previous Georgia PGA tournaments; Savannah GC instructor Josh Williams and Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek head professional Randy Brooks. Koch won on the second hole after making consecutive pars on the par-5 18th. Brooks was eliminated when he bogeyed the first playoff hole, with Williams taking bogey on the second extra hole after being penalized one stroke when his cart ran over his ball in the rough in fading daylight. Both Capital City Club assistant Donn Perno and Ansley GC Director of Golf Phil Taylor missed the playoff by one stroke, with Perno one of several competitors to have an excellent chance at qualifying but failing to capitalize on the opportunity. After a birdie at the par-5 12th, Perno

was 1-over for the day and the tournament, but three-putted for bogey from inside 10 feet at the short, par-4 13th, and followed with bogeys at three of the next four holes. Atlanta Athletic Club Director of Instruction Chan Reeves was 1-over for the tournament after three birdies in a 4hole stretch beginning at the par-5 eighth, but an 8 on the par-4 16th killed his hopes of qualifying. Chris Knobloch, an instructor at Smoke Rise CC, was 2-over for the tournament after chipping in for eagle at the eighth, but was 4-over for his last five holes to join Reeves in missing the playoff by two. Like Reeves, Currahee Club head professional John Wade was also done in by one bad hole. After a 9 on the eighth, Wade was 7-over for the day before playing his final 10 holes in 1-under to miss the playoff by three at 151. Hull opened with a 71, and was even par for the tournament before going 4under on a 5-hole stretch capped by an eagle at the par-5 12th. A bogey on the difficult 14th cost Hull one stroke, but he played solidly otherwise down the stretch to maintain his lead, holing a few clutch par putts coming down the stretch. “I was not ever concerned about winning until I made eagle on 12,” Hull said. “That got me to 4-under and at that point, I knew I had a shot to win. Before that, I was just trying to qualify. I did not go in trying to win.” The victory was Hull’s second of the year, adding to his title in the inaugural Chicopee Woods Players Championship. It’s the third time in five years Hull has won two tournaments in a season, taking the Georgia PGA Championship and Lake Oconee Classic in 2004, and the Griffin Classic and Georgia Open in 2007. That leaves just the Atlanta Open and Match Play Championship missing from Hull’s resume, and he has come very close to an Atlanta Open victory, losing in a playoff to Lee in 2003 and earning low professional honors last year. Hull recently joined the instructional staff at the University course, and said his early experience at his new teaching base “has been great. I’m very fortunate to be there.” For the first time in years, Hull does not have to spend a sizeable chunk of time every day on the road. A long time Athens area resident, Hull has spent two stints as the head professional at Port Armor (now Reynolds Landing) on Lake Oconee, as well as time working as in instructor in the

Atlanta area. Most recently, he worked with the Henry-Griffitts company, a job that kept him on the road a great deal. “I bought a new car in April, 2004, and I’ve already got 120,000 miles on it,” Hull said. “Working only five miles away from home is kind of nice.” This will be the third time Hull has qualified for the PNC. He tied for 41st this year at Reynolds Plantation, which included one round on the former Port Armor. Hull advanced to the South Regional PGA Championship several times when that was held between Section tournaments and nationals, but only made it past that stage once. Weinhart, an instructor at St. Marlo, will be playing in the PGA PNC for the 10th straight year, and has gone on to qualify for the PGA Championship four times since 2002, including three of the last four years. Weinhart, a 4-time Georgia PGA Player of the Year from 2002-05, was fifth this year, turning in several top finishes but failing to pick up a win in a Section event. Lee will be competing in the PNC for the fifth time in the last six years, missing by just one stroke of qualifying for the PGA Championship in his first start in the event in 2003. He finished sixth on the Divots point list this year, including his third Assistants’ Championship title. Spratlin, the head professional at Blue Ridge River & Golf Club, which is scheduled to open next year, also has come within one stroke of qualifying for the PGA Championship, falling just short in 2007. Spratlin came close again this year, tying for 33rd at Reynolds Plantation, with one bad hole costing him a spot in the field at Oakland Hills. This will be the fourth straight appearance at nationals for Spratlin, who earned his spot with his victory in the ’08 Georgia PGA Championship at Sea Island GC. He ended ’08 seventh in the Georgia PGA standings. Skinner, a veteran tour pro who is a teaching professional at River Pointe in Albany, placed second this year at Reynolds Plantation in the PNC to earn his first ever spot in a major championship. Skinner was the Section’s Player of the Year in 2006 and nearly won it this year. He was also second in the Atlanta Open, among five top-5 finishes on the year, and also was second in the Georgia PGA’s two qualifiers for Nationwide Tour events in the state. Skinner has qualified for the PNC all three years since transitioning from a full time tour player to a club professional who competes on the Nationwide Tour on a limited basis. FA L L 2 0 0 8

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Keppler avoids DQ, qualifies for PNC Barely makes tee time after wreck stalls traffic

By Mike Blum

tephen Keppler was exactly 11 seconds from being disqualified from the Georgia PGA Professional Championship for the second straight year. Last year, Keppler fell victim to a decision by the PGA of America (since changed) that devices used to determine yardages were not allowed in qualifiers for the PGA Professional National Championship. The devices were allowed in Georgia PGA events, but not in the Section’s qualifier at Athens Country Club for the PGA PNC. Keppler, the PGA Director of Golf at Marietta Country Club, forgot about that, and when he was reminded of his violation, he reported it to an official and ruefully accepted his disqualification. In the most recent PNC qualifier at Crystal Lake, Keppler left his home in north Cobb County about two hours before his tee time for the final round at the southside Atlanta course. An accident on I75 South blocked three left lanes, and with a little more than an hour to go before he was to tee off in the final group, Keppler felt there was no cause for concern.

Stephen Keppler

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Divots 2008 Georgia PGA points leaders 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

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Matt Peterson, U. of Ga. GC . . . . 7262 Sonny Skinner, River Pointe. . . . 7075 Jeff Hull, U. of Georgia GC . . . . . 6846 Shawn Koch, CC of the South . . 4986 Tim Weinhart, St. Marlo . . . . . . . . 4978 Greg Lee, Chicopee Woods . . . . 4902 Clark Spratlin, Blue Ridge GC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4894 Craig Stevens, Fox Creek. . . . . . . 4419 Brian Dixon, Fox Creek. . . . . . . . . 4146 Winston Trively, Crooked Oak . . 3403 Chan Reeves, Atlanta AC. . . . . . . 3155 Jordan Arnold, Achasta GC . . . . 2841 John Duta, TPC Sugarloaf . . . . . . 2797 Todd Peterson, Marietta CC . . . . 2782 Gary Cressend, Augusta CC . . . . 2735 Tommy Brannen, Augusta CC . . 2627 Wyatt Detmer, Orchard Hills . . . 2569 Randy Brooks, Ansley-Settindown . . . . . . . . . . . . 2246 Stephen Keppler, Marietta CC. . 2232 Will Hutter, Sea Island GC . . . . . . 2190

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Unfortunately, the three blocked lanes warning quickly changed to all lanes blocked. Keppler was able to get off the interstate, and got on his cell phone to the club in search of directions. He even called his wife at home, who called up Map Quest on her computer to assist in the effort. Traffic off the interstate wasn’t much better than the stalled traffic on 75, and Keppler called Tournament Director Pat Day at the course and told him, “There’s no way I’m going to make it.” Just after making the call, Keppler noticed that traffic had begun to move a bit on 75, got back on it and called Day again, letting him know he was on his way. Keppler’s tee time was 1:40 and he arrived at the tee at approximately 1:43.30. That was sufficient to keep him from being disqualified but not in time to avoid a twostroke penalty for missing his tee time. “I got my shoes on, took a ball out of my bag and made a couple of practice swings,” Keppler said. “I put my tee in the ground and hit the ball with 11 seconds to spare.” Things didn’t get any better for Keppler when he took six strokes on the par-5 opening hole at Crystal Lake. Adding the two-shot penalty for his tardy arrival, and Keppler had a nice, round 8 on his scorecard. That negated much of the positive vibe from his opening round 70 which had him in second place before his brush with disqualification. Keppler said he got over last year’s DQ fairly quickly, but admitted, “It was my fault. I was frustrated. I’ve been playing in tournaments for a lot of years and I had never been disqualified before. And I had never missed my tee time before.” A pitch shot that came up short on the

first hole did not improve Keppler’s mental outlook, and he needed to hole a slippery downhill putt on the hole to save bogey. He settled down at that point and ran off a string of pars. He said he “felt better” after his first birdie of the day on the seventh hole, and followed with a nice par save at the eighth and another birdie at the ninth. At that point, Keppler was 1-under for the tournament, and was well under the score that was going to be needed to qualify, and was only a few shots off the lead. “I got things turned around and got back into it on the first nine,” said Keppler, who admitted to feeling “snake bit” in the PNC qualifier after what transpired in his last two appearances. “At 1:30 (ten minutes before his tee time), I thought there was no way I was going to make it. I was just about to turn the car around.” As Keppler stood on the 12th tee, all those thoughts had vanished, and he decided to play aggressively off the tee. He attempted to carry a fairway bunker but did not quite make it, with his ball plugging in its face. Instead of a possible birdie which would have put him in position to challenge the lead, Keppler wound up with a bogey that stalled any momentum he had built. Three consecutive bogeys at 15, 16 and 17 followed, sending Keppler to the 18th tee with the idea he had to make birdie on the par 5 to qualify for the PNC. His third shot came up well short of the pin, leaving Keppler with a putt of some 40 feet. Because several players ahead of him had struggled down the stretch, Keppler only needed to two-putt for par to advance,

but he did not know that. Keppler proceeded to bang his long birdie try into the cup, enabling him to qualify for the PNC with a stroke to spare. He wound up tied for fourth at 146, with his second round 76 in difficult conditions not looking so bad after his 8 on the first hole. For most of his tenure as a club professional in the state, Keppler was a fixture in the PGA PNC, but this will be his first appearance in the event in several years. Keppler, the Georgia PGA’s Player of the Year from 1993-96, has competed in the championship 12 times, including 11 straight from 1994-2004, but has not been back since ’04. He qualified for the 2006 PNC, but did not play due to a family trip scheduled to his native England. In recent years, Keppler has been only an occasional tournament participant in Georgia PGA events, spending more of his time watching his children play sports than competing in tournaments. After dominating the Georgia PGA for much of the 1990s, Keppler has only one win in the Section in the past decade (the final Eddie Wiggins Classic at Landings GC in Warner Robins in 2004), but has notched a sizeable number of top finishes during that span, including four straight runner-up showings in the Section Championship. “I should play a little more while I’m still competitive. I have nobody to blame but myself,” Keppler says. “My kids are playing sports and we’re relatively busy at the club, and I have to do a better job of managing my time. Maybe this will turn it around a little bit.” Keppler says the club’s membership at Marietta CC “encourage me to play,” but admits to having difficulty making himself do the work required to keep his game at the level its been. He is also not as motivated to play as he’s been, although with his 50th birthday just a little over two years away, he has two other majors to look forward to outside the state. The last time Keppler appeared on the national stage was the 2001 PGA Championship, which was played at Atlanta Athletic Club. It was his fourth appearance in the event, but playing in a major in his adopted home town was not Keppler’s career highlight. That distinction still belongs to the 1995 BellSouth Classic, where he made the most serious run at a PGA Tour victory of any club professional in the past three decades, finishing a close third behind winner Mark Calcavecchia.

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Some new names among PNC qualifiers Roman, Evans, Canfield, Koch to make first starts

By Mike Blum

hile the Georgia PGA’s list of qualifiers for the 2009 PGA Professional National Championship contained some of the Section’s more prominent players, there were several new names along side the usual suspects. Four Georgia PGA members will be making their first ever appearances in the national club professional championship, with a fifth player in line to join them if he makes the field next June in New Mexico as an alternate. The first time qualifiers are head professionals Matthew Evans of Rivermont Country Club and C.W. Canfield of the Ford Plantation, and instructors Kevin Roman of Cherokee CC and Shawn Koch of Country Club of the South, who earned his spot in a playoff. Savannah GC instructor Josh Williams is the first alternate after being eliminated on the second extra hole, and is likely to earn a spot in next year’s PNC. Roman placed fourth at 144 in the recent Georgia PGA Professional Championship at Crystal Lake in Hampton, with Canfield and Evans tying for fifth at 146. The top seven finishers not already qualified for the 2009 PNC advanced, with Koch getting the final spot at 148. Sonny Skinner, who placed second, was already in next year’s field along with Clark Spratlin, who tied for eighth with Koch and two others, and Tim Weinhart. A final round 68, the low score in cold, windy conditions, propelled Roman to nationals for the first time. He said he made it to regionals “three or four times” when he was a PGA member in New York, but never made it past that stage, with the PGA eliminating its regional qualifiers a few years ago. Roman shot 76 the first day of the tournament with two tee shots out of bounds, but said he was “comfortable with where I stood after the round. I could have been right there to win it. I hit a lot of good shots, and in those conditions, that’s all you can try to do.” While the conditions gave most of the field a problem on an already difficult course, Roman felt at home in the chilly,

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C.W. Canfield

breezy weather. “I like playing in the wind. The more wind, the more I like it,” the Utica, N.Y., native said. Roman has been at Cherokee for six years, moving South in part “to get out of the snow.” Roman qualified for the 1993 U.S. C.W.and Canfield Open says he has competed in “six or seven other Tour events, but I haven’t played well down here.” Roman had shoulder surgery last year, and now that he is healthy, is looking for some more results like his final round in the PNC qualifier. On a day when no one else broke 70, Roman fired a 68 that included four birdies and no bogeys on his scorecard, He hit 14 of 18 greens, getting up and down all four times he missed, holing some 10-footers for par “to keep the round going.” Evans was competing in the PNC qualifier for the first time, and turned in two solid rounds of 73 to advance. He moved close to the lead on the back nine with a birdie at 13 to put him 2-under for the day and 1-under for the tournament, but fell back a bit on Crystal Lake’s difficult closing stretch of holes. Like Roman, Evans had to travel a long way from his home to Georgia, leaving his native Scotland to play college golf at Berry in Rome. He decided to stay in the U.S., and spent four years as an assistant at Rivermont before working for two years as the Director of Golf for a cruise ship. Evans returned to Rivermont as its head professional three years ago, and achieved

Matthew Evans

his Class A status late last year to make him eligible to compete in the PNC. “I’m just getting back into tournament golf,” says Evans, who has not competed that much since his college days. “I wanted get my feet wet and I was lucky to finish the last tournament of the year on a high note.” Evans was a member of Berry’s national championship team as a junior and also won an individual conference title. He finished third in an international junior tournament in North Carolina to attract the attention of some American college coaches, and with the exception of his stint on the cruise ship, has been in Georgia ever since. Canfield played his college golf at West Point, beginning his club professional career after completing his military service as an officer in the Transportation Corps. A native of West Virginia, Canfield came to Georgia five years ago from the PGA’s South Texas Section, where he worked at Houston Country Club. “Golf is my passion,” Canfield says. “Once I got out of the military, I got into the golf business.” Canfield was a top player in the South Texas Section, but has not been an active player in the Georgia Section since moving here. “I have three little boys ages 7, 4 and 3,” Canfield noted. “That’s why I’m not playing much golf.” After an opening 74, Canfield hung right

around par for most of his second round, with 2-over looking to be the cutoff for advancing to nationals for most of the day. Canfield birdied the sixth after back-toback bogeys at the previous two holes, and parred the next nine holes to remain 2-over for the tournament with three to play. A bogey at the 16th dropped him to 3-over for the tournament, and he came to the par-5 18th feeling that he needed a birdie to qualify. From 70 yards out, Canfield says he took “about six extra practice swings” with his lob wedge, and stuck it within a foot of the cup for the birdie. As it turned out, a par would have been sufficient, but that did not diminish Canfield’s satisfaction from hitting a quality shot with something on the line. “That was a great feeling,” said Canfield, who added that it “brought back some memories from junior and college golf. It’s been a while since I’ve been in that position.” Echoing similar comments from Roman and Evans, Canfield said it’s “a great honor to represent the Section at the national championship.” The Ford Plantation is a private equity club just outside Savannah in Richmond Hill, with the Pete Dye design originally known as Ogeechee GC when it opened 20 years ago. Unlike his three fellow PNC first-timers, Koch’s name is a familiar one in Georgia PGA tournament competition. He came into the event off consecutive wins in the two previous Section events – the Match Play Championship and the Griffin Classic, and won the Yamaha Atlanta Open in 2006. After an opening round 76, Koch was back in the pack and began his final round off the 10th tee. With three birdies on his first six holes, Koch moved inside the cut line for qualifying for nationals, but five bogeys on his next eight holes dropped him to 2-over for the day and 6-over for the tournament, seemingly out of contention for one of the seven available spots. But Koch responded with birdies on his last two holes of the day to finish at 4-over, and when several players struggled on the finishing holes at Crystal Lake, Koch found himself in a three-way playoff for one spot. Koch, who was in the first group off the 10th tee, had to wait more than two hours after he finished his round to start the playoff in much colder conditions with very little daylight. He managed a pair of pars on the 18th, good enough to earn him a trip to New Mexico next June. On the strength of an eagle at eighth and birdies at 12 and 13, Williams was 1-under for the day and 2-over for the tournament, but bogeyed two of his last three holes, including one at the 18th. He bogeyed the 18th again on the second playoff hole after his cart ran over his ball in the rough in the long-since-faded daylight.

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Peterson earns Player of the Year honors UGA head pro makes switch from life on tour to club job

By Mike Blum

fter 15 years as a tour player, 11 of them on what is now the Nationwide Tour, Matt Peterson reached a decision in 2004 that he had “had enough.” Peterson was coming off back-to-back sub-par seasons, had undergone shoulder surgery and was finding it increasingly difficult to spend so much time away from his wife and young children. The Business/Management Science degree he had earned from the University of Georgia 15 years ago gave Peterson some possible options outside the golf business, but the computer field had changed drastically in that time. “When you’re out playing and you’re at the age I was what, it’s in the back of your mind,” Peterson said of a possible second career. “I had done well on the Nationwide Tour, but if your game falls off, you have to make a decision. “It’s something I had always thought about; once I get out of golf, what am I going to do? I was looking to find something with a little more stability.”

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PGA Pro-file GEORGIA

Peterson, who had settled in Athens after graduating from Georgia in 1989, did not have to look far. Several months after his last Nationwide Tour start in 2004, he accepted the position as head professional at the University of Georgia Golf Course, and will celebrate his fourth anniversary there in early 2009. Although his career as a tour player was over, Peterson was not done as a competitive golfer. He began playing in Georgia PGA tournaments, but it took a while for him to adjust to competing on an infrequent basis. Peterson scored his first victory in a Georgia PGA event in the Section Championship in the summer of 2007 at Sea Island Golf Club, shooting a final round 66 on the Plantation Course to win by four strokes. In his next start, Peterson reached the finals of the Match Play Championship before losing to Greg Lee. He came right back after that to win the Section’s qualifier for the 2008 PGA Professional National Championship at Athens Country Club, with that tournament the first one on the Georgia PGA’s schedule for the ’08 season. Peterson began 2008 the same way he ended ’07, winning the Yamaha Atlanta

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Open at Newnan Country Club. Although he did not win again in ’08, a string of solid showings enabled him to hold on to his lead in the Divots points standings, earning him Georgia PGA Player of the Year honors. “It definitely means a lot,” Peterson said of his award. He edged out Sonny Skinner and Jeff Hull, the 2006 and 2007 Players of the Year, by a narrow margin for the title, with the outcome still in doubt when the Section held its final event of ’08. “Every point counts,” Peterson offered. “It was close at the end.” After his stretch of three wins and a runner-up finish in four starts spanning the end of the 2007 schedule and the start of the ’08 season, Peterson admitted he was “not quite as sharp” for the latter stages of ’08. “I played well in the Section Championship, but I really haven’t played or practiced that much.” Other than his tournament appearances, Peterson’s off days are typically spent with his family, and it was the time he spent away from home that drove his decision to end his tour career. Peterson turned pro after graduating from Georgia, and enjoyed some immediate success on regional mini-tours before qualifying for the Ben Hogan (now Nationwide) Tour in 1992. He returned to the mini-tours in ’93, and scored a dramatic playoff victory in the Georgia Open that year over Georgia PGA Player of the Year Stephen Keppler to help propel him back to the Nike Tour (same tour, new title sponsor) in ’94. For the next eight years, that tour was Peterson’s home, and he was consistently among its top players during that span. But he never was quite able to play well enough to earn his PGA Tour card, missing by the slimmest of margins in 1995 when he was 11th on the money list, one spot out of the top 10 finish necessary to move up. Peterson scored his lone tour victory that year, rallying from a 6-stroke deficit after 54 holes to win what turned out to be the final Central Georgia Open in Macon. He played a 7-hole stretch on the back nine at River North (now Healy Point) in 7-under to pull away from challengers Franklin Langham, Frank Lickliter, Jerry Kelly and Allen Doyle. But in the Tour Championship at Settindown Creek in Roswell, Peterson dropped from ninth on the money list to 11th, even though he posted the lowest final 36-hole total among the 50-player field to finish tied for 12th. Peterson spent the next six seasons in golf’s version of baseball’s Class AAA before finally getting his shot at the majors. He

Matt Peterson

placed 12th on the money list in 2001 (the top 15 made it that year), setting a tour record for greens in regulation. When he moved up to the PGA Tour, Peterson was the second leading all-time money winner on the Nationwide Tour, but the success he had enjoyed there did not continue once he reached the top. Peterson played respectably as a PGA Tour rookie, but respectable wasn’t enough. He earned more than $266,000 to place 164th on the money list, not high enough to retain his playing privileges. He turned in several strong showings the second half of the season, most notably in San Antonio, where a second round 62 got him in contention for victory through the weekend and left him in a tie for 10th. “Effort-wise, I have no regrets,” Peterson said of his only season on the PGA Tour. “If I could have gotten another year past that first year and gotten status, I think it could have been different, but I did not play well that year.” Peterson had some serious family concerns off the course that year as well, and after two unproductive seasons on the Nationwide Tour, the desire to be at home on a more regular basis won out over his drive to compete. “Looking back at the travel, I wonder ‘how did I ever do that?” That was a lot harder than it’s given credit for.” Although Peterson’s last two seasons on the Nationwide Tour did not go well, he did manage one more highlight before calling it a career. In an effort to prepare for the 2003 Nationwide Tour, he entered Monday qualifying for the PGA Tour event at Doral and made it into the field. Scores of 68 and 70 the first two rounds put him in solid position after 36 holes, and he got to 7-under par on the day in the third round to briefly take the lead before a pair of late double bogeys ended his torrid run. Peterson finished the tournament tied for 27th, but there were not many bright

spots for him after that. A year-and-a-half later, he was done as a tour player. “That was a bit of a surprise,” Peterson said of his fleeting moment in the spotlight. “It was the first thing I had played in that year. In the Monday qualifier I played very well, and carried that over the third day. I started making putts; everything I looked at was going in.” Eventually, Peterson’s putter cooled off and an errant shot or two ended any hopes of being a serious contender the final round. “I got into a situation of ‘Whoa, what’s going on here? I got to a point where I thought too much. If I had just rode the wave, I would have finished better.” After the 2004 season, Peterson thought he was done as a tour player, but thanks to his new job, he got another shot in ’07. Peterson was given a sponsor’s exemption into the Nationwide Tour event at Jennings Mill just outside Athens, and after shooting 68 the first day, made the cut. His victory in the Section Championship last year earned him a berth in the ’08 Athens Regional Foundation Classic, and he made the cut again. As the Section’s Player of the Year for 2008, Peterson gets a spot in one of the state’s two Nationwide Tour events, and is expected to make a third straight start in the tournament next year. Peterson says his transition from tour player to club professional has been “pretty easy, and I have Dave to thank for that.” Peterson was referring to Dave Cousart, the Director of Golf at the University course, who heads up an excellent staff that also includes instructor Ed Katchur and recent addition Jeff Hull, the Section’s ’07 Player of the Year. “I had been in Athens for 20 years and played and practiced at the University course,” said Peterson, citing a “comfort level” he felt in his new position. “I knew everybody, and it was pretty easy to jump in in that respect. The transition has been as good as I could have hoped for.” Working at a University course is not that much different from your standard daily fee facility, Peterson says, but there are some unique aspects of working in Athens. Weekends in the Fall are geared around the Bulldogs’ football schedule, which largely determines how busy the course is going to be. Because of his schedule and the presence of other quality instructors on staff, Peterson does not teach a great deal. He describes teaching as “one of the toughest parts of the job, but also one of the most rewarding. It’s a big responsibility and challenge. It’s like putting a puzzle together.”

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Love ends season in style with Disney win Victory snaps long stretch of sub-par play from veteran

By Mike Blum

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Davis Love III

Stone Resort and was sixth two weeks later in Las Vegas. Those two finishes boosted Love to 125th on the money list, and another solid showing in Scottsdale, Ariz., resulted in a tie for 11th and a guaranteed him a spot in the top 125 at the end of the season. Playing his sixth tournament in six weeks, Love concluded his 2008 season at the Disney World Resort in Orlando in memorable fashion. Closing with back-to-back rounds of 64, Love claimed his first victory in more than two years, staving off the surprising challenge of Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, who entered the final tournament of the season 228th on the money list with earnings of barely $65,000. After birdies on five of the first seven holes on the back nine, Love needed a pair of clutch up-and-down pars at 17 and 18 to secure his 20th career PGA Tour victory. Gainey matched Love’s closing 64, highlighted by a 6-under 30 on the back nine, but could not halt Love’s march to victory. “I’m just thrilled to come out on top and to accomplish what I really wanted to do this Fall,” Love said after his victory. “I

STEVE DINBERG

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hen the PGA Tour wrapped up its 2008 season, a number of prominent veterans were among those who failed to finish in the top 125 on the money list to retain exempt status for 2009. Among them were the likes of David Toms, Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Lehman, Jesper Parnevik and Chris DiMarco. When the Fall Series of tournaments began in September, Sea Island resident Davis Love III was also on that list. At the time, Love was a distant 155th on the PGA Tour in earnings with $377,550. In 17 starts, Love had finished in the top 20 just once all year, a tie for 19th in the British Open. Love was already coming off the worst season of his professional career in 2007, a year which ended with Love undergoing ankle surgery after being injured during a casual round of golf in Columbus. As a result of the injury, Love missed the end of the 2007 season and the first month of the ’08 campaign, and displayed the effects of the injury and his absence from tournament action when he returned to the tour. When the FedExCup playoffs got under way in August with the top 144 players on the 2008 PGA Tour, Love was not among the qualifiers, leaving him with an unscheduled six-week vacation from his job of two decades. While most of the PGA Tour’s top players put their clubs in the closet after the Tour Championship, Love elected to give the 2008 season one last shot. Or more precisely, six of them. Love decided to play the last six tournaments of the PGA Tour schedule in an effort to salvage his season. He didn’t have to. Because of his standing on the PGA Tour’s career money list (he began 2008 fourth with more than $35 million), Love would have been exempt for 2009 even if he packed it in for the season and wound up around 165th on the final money list. After not seriously contending in a PGA Tour event since his last win in Greensboro in the summer of 2006, Love tied for third in his Fall Series opener at the Turning

wanted to get out and compete and play to win; not try to make the top 125 and not just try to make the cut and show up. But to come and play to win.” Love’s career trajectory has been on a downward arc since 2003, when he won four times and finished third on the money list. He turned in two respectable but winless seasons in 2004 and ’05 before breaking a three-year winless drought in Greensboro in ’06 after what had been a mostly disappointing showing that year. After fourth place finishes in two of his first starts of 2007, Love’s name was absent from PGA Tour leader boards for the rest of the year with the exception of a one-week revival in the World Golf Championships event at Firestone, where he finished in a distant tie for sixth. His freak ankle injury followed several weeks later, not the best timing for a 40something veteran undergoing a lengthy stretch of unsatisfactory results. “It wasn’t exactly what I needed after not playing well for a couple of years; having to come back from surgery. But I didn’t doubt my desire and I didn’t doubt the fact that I could compete.

“But the little things – holing putts when you have to and all that – that’s golf. I just wondered how I was going to get it back.” Love did not put the entire onus for his sub-standard play on his injury. “Certainly I’ve had a couple bad breaks, but even after getting hurt, I should have played better all year. It shouldn’t have been this long to put four good rounds together. It meant an awful lot to put four good rounds together.” Love started the tournament on a positive note with three birdies in his first five holes of the opening round, and closed out the day with three more birdies in succession for a 66 that included what would be his only bogey in 72 holes. Despite an off day with the putter, Love came back with a 69, with his second round scorecard consisting of 15 pars and birdies on three of the four par 5s. Love was seven shots off the lead after 36 holes and still well back midway through the third round. But three birdies and an eagle over a 5-hole stretch vaulted him into contention. A hot start and another torrid stretch on the back nine in the final round put Love on top, and he stayed there despite some errant drives on the final two holes. “The last two holes weren’t pretty,” he observed. “I hit three bad drives on the day and had to scramble on three of the harder holes. But I putted extremely well the last two days.” After driving into trouble at the 17th, Love assessed his situation. “Obviously I knew I was leading. But I didn’t know what other guys were shooting. I was in trouble, but I was confident that I was going to get the ball up and down. “I wasn’t thinking about winning or losing or screwing up. I was thinking about chasing that ball and getting it up and down.” Love made par after pitching back to the fairway following his off-target tee shot, and saved par again at the 18th from a greenside bunker. “It’s a big win for me. It’s been a long three years because everybody, like me, expects me to play better.” With the victory, Love moved up 70 spots on the money list, finishing the year at 48 with almost $1.7 million. He advanced a comparable distance in the World Rankings to 76th, putting himself in position to earn an invitation to the 2009 Masters after missing this year’s event for the first time since 1990. Love will need either a PGA Tour win prior to the ’09 Masters or move into the top 50 in the World Rankings to qualify for Augusta. But his win at Disney did get him the last spot in the season-opening Mercedes Championship in Hawaii. The victory also earns Love a career exemption on the PGA Tour, a perk limited to players with at least 20 career victories.

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Blanks, Todd earn spots on ’09 PGA Tour Join 3 state collegians in Nationwide’s top 25

f the 25 players who finished in the top 25 on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list, four played their college golf in Georgia, and will join a Georgia native and former Savannah club professional on the PGA Tour in ’09. Kris Blanks, who was born in Warner Robins and spent several years as an assistant at The Landings in Savannah, will be a rookie on the PGA Tour next year, along with recent college golfers Brendon Todd (Georgia); Matt Weibring (Georgia Tech) and Aron Price (Georgia Southern). Bryce Molder (Georgia Tech) returns to the PGA Tour after a strong finish that propelled him into the top 25.

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Savannah in Bluffton, S.C., with his wife Tami, a teaching pro at Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island. Todd, a 2007 Georgia graduate who has settled in Atlanta, enjoyed an outstanding rookie season on the Nationwide Tour, winning a tournament in Utah and placing 19th in earnings with $244,225. Todd, who began the year as a non-exempt player, contended for a victory in Athens in his first Nationwide start and was ninth a few weeks later in Valdosta, the first of his seven top 10s on the season. He compiled some impressive stats, placing third in scrambling, fourth in scoring and among the top 5 in both putting categories.

Brendon Todd

Kris Blanks

Blanks, 36, played his first full season on the Nationwide Tour in ’08 after two years of competing as a non-exempt player. He won one of the tour’s top events in Chicago and added a third place finish late in the season in Chattanooga, ending up 13th on the money list with just over $280,000. Blanks won two Georgia PGA events during his stay at The Landings and won three times on the Hooters Tour, including one in Savannah. He lives just outside

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ATHENS REGIONAL FOUNDATION CLASSIC

By Mike Blum

Price, a native of Australia, recorded his first win in three Nationwide Tour seasons, taking a playoff early on the schedule in northern California. He wound up 18th in earnings with $249,150 after placing 52nd and 42nd the previous two seasons. Price enjoyed an outstanding career at Georgia Southern, winning seven tournaments, including four in his final season in 2005. Weibring enjoyed his best year on the Nationwide Tour in his fifth season, placing second in scoring average and third in the all-around category to end up 24th in earnings with $228,150. Weibring, a 2002 Georgia Tech graduate, posted six top 10s in ’08, with his best showing a third place finish in the BMW Championship in Greenville, S.C. He is the son of Champions Tour player D.A. Weibring. Molder, who played on the Georgia Tech golf team with Weibring, closed out the season with consecutive third place

finishes in the final two tournaments on the schedule. His T3 at the Tour Championship jumped him from 32nd to 23rd, the second time in three years he has narrowly earned a promotion to the PGA Tour. Molder competed on the PGA Tour in his first two seasons as a professional, but was off that tour for four years before returning in 2007. He did not play well enough to retain his spot there, and returned to the Nationwide Tour this year. A tie for second in Valdosta was his only top 15 until his torrid finish, which included three straight top 10s. Two other Georgians finished among the top 40 in earnings to earn exempt status for 2009 as well as a spot in the finals of PGA Tour qualifying. Albany’s Josh Broadaway finished 36th in earnings with $172,880, by far his best showing in four years on the Nationwide Tour. Broadaway, 30, endured a rollercoaster season in which he made nine straight cuts, including back-to-back ties for fourth and six the last two weeks, then missed the cut eight times in a row. He ended the season with a tie for third in Miami and a T16 in the Tour Championship. Broadaway, who plays cross-handed and putts left-handed, finished fourth in putting average. Duluth resident Scott Dunlap won the season-opening tournament in Panama, but did not have another top 10 the rest of the year and slipped to 37th in earnings with $170,080. Dunlap was 8th in driving accuracy and 23rd in greens in regulation, but his struggles with the putter negated his solid tee to green play. After seven years on the PGA Tour, the 45-year-old Dunlap has spent the last six on the Nationwide Tour, picking up his second Nationwide career win. Dunlap has played all over the world during his pro career, collecting victories in Canada, South America and South Africa. Four other Georgia residents and an exBulldog finished among the top 100 on the money list and will have non-exempt status on the 2009 Nationwide Tour. Woodstock’s Chris Kirk, Todd’s teammate at Georgia, was 77th in his rookie season, highlighted by a second place finish in Knoxville, where he lost in a playoff. But that was Kirk’s only top 15 finish, as he struggled down the stretch to fall out of the top 60. Kirk made the cut in all three of his PGA Tour starts in ’08, including the U.S. Open, but was just 10 of 19 on the Nationwide Tour, making just one cut after August. Augusta’s Scott Parel got off to a strong start in 2008, including a fourth place finish in Valdosta, but also had problems late in the season, mainly due to his putting and some disappointing showings in final rounds. Parel, 43, has played five seasons on the Nationwide Tour, and slipped a bit to 81st after placing 68th last year. Parel missed advancing to the second stage of

Q-school by one stroke. Veteran tour pro Tommy Tolles notched a pair of top-5 finishes in ’08, but did not play after August and ended up 83rd in earnings in just 14 events. Tolles, 42, has played extensively on both the PGA and Nationwide Tours, but has not been on the PGA Tour since 2004. Snellville’s Jonathan Fricke had an upand-down rookie season on the Nationwide Tour. Fricke, 26, who played on the Georgia State golf team, made just 7 of 28 cuts, but played well when he made it to the weekend. He had a pair of top 10 finishes, both in the midst of a stretch where he missed 13 of 15 cuts, and was in the top 30 each of the last five times he went the entire 72 holes. Fricke was 11th on tour in driving distance, but was well outside the top 100 in hitting both fairways and greens. He finished 93rd in earnings with $66,140. Eatonton’s Blake Adams had no status on the Nationwide Tour this season, but managed to make 11 starts, including four top-20 finishes in his first six appearances. He was 94th with $63,070 and will have limited status for next year even though he failed to advance beyond the first stage of Q-school. Although he finished outside the top 100, LaFayette’s John Kimbell will have nonexempt status in 2009 from his win in Valdosta last year. In 25 starts, Kimbell’s best finish was a tie for 18th, as he fell from 37th as a 38-year-old rookie to 120th this year. Former Norcross resident Reid Edstrom played a limited rookie schedule in ’08, getting into 14 events. He made six cuts and had several solid showings, but with just $38,090 (118th) has lost his status on the tour. Like Kimbell, ex-Georgia Tech golfer Tripp Isenhour will also be playing off his past champion status in 2009. Isenhour has four wins on the Nationwide Tour and has spent five years on the PGA Tour, but suffered through a dismal 2008 that included his infamous bird-killing shot. Isenhour made just 6 of 22 cuts and was 122nd in earnings after finishing in the top 10 on the money list the last three season he played the Nationwide Tour full time. Georgia PGA member Sonny Skinner, a long-time Nationwide Tour player, made 10 starts in 2008, with his best finish a tie for 18th in Athens. Skinner would have led the tour in driving accuracy, but did not play enough rounds to be eligible for that honor. Savannah’s Tim O’Neal, who has placed among the top 60 money winners on the Nationwide Tour three times since 2001, managed just 13 starts and made only four cuts, with a tie for 24th his best finish. O’Neal, 35, was 100th in earnings in 2007, the cutoff for having non-exempt status, but was well outside the top 100 this year and will be without status on the tour for the first time since 2004.

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Skinner among Georgians to pass Q-school GC OF GEORGIA

By Mike Blum

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ore than two dozen golfers with Georgia ties competed in the second stage of PGA Tour qualifying recently, but only a handful managed to advance to the finals. Georgia PGA member Sonny Skinner, a long time tour player and teaching professional at River Pointe in Albany, led the small group of qualifiers into the finals, which are scheduled for Dec. 3-8 at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif. Joining Skinner were Snellville’s Jonathan Fricke, a rookie on the Nationwide Tour this year; 2008 Tar Heel and Hooters Tour winners David Robinson of Sandersville and Major Manning of Clarkesville; and recent U. of Tennessee golfer David Skinns, the ’08 Hooters Tour Player of the Year. Skinns, who came to Tennessee from England, is living in Marietta. They will join veteran tour pro Scott Dunlap of Duluth and Albany’s Josh Broadaway in the finals. Dunlap and Broadaway both finished in the top 40 on the Nationwide Tour money list and will be fully exempt for the ’09 Nationwide Tour if they fail to earn their PGA Tour cards. The top 25 and ties in the finals of Q school will earn PGA Tour playing privileges for ’09, with approximately 50 players earning exempt status on the Nationwide Tour. The remaining players who reach the finals will have non-exempt status on the ’09 Nationwide Tour. Fricke was 10th at Callaway Gardens with an 11-under 277 total. He was just outside the top 20 cut line for advancing to finals after 36 holes, but fired a 65 in the third round highlighted by a pair of eagles – one on the par-5 second and the other when he holed out from the fairway on the par-4 18th. His even par round of 72 the final day included 16 pars, as he advanced with two shots to spare. Fricke reached the finals of Q school last year, missing the PGA Tour by just three strokes. Robinson, who led the Tar Heel Tour in earnings, will be making his first appearance in the finals of qualifying. He won three tournaments this year and continued his excellent play, breaking par in all four rounds on the Mountain View course, including scores of 69 each of the first three days. Robinson shot a final round 71 with five of his 20 birdies for the week to tie for 11th at 278. It took a 9-under 279 total to advance

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© 2008 PGA OF AMERICA

Fricke, Robinson, Manning also advance to final stage

Sonny Skinner

Jonathan Fricke

to finals. A sizeable number of Georgians just missed advancing to finals from the Callaway Gardens qualifier. John Kimbell of LaFayette, who won the 2007 Nationwide Tour event in Valdosta, came up one shot short, as did former U. of Georgia golfer Richard Scott. Kimbell was tied for 11th after 54 holes with scores of 70-67-70, and was on the cut line of 9-under with four holes to play. But he bogeyed two of the holes coming in for a 73, offsetting a birdie at the 18th. Scott also shot a final round 73, missing by one stroke after a bogey at the 18th. All four players who tied for 17th at 9-under birdied one of their final holes to make it on the number. Scott and Kimbell were among four players to tie for 21st. Rookie Nationwide Tour player Chris Kirk of Woodstock and fellow ex-Bulldog Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., both missed by two at 281. Kirk shot 71 the final day after getting off to a strong start with birdies on two of his first three holes. But Kirk, who was 77th on the Nationwide money list and will have non-exempt status in ‘09, managed just one birdie the rest of the day. Kisner eagled the seventh hole, his 16th of the day, and needed a birdie on one of his last two holes to finish at 9-under, but bogeyed the par-3 eighth for a final round 70. A 74 the second day was his only score higher than 70. Tim Weinhart, a 4-time Georgia PGA Player of the Year, broke par in all four rounds and finished at 6-under 282 to tie for 33rd. Weinhart, an instructor at St. Marlo, shot 71 each of the first rounds before a closing 69 that included a 4-under 32 on his final nine. Weinhart reached the finals two years ago to earn limited Nationwide Tour status for 2007. Atlanta resident Billy Andrade had not

been to Q-school since 1988, but had to return to class this year after falling to 193rd on the PGA Tour money list. Andrade notched 10 birdies the first two rounds and was tied for 20th at 139, but shot 70-73 the last two days with just five birdies and missed by three strokes. Andrade, a 4-time winner on the PGA Tour, will be able to play a relatively extensive schedule next year with the help of past champion’s status and sponsor invitations. Former Norcross resident Reid Edstrom, who was 118th in earnings on the Nationwide Tour this year, missed by four shots at 283. Edstrom shot 68 in the first and third rounds and needed a 70 the final day, but settled for a 74 with just one birdie, that coming on the 17th hole. Roswell’s Justin Bolli was tied for 18th after 54 holes, but got off to a rocky start the final day and shot 76 to miss by five shots at 284. Bolli, who was 155th on the money list in his second stint on the PGA Tour, will return to the Nationwide Tour in ’09 for his fourth season. He won tournaments in 2004 and ’07 to finish in the top 10 in earnings and move up to the PGA Tour the following season. Also missing by five at 283 was Newnan’s Steve Gilley, who started fast (3-under after four holes the first day) and finished strong (a final round 66 including 5-under 31 on his final nine), but was 4-over par in between. Former PGA Tour winner Michael Clark of Dalton sandwiched a pair of 69s with a 75 the first round and a 74 the last for a 287 total. Cartersville’s Bryant Odom shot himself out of contention the first day with a 77, with a 67 the next round his only score of par or better. Manning was the lone Georgian to advance in Brooksville, Fla., with five others missing by three strokes or less. Manning, who concluded his career at Augusta State last year, won a tournament on the Hooters Tour in his first full season as a tour pro. He tied for fourth in his qualifier with at 11under 277, shooting in the 60s each of the first three rounds before a 71 the final day.

Augusta’s Jay Mundy shot 282 to miss by one stroke, falling out of the top 20 the final day despite shooting 1-under 71 the final round. Mundy tied for 22nd as did former Georgia golfer Erik Compton, who was among the top 20 after each of the first three rounds with scores of 70-70-69. But Compton closed with a 73 to fall just short of reaching the finals after undergoing a second heart transplant earlier this year. Missing by two strokes at 283 were veteran Nationwide Tour player Tim O’Neal of Savannah and second-year tour player Luke List of Ringgold. O’Neal, who struggled in limited Nationwide action this year, was tied for 50th after 54 holes, but was 4-under after seven holes the final day to get within range of the top 20. However, he played his last 11 holes in even par for a 68 to fall just short. List was 39th after 54 holes, but was 4under after 12 holes the final round to get to the cutoff line of 7-under. A late bogey on a par 5 knocked List out of chance to reach the finals. Others who failed to advance were former Georgia golfer David Denham of Tifton, who missed by three shots at 284; and Jay McLuen and Donald Carpenter, both of Athens. Skinner and Skinns both advanced at the Hombre in Panama City. Skinner, the 2006 Georgia PGA Player of the Year, competed on a limited basis on the Nationwide Tour this year after competing on either the PGA Tour or its secondary circuit from 19902005. Skinner tied for sixth at the Hombre at 8-under 276, posting scores of 68 the first and fourth rounds with a pair of 70s in between. Skinns, who won three times on the Hooters Tour this year, shot a final round 68 to move from 26th to 14th at 279. Tour veteran Paul Claxton of St. Simons Island will return to the Nationwide Tour for his 11th season after a fourth attempt at the PGA Tour proved unsuccessful. Claxton was a distant 218th on the PGA Tour money list, making just 8 of 23 cuts. He became the first player in Nationwide Tour history to eclipse $1 million in career earnings, and will look to match his play of 2007, when he finished 10th on the money list and captured his second career title. Claxton, a Vidalia native and former Georgia Bulldog, shot a final round 69 at the Hombre for a 1-under 283 total to finish two strokes outside the top 20. Also failing to advance was Mark Harrell of Hazlehurst, who was in contention after 36 holes before shooting a 79 in the third round. Harrell turned pro this year after completing his college golf career at Alabama. Former Georgia golfer David Miller missed by two shots in Texas, shooting 69 the final day for a 2-under 286 total.

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Odom, Sims, Gilley medalists in first stage Q-school events number of Georgians advanced past the first stage of qualifying for the 2009 PGA Tour, competing at courses in Florida, the Carolinas, Texas and California. Three Georgians shared medalist honors in their qualifiers, including 2008 Georgia Open champion Bryant Odom, a Cartersville native now living on St. Simons Island. Odom, who worked as an assistant professional for a few years at Ocean Forest and won the Georgia PGA’s Assistants’ Championship in 2007, posted a 14-under 266 total at Florence (S.C.) CC to finish in a 3-way tie for first. Odom shot either 66 or 67 in all four rounds. Also advancing from Florence were David Robinson of Sandersville, the top player on the 2008 Tar Heel Tour, and rookie pro Mark Harrell of Hazlehurst. Robinson tied for sixth at 272, with Harrell qualifying on the number at 278, tying for 22nd. The top 23 and ties advanced, with Harrell shooting 75-72 the final two rounds after opening with scores of 63 and 68. Former Georgia golfer Kevin Kisner tied for 10th at 274 to advance along with fellow Aiken, S.C., resident and co-medalist Stephen Poole and Scott Brown of North Augusta, S.C., who tied for sixth with Robinson. D.J. Fiese of Woodstock missed by just one stroke at 279 after being one shot under the cut line with eight holes to play. Others failing to advance were Brent Delahoussaye, Emmett Turner, Nick Cowper, Jack Croyle, Derek Oakey and Drew Bowen. Michael Sims, like Odom a St. Simons Island resident, tied for first in Kingwood, Tx., with an 11-under 277 total. Joe Deraney and Brad Heaven failed to advance, with Deraney missing by three shots. Sims tied for ninth in a late second stage qualifier in Texas to advance to finals. The third Georgian to share medalist honors was Newnan mini-tour player Steve Gilley, who shot 8-under 280 at Treyburn CC in Durham, N.C. David Skinns of Marietta tied for fourth at 282, with Augusta’s Jay Mundy and Savannah’s Tim O’Neal barely making it, tying for the 25th and last position at 291. O’Neal birdied the 18th and needed help to qualify from several players, including Mundy, who bogeyed his final hole. Among those who did not advance were Roberto Castro, Blake Adams and Will Claxton. Castro, an Alpharetta resident and recent Georgia Tech standout, shot 76 the

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final day for a 293 total to miss by two. He played his last seven holes in 3-over par. Adams, who played well on the Nationwide Tour this year, and Claxton, who shot 78 the fourth round, both missed by four. Adams will have limited status on the Nationwide Tour in ’09 after placing 94th on the money list. Don Carpenter of Athens and Major Manning of Clarkesville both had top-10 finishes in St. Augustine, Fla. Carpenter was seventh at 1-under 279 with Manning eighth at 280. Tifton native David Denham, a former Georgia golfer, tied for 22nd at 285 to advance on the number. Denham shot 65 the first day, but struggled to a 76 the final round. Also advancing were ex-Bulldog David Miller and Aiken’s Dane Burkhart. Tim Arnoult of Decatur missed by one stroke at 286, with rookie pro Jamie Bowen of Dawsonville missing by two, At Key Biscayne, Fla., Jay McLuen of Athens tied for 23rd to make it on the number at 296, along with former Georgia golfer Erik Compton, who shot 68 the final round. Compton recently underwent his second heart transplant, and was allowed the use of a golf cart by the PGA Tour. At Palm City, Fla., two Georgia Nationwide Tour players advanced and one just missed. Snellville’s Jonathan Fricke shot 5-under 279 to place 11th, with former Norcross resident Reid Edstrom 12th at 282 after a final round 66. Augusta’s Scott Parel was one shot under the cut line before bogeys at 15 and 16, and missed advancing by one stroke at 285. Parel was 81st on the money list this year, and will have partial status on the Nationwide Tour next year. Stuart Moore, Chris Holroyd and TPC Sugarloaf assistant pro John Duta also failed to advance. Ringgold’s Luke List, who did not make it past first stage in his first attempt last year, advanced this time from a qualifier in Santee, Cal. After shooting a 77 the first day, List followed with scores of 71-69-71 to tie for 11th at 288. Atlanta native Ned Michaels failed to advance. Recent Georgia Tech golfer Kevin Larsen shot 7-under 281 in Hollister, Cal., to tie for 25th, but only the top 24 and ties advanced. Former Georgia Bulldog Richard Scott tied for 12th with a 9-under 279 total to advance in McKinney, Tex. Josh Geary of St. Simons Island missed by one at 282. Also failing to advance were Ian Hessels of Duluth, rookie pro Thomas Hagler of Ringgold, and Jeff Bors of St. Simons. GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM

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Golf Talk Savannah’s Browne named Pro of Year Savannah Golf Club head PGA professional Toby Browne is the Georgia PGA’s Professional of the Year for 2008, with Josh Williams, Browne’s assistant at the club, the Section’s Assistant Professional of the Year. Browne and the other awards winners (below) will be honored at the annual PGA banquet Feb. 28 at Turner Field. 

Teacher of the Year: Cody Barden, White Columns. Junior Golf Leader: William Lewis, First Tee @ John A. White. Bill Strausbaugh Award: Ray Cutright, Idle Hour. Horton Smith Award: Phil Berry, Career Services Consultant, PGA of America, District 13. Growth of the Game Award: Chris Knoblauch, Golf Experience Co. Presidents Award: Bert Seagraves, Rome.

    

Merchandisers of the Year:  Private: Joseph Devaney, Athens CC.  Resort: Brannen Veal, Sea Island Golf Club.  Public: Daryl Batey, Charlie Yates Course.  Salesman of the Year: Russell Miller, Club Car.  Distinguished Service Award: Tom Cousins.

Jones Creek Golf Club

No Champions event in Atlanta in 2009 After already losing its annual PGA Tour event at TPC Sugarloaf, Atlanta will not have a Champions Tour tournament at the Duluth course in 2009. The Tour had hoped to add a Champions Tour event for next year at Sugarloaf, but with a struggling economy, the over-50 tour did not add a new tournament for 2009, as no new title sponsors could be secured. The Champions Tour will drop three tournaments from its 2008 schedule, with events in Hawaii, Boston and Long Island going out of business. The Champions Tour has just 26 events on its ’09 schedule after having as many as 39 in 2000. The LPGA Tour is down from 34 tournaments to 31, losing events in Hawaii, south Florida, Tulsa and Charleston, S.C., and adding one in Thailand. The LPGA has only three tournaments in the entire Southeast in 2009, one in central Florida and two in Alabama. The PGA Tour has yet to announce dates for the ’09 Tour Championship at East Lake, with the tournament set to be played either Sept. 17-20 or 24-27. The preference is for Sept. 24-27 to give players a week off after three weeks of FedExCup playoffs events, but there apparently are complications with NBC’s broadcast schedule. Other than the Tour Championship, all four Tour events in Georgia next year will be played in April, beginning with the Masters (9-12). The Nationwide Tour plays in Athens

April 16-19 and Valdosta April 23-26, with the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf in Savannah April 24-26.

Lake Arrowhead opens after major renovations

After undergoing extensive renovations, Lake Arrowhead’s Highlands Course in Waleska has re-opened. All but about five holes are completely new, with Atlanta area-based course architect D.J. DeVictor creating the new holes and re-working the handful of remaining originals. The new layout is longer and more difficult than the original design, with the back tees listed at just over 7,200 yards and the next set 6,764. The middle tees are just under 6,300 yards, with the senior tees 5,660 and the forward tees 4,700. DeVictor’s re-design features plenty of elevation changes and a number of carries over creeks, as well as some large greens with plenty of movement. For information, call 770-479-5500 or visit www.lakearrowheadga.com.

Unique golf gift captures memories Celebrate those special golf memories with the most unique golf gift available. CASEY JONES GOLF will commemorate any golf accomplishment with a handdrawn, personalized piece of artwork, handsomely framed and ready to display in the home or office. Whether it's a hole-in-one, a career best score, an age-shooter, a tournament win, or just a memorable day on a famous course, CASEY JONES GOLF can capture the moment with customized scoreboard art based on the scores and information you provide. For the past decade, artist and calligrapher Casey Jones, an Atlanta native and resident, has created scoreboard graphics for over 100 professional golf tournaments, including a dozen major championships. Casey has drawn several commemorative scoresheets for today's top tour pros, and now he's doing

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the same for both accomplished amateurs and everyday golfers. He uses a crisp and colorful style that emulates the exact look of his pro scoreboard. Visit his website at CASEYJONESGOLF.com to explore your options. These scoresheets also make a fantastic award for golf club

professionals to present to their tournament champions, or for the winners of corporate outings. Each one promises to be quite a conversation piece, which will undoubtedly give you the opportunity to reminisce and elaborate! Gift certificates are also available.

Augusta’s Jones Creek gets new ownership Augusta’s Jones Creek Golf Club, one of the state’s top daily fee layouts, has a new ownership group, the sixth since the club opened in the mid-1980s. There is a difference this time, as the new owners, who include two former Jones Creek club professionals, will also manage the course. Ray Mundy, an assistant when the club opened in 1985, is part of the ownership group, as is Augusta native Gregg Hemann, who served two previous stints as head professional at the club and has resumed that position. Mundy went on to be Director of Operations for Jones Creek and Cedar Creek in Aiken, S.C., before starting a golf management firm that assumed management of Jones Creek earlier this year. Jones Creek was designed by Rees Jones with Tom Fazio making some changes to the layout in 2003. It is believed to be the only course in the U.S. that lists both Jones and Fazio as designers. Robinson to Forest Hills: Long-time Highland Country Club head professional Bill Robinson is the new head professional/general manager at Augusta’s Forest Hills Golf Club, replacing Augusta native David Usry, who stepped down after a short stint at the club. In other Augusta area golf news: Former Forest Hills head pro Scott Allen has taken over as the head pro at Pointe South in Hephzibah… While area courses in Harlem and Warrenton have closed, the former Brushy Creek in Wrens has been purchased by a couple in Augusta, with the back nine recently opening for play. The front nine, which was damaged by a tornado, is scheduled to re-open next April. Ted Shurling, former superintendent at Forest Hills and Belle Meade, has headed up the effort to restore the course to playing condition. Todd Gilgrist was recently named the head professional at Governor’s Towne Club, moving over from Alpharetta Athletic Club’s East Course (formerly Crooked Creek).

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Chip Shots

The Georgia PGA won the annual Assistants’ Cup competition against Tennessee, dominating singles play to score a 14-10 victory at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course. After winning the opening 4-ball matches 4-2, the Georgia PGA scored only one point in the foursomes matches and trailed 7-5 going to singles. But the home team went 8-2-2 to win the match, improving its record to 8-5-1 in the competition between the two sections. Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods and Bill Murchison of Towne Lake Hills teamed for the Georgia PGA’s lone victory in alternate shot, and won their other two matches to finish with 3-0 marks. Chip Zimmerman of Cherokee CC, Eric Reeves of Healy Point and Doug Wade of the Heritage Club all went 2-1 for Georgia with singles victories. Other singles winners for Georgia were Jared Morton of Athens CC, Seth McCain of Jennings Mill and David Potts of Country Club of the South. Proceeds from the event, which was presented by Ahead, went to Atlanta’s Lighthouse Family Retreat. Pro-President: Teams from Berkeley Hills and The Frog were winners in the E-ZGO Pro-President, played at the Brickyard at Riverside in Macon. Shawn McKinnon and Hector Cora of Berkeley Hills were the gross division winners with a 69, one stroke ahead of Jared Reneau and J.D. Sessums of International City and Brandy Jones and Rob Cason of The Frog. Jones and Cason won the net division with a 64, two strokes ahead of Gregg Wolff and Dale Fordham of Willow Lake, and the team of Reneau and Sessums. The tournament was presented by Pin-Point GPS and Titleist. PGA Assistants’ Championship: Three Georgia PGA representatives made the cut in the recent PGA Assistants’ Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with Andy Blanton of Country Club of Columbus tying for 14th at even par 288. Seth McCain of Jennings Mill was second after an opening round 68, and tied for 23rd at 290. Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods finished with a 295 total, including a third round 69. McGladrey Team Championship: Savannah GC placed fourth in the McGladrey Team Championship, which was played at the Pinehurst Resort. After scores of 12-under each of the first two days on the #8 and #2 courses, the Savannah GC team was in second place,

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GSGA

Georgia PGA team wins Assistants’ Cup

Senior-Junior champs Ray Gentry (L) and Brian Dixon (R) with Mark McNair of Etonic

but settled for even par the final day on the #4 course to fall from two shots back after 36 holes to 10 behind the winning team. The Savannah team consisted of pro Josh Williams and club members Scott Weeks, Kevin Halligan and Toby Browne, Jr.

Gentry, Dixon win Senior-Junior title

Ray Gentry and Brian Dixon teamed up to win the Junior-Senior Championship at Little Ocmulgee’s Wallace Adams course, shooting a final round 61 for a 126 total and a 5-stroke victory. Gentry, the long time head pro at Wallace Adams, was part of the winning team for the third time, and benefited from an exceptional stretch of play the second day by Dixon, an instructor at Fox Creek. Following an eagle on the 11th hole, his sixth of the day after a shotgun start, Dixon ran off eight straight birdies, beginning on the 14th and ending at the 3rd. Tying for second at 131 were the teams of Eddy Young-Russell Smith and Danny Elkins-Bill Murchison.

Amateurs go 1-2-3 in Senior tournament

Rocky Costa of Alpharetta shot 69-68— 137 to win a Georgia PGA Senior Division tournament at Summit Chase, leading an amateur sweep of the top three spots. Jack Kearney of Peachtree City was second at 140 and Donald Crump of Atlanta took third at 141. West Pines head professional Mike Schlueter was low pro and fourth overall at 144, followed by amateur Mel Mendenhall of Marietta at 147. Amateurs Don Marsh of Alpharetta and Karl Simon of Lawrenceville tied for third at 148 along

with Brookfield CC head professional Carlen Webb, who shared the opening round lead with Costa.

Clark, Marsh capture Senior 4-Ball event

Larry Clark of Kingsland and Don Marsh of Alpharetta won the GSGA Senior 4-Ball title for the second time, finishing three strokes ahead of defending champions Spencer Sappington of Alpharetta and Bill Ploeger of Columbus, who have both won the event four times, three as partners. Clark and Marsh finished with a 19under 197 total at the Hampton Club on St. Simons Island, with Sappington and Ploeger second at 201. Clark and Marsh shot 62 the second day to take a threestroke lead after 54 holes, with Sappington and Ploeger pulling even after 11 holes the final round. But Clark scored a hole-in-one on Hampton Club’s short 12th and he added four more birdies down the stretch as he and Marsh pulled away, shooting 66 the final round to a 67 by Sappington and Ploeger. While the championship flight played at the Hampton Club, the rest of the field was divided into four flights and played at Sanctuary Cove in nearby Waverly. Charlie Busbee of McDonough and Tom Toombs of Perry were the first flight winners by five strokes with a 202 total.

Atlanta Athletic Club wins GSGA team title

A team from Atlanta Athletic Club won the GSGA Team Championship at the Georgia Club, finishing with a 367 total to edge teams from Rivermont and Laurel Springs by three strokes.

The Atlanta AC team shot 142 the first day to trail Cartersville CC by seven strokes, with the score the total of two two-man best ball results. Jeff Koontz and Doug Green teamed for a 68 the first day, with Hal Hobgood and West Strieb combining for a 74. The team posted a 225 total in singles the next day, the low score by three strokes, with the low three individual scores counting. All four Atlanta AC golfers shot between 74 and 76, with Koontz low with a 74. DeWitt Weaver III led Laurel Springs to its tie for second with a 69 in a singles. Pinetree took fourth at 371, with Mark Strickland posting a 72 after teaming with Glenn Kavanaugh for a 68. Athens CC, which was second after the first day at 137, tied for fifth at 372 with Dalton CC and the host Georgia Club team. David Noll of Dalton CC shot a 69 in singles after teaming for a 68 in best ball, with Jeremy Britt and Drew Czuchry of the Georgia Club pairing for a 68 and shooting 73 and 74 in singles. After posting a 135 score in best ball, Cartersville’s four players all shot between 78 and 81 individually, with the team tying for eighth at 373.

Bulldogs end Fall with win in Orlando

The Georgia golf team wrapped up its Fall schedule with its second win in four tournaments, taking the Isleworth Invitational for the fourth time in five years. Georgia finished with an 867 total, 17 strokes ahead of runner-up Alabama. Macon’s Russell Henley was medalist at 2-under 214, the fourth time a Bulldog has earned individual honors in the tournament. Henley’s second round 67 led Georgia to an 11-under 277 total in the second round, keying the Bulldog’s easy victory. Georgia’s Hudson Swafford was fifth at 216, with former Isleworth medalists Brian Harman of Savannah 14th at 220 and Thomasville’s Harris English 18th at 222. Swafford and Harman shot 68s in Georgia’s second round 277. The Bulldogs won their previous tournament at Macon’s Brickyard at Riverside, and finished the Fall ranked first in the country, with Swafford 11th in the individual rankings and Henley 16th. Harman and English were both among the top 50. Georgia Tech was sixth at Isleworth with an 895 total. Cameron Tringale was the Yellow Jackets’ top finisher for the fourth straight Fall tournament, tying for 10th. Tringale ended up the Fall ranked 10th nationally, with Tech 10th in the team standings. FA L L 2 0 0 8

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Golf FORE Juniors Garretson’s 69 earns Wilmington Island win Michael Garretson of Acworth fired a 2-under 69 to give him a 141 total and the overall boys title in a Georgia PGA Junior Tour event at Wilmington Island Club in Savannah. Garretson also won his age group by a whopping 14 strokes, with Caleb Morris of Metter second at 155 and David Sullivan of Woodstock third at 156. Scott Wolfes of St. Simons Island was second overall at 142, winning the 16-18 age group by seven strokes over Joel Sawyer of Elberton. Tyler Steptoe of Richmond Hill and Drew Czuchry of Auburn were third at 155. Buster Bruton of Dallas was the boys 12-13 winner with a 151 total, two strokes ahead of Tyler Young of Kennesaw. Young shot a 73 in the first round to lead Bruton by seven strokes, with Bruton coming back with a final round 71 to win the division. Emily Kurey of Alpharetta, competing in the 12-14 division, was the girls overall winner at 162. Kimberly Graff of Lilburn was first in the 15-18 age group and second overall at 163, followed by Lindsey Gipson of Woodstock at 166.

Drew Czuchry, Georgia Club Boys Champ

Sloan Shanahan, Georgia Club Girls Champ

Czuchry takes playoff in Georgia Club event

Drew Czuchry was the boys 16-18 and overall winner at the Georgia Club in Statham, defeating Grant Cagle of Gainesville in a playoff. Both finished with 147 totals, with Czuchry shooting a final round 71 to make up two strokes on Cagle. Ryan Trocchio of Norcross and Dylan Lyons of Evans tied for third at 148. Will McFarlin of Alpharetta was the boys 14-15 winner at 149, six strokes ahead of Brice Eaton of Jasper. Aaron George of Dahlonega was third at 156. Buster Bruton scored his second straight Georgia PGA Junior Tour win in the boys 12-13 division, posting scores of 71-77—148. Ben Holm of Alpharetta was second at 155, with Tyler Young third at 158. Sloan Shanahan of Suwanee was the girls 12-14 and overall winner at 162, taking the overall title in a playoff over Lauren Court of Lawrenceville, the 15-18 winner. Kimberly Graff was second in 1518 at 164 and Taylor Blair of Roswell third at 168. Dayana Marquez of Atlanta was second in 12-14 at 166. The Georgia PGA Junior Tour’s 2009 season opens for registration in midDecember. The first event is Feb. 14-15 at Forest Heights in Statesboro.

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Buster Bruton

Bruton, Sawyer take first at Valdosta CC Joel Sawyer and Buster Bruton were among the Georgia PGA Junior Tour winners at Valdosta Country, with Bruton scoring his third straight win in boys 12-13. Bruton shot 75-76—151 to finish four strokes ahead of Albany’s Joshua Crews. Sawyer was the boys 16-18 and overall winner, shooting a second round 69 for a 147 total. Eric Quinn of Norcross was second at 150, with Ben Collier of Marietta and Nate Gahman of Leesburg third in the 16-18 division at 155. David Sullivan shot 75-76—151 to win boys 14-15 by seven strokes over Josh Klipstein of Norcross. Girls winners were Dona Kioseff of Valdosta with a 165 total in the 15-18 division, and Dayana Martinez (171) in 12-14.

Kimberly Graff

Fox, Burger capture SJGT wins in Albany Bryan Fox of Roswell and Emilie Burger of Hoschton were the overall winners in a Southeastern Junior Golf Tour event at Doublegate CC in Albany. Fox was the boys 16-18 winner with scores of 71-72— 143, with Tyler Erickson of Bonaire third in the age group at 148. Burger shot 75-74—149 to win the girls 15-19 division by two strokes over Kathryn Fowler of Americus. Carrie Metz of Carnesville was third at 152. Mary Ellen Sherman of St. Simons Island was the girls 12-14 winner. Jimmy Beck of Columbus was the boys 14-15 winner by one stroke over Sam Straka of Valdosta, posting scores of 72 and 75 for a 147 total. Parker Derby of Columbus shot 77-75—152 to win boys

Recent Georgia PGA Junior Tour winner Jimmy Beck won a Southeastern Junior Tour event at Albany’s Doublegate Country Club

12-13 by a 13-stroke margin. In Montgomery, Sanders Park of Alpharetta posted a 150 total to win the boys 14-15 and overall title. Justin Cho of Norcross shot a second round 72 for a 151 total to finish first in 16-19, one stroke ahead of Max Von Dresser of Alpharetta. Girls winners were Yugene Lee of Athens in the 15-19 division (155) and Amira Alexander of Alpharetta in 12-14 (166). In Fort Payne, Al., Blaine Woodruff of Acworth won the boys 14-15 division by eight strokes with scores of 72-69—141, and also was first among all boys in the event. Joe Philaphet of Riverdale was second in boys 12-13 at 163, and Kimberly Graff was third in girls 15-19 at 162. In Dothan, Al., Ian Phillips of Acworth was second in boys 16-19 at 147, one stroke behind the winner. Michael Motz of Milton was third at 148. Parker Derby was second in boys 12-13 at 166. American Junior Golf Association: In the PING Invitational at Stillwater, Okla., Stacey Kim of Columbus tied for fifth in the girls division at 230 in the 54-hole event. Franco Castro of Alpharetta tied for 16th at 234 in the boys division. The final two rounds of an AJGA event in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., were rained out, with several Georgians in position for top finishes after strong first round showings. Oliver Schniederjans of Powder Springs opened with a 70 to tie for second, two strokes behind the winner. Billy Kennerly of Alpharetta shot 71 to tie for sixth, and Kevin Lee of Dacula tied for 14th with a 73. Amira Alexander tied for ninth in the girls division with a 77.

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Golf FORE Women

Megan Holland a Bright Star in Golf Business By Jackie Cannizzo Women’s Editor PGA Professional Country Club of Roswell Megan Holland believes she has a dream job in many ways. She is her own boss as the President of Pinnacle International Management and someone who calls Jack Nicklaus, Mike Ditka, and Paul Krause her friends. She travels to the Super Bowl every year and as busy as she is, gets to spend quality time with her kids. Megan is a Georgia girl who has been involved in the game of golf since graduating from the University of Georgia in 1985. She has never been afraid to try something

different or dare to fail. She wanted to get in the golf business because of her love for the game, so she went to work for the Killearn Golf Company and helped open Eagle’s Landing Country Club. Megan also helped with a few independent projects before being hired by White Columns as the General Manager. From there she was hired by the Golden Bear Club to open up Laurel Springs with the watchful eye of Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus was so impressed with Megan that he urged her to come on board with the famed Landmark Development Company which is noted for courses like PGA West, LaQuinta and Kiawah. She became the National Marketing Director for Landmark

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Development and helped market and opened several of their top properties. Megan needed to take a break from the rigors of work with Landmark for successful surgery on her neck, but that ended her playing career. She started her own business with knowledge learned from Landmark, with whom she retains a relationship. She started Pinnacle in 2001 as a consulting company which has turned into management of events, marketing and training programs for club General Managers and membership directors. Lately Megan has been focusing on the many events that she is involved in presenting like the Pro Football Hall of Fame golf event that coincides with the 2009 Super Bowl. When Megan was the General Manager at White Columns, she hired a young assistant named Blair Krause. Blair’s father is NFL Hall of Famer, Paul Krause. It was through her relationship with Blair that she met Paul who asked her to help him start the Hall of Fame event. When asked of Megan’s talents, the elder Krause said,“Megan is that once in a lifetime business associate and friend that will never let you down. She in her own right deserves recognition for always making my golf tournaments and events extraordinary and unforgettable. For that, I and the many charitable organizations I support are forever grateful.” Megan also received accolades from NFL great Mike Ditka when she assisted him in his Gridiron Great events at last’s year Super Bowl in Arizona, “Meg was a lifesaver” said Ditka. The consensus on the events and golf events that Holland has hosted with NFL greats and around the Super Bowl is that they are different than the usual events. She focuses on all parties involved having the most memorable experience from start to finish. She figured out that the NFL greats love to talk about the games they have played in and love to share their stories. So her events are like hanging out in someone’s backyard, with the food and beverages spread out so people mingle instead of sitting at banquet tables. She finds the players will gather and give the sponsors more attention when they feel comfortable in the environment they talk even more. She gets the players to sign footballs and gives them away to sponsors. They love it, so of course they are eager to sign up for another event. “Every moment of the experience is what I want the players, sponsors and guests to

Megan Holland

enjoy,” Megan says.“I am not afraid to try different angles to get the people involved to feel that they got their monies worth and walk away happy.” Megan has a passion for golf, sports and making people happy with enjoyable experiences. She is all about the win/win philosophy. If you are interested in contacting Megan, email her at: [email protected].

Hurst Captures Futures’ Event

Chateau Elan hosted the year end invitational only event October 17-19, which boasted the Futures Tour’s best field and richest purse. Vicky Hurst, the tour’s 18year-old phenom, posted her 5th victory of the season here and ensured she would receive the right to compete on the LPGA tour in 2009, finishing as the leading money winner. The event saw picture perfect weather and spectators were treated to some exceptional golf. Former Futures Tour player and Georgia PGA Professional Lisa Chirichetti made the event part of her GSGA/LPGA girls’ golf club schedule and took several of her girls to watch. “It was awesome for my girls to be able to see these women play up close and personal. The tour has changed a lot since I played. There’s more depth to the tour now. It was also cool for my girls to be able to recognize several players from the “Big Break” show on the Golf Channel.” Chirichetti added that the girls will be watching when the players from the Futures start to play the LPGA. Amateur Anna Rogers from Hartwell had the best finish of the Georgia girls with a tie for 64th. FA L L 2 0 0 8

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Course Reviews The Georgia Club (Semi-Private) 1050 Chancellors Drive, Statham 770-725-8100; www.thegeorgiaclub.com STAFF: Mike O’Malley is the PGA Golf Professional; Dennis Echols is the Superintendent. PAR/YARDAGE: The Georgia Club is a 27-hole layout with the Red and Black nines playing to a par of 36 and the Silver nine a par 35. Each nine has four sets of tees. Yardages are: Red – 3,598 yards (Black tees); 3,297 (Silver); 3,075 (White); 2,585 (Red). Black – 3,685 (Black); 3,372 (Silver); 3,174 (White); 2,567 (Red). Silver – 3,428 (Black); 3,194 (Silver); 2,964 (White); 2,403 (Red). COURSE RATING/SLOPE: The average for the three combinations (Red/Black, Red/Silver. Black/Silver) are: 73.4/131 (Black); 71.6/128 (Silver); 69.4/124 (White); 69.4/114 (Red). ABOUT THE COURSE: Since it opened in 2001, the outstanding Denis Griffiths-designed layout has taken its place among the state’s top daily fee courses, with nine holes added in 2006. Griffiths incorporated the new holes into one of the two existing nines, with the original back nine (Silver) remaining intact. The new holes, which are part of the Red and Black nines, gave the course some added length, with the nine new holes a hefty 3,775 yards from the tips and 3,450 from the next set of tees. The new holes work well with the originals, with the overall design among the best on Griffiths’growing list of Georgia courses (St. Marlo, Brasstown Valley, Chateau Elan, Chestatee, RiverPines, Georgia National, Chicopee Woods, Crystal Lake among them). Seven holes on the Silver nine are originals, with the new fifth hole recently being renovated with the removal of some trees and addition of several fairway bunkers. Most of the new holes are part of the Black nine, which also includes the 8th and 9th from the original Red nine. For the most part, the course is very generous off the tee, but with a sizeable number of dogleg holes, positioning is vital to keep some of the longer holes from playing even longer than they are. Water is in play on a modest number of holes, among them a pair of par 3s on the Black nine that play in opposite directions around a pond. For the most part, the bunkers are more of a factor than the water, producing some decisions from the tee and on lay-up shots, as well as requiring precision to reach some pin positions on the typically large, moderately undulating greens. As usual, Griffiths’ layout includes a diverse mix of some holes, with several very strong par 4s, an interesting group of par 3s and enough scoring opportunities to offset the more daunting challenges. Conditions are consistently first rate, and the location just off Georgia 316 makes it easily accessible to metro Atlanta as well as Athens.

Windermere (Private) 5000 Davis Love Drive, Cumming 678-513-1000; www.canongategolf.com

STAFF: Ray Garbiras is the PGA Golf Professional; Tommy Hewitt is the Superintendent. PAR/YARDAGE: Windermere plays to a par 71 with four sets of tees: Black (6,805 yards); Blue (6,283); White (5,532) and Red (4,635). COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 73.3/139 (Black); 70.3/134 (Blue); 67.5/121 (White); 68.0/118 (Red).

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ABOUT THE COURSE: One of the most popular Atlanta area daily fee courses from the day it opened in 2000, the course went private several years ago as part of the expansion of the Canongate family of courses. Among the earliest courses from Davis Love’s design group, Windermere was carved out of some rugged terrain that resulted in several elevation changes of significance and only a handful of holes not impacted by the rolling terrain. With a handful of exceptions, length is not a vital necessity, and Love has provided an ample amount of fairway width on just about every hole. Some well-placed fairway bunkers are in play here and there, and longer hitters will want to leave the driver in the bag on several holes with sharp doglegs and serious trouble. The high slope rating is mostly a product of the number of hazards in play, as well as some large, undulating greens that will result in plenty of chances for three-putts. Love deftly mixes demanding holes with a number of scoring opportunities, tempting longer hitters to take a few risks in order to reap rewards. The risks, however, are considerable, especially on the back nine, where the majority of the holes can inflict damage to your scorecard if you miss a shot in the wrong place. Three of the par 5s fall into the risk/reward category, although the risk on the downhill third comes on the tee shot, one of the few on the opening nine that demands accuracy. Things change on the back nine, where most of the trouble is found and the decisions regarding club selection and positioning from the tee are crucial. The large, rolling greens, most of which are well guarded by sand, water or both, don’t make things any easier when it comes to chipping and putting. But if you can avoid the obvious trouble spots, Windermere will yield decent scores, although they won’t come easily. GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM

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