april 2015 fore georgia golf magazine

the week, along with a number of charityand company events.

Andy Schival, one of Dogwood’sowners and the club’s general manager,says allowing the public to play thecourse during the week “keeps our duesstructure low,” with Dogwood ranking atthe top of the list of the metro area’s mostaffordable clubs.

“We have a lot of perks for the mem-bers,” says Schival, mostly regardingsavings in the pro shop and diningfacility. The perks, however, do notinclude much in the way of non-golfamenities, as Dogwood is strictly a golfclub, with no pool or tennis courts.

“We’re a golf club, not a countryclub,” Schival says, describing his mem-bership as “middle income.”

Even without country club amenities,Dogwood is “family-oriented,” saysSchival, with the club hosting matchesfor a number of local high school golfprograms.

During the week at Dogwood, you’relikely to come across “a lot of seniors andpeople that don’t want to play on theweekend,” Schival points out. Some ofthe members also get out at times during

the week, and with the club’s member-ship down a bit from the high of thepre-2008 financial troubles, Schival saysthe weekend tee sheets “are not over-crowded.”

The affordable dues structure and theaddition of the new greens will helpDogwood return its membership num-bers to pre-2008 levels, with theenjoyable nature of the course layout and

CrosswordPuzzlePage 30

accommodatingatmosphere surrounding the club alsohelping in that regard, along with itsaccessible location.

Dogwood is located between the com-munities of Austell and Powder Springs,south of Marietta and west of Smyrna.Douglasville is also nearby, and the

B y M i k e B l u m

t Dogwood Golf Club insouthwest Cobb County,change sometimes occurs ata leisurely pace.

Dogwood opened for play in 1968with nine holes and added a secondnine several years later. The originalPenncross bent grass greens lastedmore than 45 years before finally beingreplaced last year, with the club goingto mini-verde Bermuda, a more cli-mate appropriate surface that matchesor exceeds the quality of bent grass.

The change has elevated the status ofone of the Atlanta area’s more uniquegolf facilities, even though the clubremains little known in metro area golfcircles outside its surrounding area.

Dogwood’s distinction is its status asboth a private club and a daily feecourse. Dogwood is open to publicplay Monday through Thursday, butplay is limited to members and theirguests Friday through Sunday.

The club’s members play primarilyon weekends, allowing the course toaccommodate daily fee players during [ See Dogwood, page 6 ]

GEORGIAPGA.COM FOREGEORGIA.COM APRIL 2015

««

AUnique Cobb club both public and private

New greens elevate Dogwood’s status

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students on the course for their nextlesson! Not only will it help themon the golf course, but you willalso get a first-hand look at theirentire game – do they need helpwith pitching, chipping, putting?What about their course manage-ment? Do they really know howfar they hit their clubs? Are they

giving themselves a chance to score? Lesson frequency is a huge deal. Lesser

skilled, inexperienced players generallyneed more lessons in a shorter time frame,maybe once a week. More advancedplayers may only need an occasionalcheckup. Tell your students what they need.

I strongly encourage my students toengage in a series of lessons. A regular, con-sistent program of instruction will make ahuge difference with their results. Player’swho take the occasional, sporadic lesson oronly seek help when things are goingbadly, get mixed results at best. A regularlyscheduled lesson – weekly, bi weekly, evenmonthly, will get the best results.

I totally understand that not everyonehas the ability to commit significant time totheir golf game – life gets in the way. Ifsomeone just wants to take 1-2 lessons andtheir time is limited, that’s Ok – you can dosome good, but make sure they under-stand reasonable expectations given thatscenario.

Student ExpectationsStudents want and expect quick resultsand sometimes it can happen. We all wantquick results, but the reality is that it willgenerally take some time for students totruly own new skills and swing changes.

Learning new skills and taking those

4 F O R E G E O R G I A . C O M

skills on the course is a process that takespractice and time – tell your students thatwhen they go on the course, that early inthis process, they will likely have mixedresults. If your students’ expectationsexceed reality (what’s reasonable), theymay not have much fun and stop takinglessons and/or stop playing altogether.

Students must be realistic! As teachers, don’t you just love it whenyou’re giving a 30 handicap player a fullswing lesson and they say, “I just want tohit my driver about 250 in the fairway 7-8times out of 10” HUH??? That’s your cue asan instructor to tell them it’s not likely tohappen soon. We owe it to them to tell them the truth - if they expect this tohappen in the near future they will becomefrustrated. Too often, in the students’ mind,it falls back on the instructor and theybegin to doubt and trust the lessonprocess.

Students that are not getting resultsright away, it doesn’t mean that what you’re working on is wrong – you justhaven’t learned the skill yet. Learning newskills doesn’t happen overnight. Stick withwhat you’re working on long enough andpractice.

Instructors who help their studentsunderstand realistic expectations, we willretain more students who remain com-mitted longer to taking lessons andachieving real improvement, and they’llhave more fun.

Golf Instructors – Go beyond traditionalswing lessons and take your students onthe course. Analyze their short game. Getyour students into a regular program ofongoing instruction and results will follow.

Students – You must have realistic expec-tations and commit to a process oflearning. You must practice at least someand have patience as you go. You’ll havemore fun and get better results.

Cutts Benedict owns and operates theAthens Area Junior Golf Tour and OconeeJunior Golf League. Cutts also coordi-nates junior instruction programs andteaches adult clinics and private lessonsat the Oconee Golf Academy at LaneCreek Golf Club near Athens. You canreach Benedict at 706-255-5591 or at [email protected].

3021 Kalah Place, Marietta, GA 30067770-933-04GA / 770-953-6638 fax

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Jason McCullough / Kristen ZeckJUNIOR/COLLEGE GOLF NEWS COORDINATOR

Samantha StoneM A R K E T I N G & A D V E R T I S I N G

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[email protected] R T D I R E C T O R Lori Ors

C R E AT I V E S E R V I C E S Catalina MontanaC O N T R I B U T O R S

Cutts Benedict • Steve DinbergRob Matre • Ed C. Thompson

G E O R G I A S E C T I O N , P G A O F A M E R I C A O F F I C E R S

PresidentMark Mongell, PGA / [email protected]

Vice PresidentBrian Albertson, PGA / [email protected]

SecretaryJohn Godwin, PGA / [email protected]

Honorary PresidentBrian Stubbs, PGA / [email protected]

C H A P T E R P R E S I D E N T S

Central Chapter PresidentWinston Trively, PGA / [email protected]

East Chapter PresidentBrandon Youmans / [email protected]

North Chapter PresidentShawn Koch, PGA / [email protected]

AT- L A R G E D I R E C T O R S

Billy Jack, PGA / [email protected] O’Dell, PGA / [email protected]

Brandon Stooksbury, PGA / [email protected] Lammi, PGA / [email protected]

Brian Conley, PGA / [email protected] Evans, PGA / [email protected]

Todd Ormsby, PGA / [email protected]

S E N I O R D I V I S I O N

PresidentMike Schlueter, PGA / [email protected]

A S S I S TA N T S ’ D I V I S I O NPresident

Will Bartram, PGA / [email protected]

S E C T I O N S TA F F

Executive Director Mike PaullAssistant Executive Director/

Junior Golf Director Scott GordonTournament Director Pat Day, PGAOperations Manager Eric Wagner

Section Assistant Carrie Ann Byrne

FOREGeorgia is produced by Golf Media, Inc.Copyright ©2014 with all rights reserved.Reproduction or use, without permission,

of editorial or graphic content is prohibited.Georgia PGA website: www.georgiapga.com.FORE Georgia website: www.foregeorgia.com

Instruction Fore You

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Fore

cast

FEATURES:

Golf Instruction – it’s more about how to give and take By Cutts BenedictPGA InstructorLane Creek Golf Club

Golf Instructors - Have youever become a little frus-trated with students whocome to you for help, yougive them one or two les-sons, they don’t improve much (if at all) andyou never see them again – of course youhave, anyone who teaches golf has experi-enced this to some degree.

Students - Have you ever decided to getsome help with your game/swing, and afterone or two lessons, you become frustratedwith the results and decide that lessons arejust not for you.

So, what is going on here? Whatcauses this to happen? Is it poorinstruction? Are students not coordi-nated and unable to perform?This could be the case on rare occasions –but I’m betting that more often than not,the underlying problem is the traditionalway that golf instruction has been adminis-tered, combined with our students’expectations are completely unrealistic.

As instructors, we need to make certainthat students understand that improvingtheir game will very likely take more than alesson or two and that it will require somepractice.

Learning new skills doesn’t happeninstantly – tell your students that makingchanges will take some time! Also, takingswing changes from the practice tee to thegolf course is not easy (ask Tiger). We needto help our students transfer new skillsfrom the range to the course – take your

DEPARTMENTS:

Gwinnett Champions preview . . . . 8

Nelson, Doyle, Mason . . . . . . . . . . 10

Billy Andrade feature . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Masters analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Keppler and son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Match Play preview . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Ga. Senior Open preview. . . . . . . . 20

Mini-tour changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

College roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Golf FORE Juniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Chip shots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

P R E S E N T E D BY


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suburbs of east Cobb and north Fultonare within easy driving distance viaBarrett Parkway or Georgia 120 andPowder Springs Rd.

With many area courses either corpo-rate or government-owned, Dogwood isone of an increasingly rare number ofAtlanta courses that is locally owned andoperated, which helps give it some of itsdown-home charm.

Prior to the replacing of the greens,the last major projects at Dogwood weresome course upgrades in the 1990s andthe addition of new tee boxes in themid-to-late 2000s that added somelength to a course that is on the shortside by modern standards, the front nineat least.

In recent years, Schival says the greenshad become the main source of concern,but with the new surfaces and some ren-ovation work to the greens complexes byAtlanta area golf course architect BillBergin “our players are more satisfied.Now we have the combination” ofquality greens and quality fairways.

Even when the greens may not havebeen rolling their smoothest, Dogwoodhas been known for its lush fairways, andnow the course has putting surfaces tomatch its overall condition. Bergin hashandled renovations at Sky Valley, WestPines and most notably Dunwoody andPinetree Country Clubs in Georgia, aswell as Chattanooga G&CC and MaggieValley CC just outside the state.

Bergin softened a few of the greens abit and also added some contour toothers. The back to front slope found onmany of the greens is not quite as preva-

lent as it was previously, but theputting surfaces still provide a reason-able test.

Although it is longer than it used tobe, Dogwood measures a modest 6,500yards from the blue tees and 6,060 fromthe whites. The senior tees are a friendly5,390 with the forward tees 5,075. Thecourse is rated at 71.2/126 (blue),69.3/122 (white) and 66.4/115 (green),with the forward tees 69.7/119 forwomen.

Among the more prominent charac-teristics of Dogwood is the considerabledisparity in par, yardage and difficultybetween the two nines. Both the originaland second nines have holes that are nowpart of both sides, which accounts for thescorecard par of 37-35. Although thefront nine has three par 5s and the backnine just one, the back nine is a fewyards longer than the front, althoughthat may change with a minor additionin length to the second hole.

The front nine offers more than itsshare of scoring opportunities, with atrio of mostly friendly par 5s and severalpar 4s of modest length. The back ninestarts with the shortest par 4 on thecourse, but the degree of difficulty picksup once you reach the 11th tee and con-tinues until you clear the creek thatcrosses the fairway and impacts the teeshot on the 18th hole.

Dogwood is a relatively narrow tree-lined layout, although there are severalholes with parallel fairways that willallow some considerable inaccuracy offthe tee. That is the exception more than

the rule, however, and the first order ofbusiness at Dogwood is to keep it in thefairway on the holes where waywarddrives will be penalized.

Most of the par 4s and 5s on theopening nine turn slightly in one direc-tion or the other, with positioning offthe tee key to set up unimpededapproach shots, as a few of the holes fea-ture trees along the edges of fairwaysthat can impact play.

The first hole is an example of that,but at less than 350 yards from theback tees with no sand in play, it offersthe chance to get your round startedsuccessfully with a little accuracy.

The first five par 4s (including theshort but tight 10th) are 375 yards orshorter from the tips, with the threepar 5s on the front nine also on theshort-to-medium side. There is littlewater in play on the nine, with a creekcrossing the fairway on the par-5second that is mostly out of play andthe same creek fronting the green onthe par-3 third.

The second is one of just a few holes atDogwood with a front bunker that hasto be carried to reach the putting sur-face, with the greens complexes on thegentle side. Some of the greens are min-imally elevated, but the general absenceof bunkers and mostly friendly bor-dering terrain does not put a great dealof pressure on the short game.

The front nine includes two moreshort-ish par 4s, with the tee shot on thefourth having to thread its way througha narrow chute, while the eighth featuresa fairly pronounced dogleg left. The“longest” of the 4s on the opening nineis the seventh (375), which is moderatelynarrow with thick trees and sand downthe right side and sports a relativelysmall target.

Tree lines are very much in play onholes five and nine, the longest of the par5s in the 520-to-525 range. Trees at the

corner of the dogleg right ninth can be aconcern, but they are not thick enoughto prevent recovery shots.

The sixth is the shortest of the par 3s,and at just 156 from an elevated backtee, does not pose much of a threat.

The back nine starts with a short (306from the blues) par 4, but with thedriving range and OB tight to the rightand a road within reach on the left, driveris not needed and may not be advisablefrom the tee. Bunkers front a small greenand put a little pressure on the shortapproach, which will be one of the lastshort shots you’ll face on the nine.

The 11th (372) is the next shortest par4 coming in, but the yardage is decep-tive. With water surrounding most ofthe fairway and trees tight to the left, anaccurate lay-up is required, leaving alengthy, slightly uphill approach to oneof the larger greens on the course.

Three of the other four par 4s on thenine measure 420, 425 and 430 from theback tees, with water fronting two of thethree greens, most notably on thedaunting 15th. A creek well short of thegreen on 13 is not as great a concern, butthe narrowness tee to green is. The 14this not as long (385), but the uphillnature of the second shot makes it one ofthe tougher holes on a nine that alsoincludes a pair of par 3s measuring at orjust over 200 yards from the tips.

Dogwood closes with a par 5 that issimilar to the ninth and features a creekbisecting the fairway that is in play offthe tee and requires a decision whetherto attempt to carry it. A layup off the teeand a decent second will still leave you areasonable third shot, with the green oneof the few protected by front bunkers.

With its non-developed, compact set-ting, Dogwood is also a friendly courseto walk, and its grill offers a full break-fast menu and some of the best hot dogs,hamburgers and club sandwiches you’llcome across at a golf course facility.

Dogwood’s status uniquein metro area [ Continued from the cover ]

For information on Dogwood, call 770-941-2202 or visit

www.dogwoodgolf.org

An aerial shot of Dogwood’s course

http://www.dogwoodgolfclub.com/


http://judsongolf.com/

Miguel Jimenez

B y M i k e B l u m

uring the 1980s and ‘90s,European golfers foundGeorgia to be a very wel-coming destination for one

week in early April. During that 20-year span, six of

Europe’s best tour pros won a combined11 Masters titles. But in the 15 yearssince, no European has won in Augusta.

After an absence of a dozen years, theChampions Tour returned to the Atlantaarea in 2013, and the small Europeancontingent who have continued their procareers in the U.S. seem to have trans-ferred their affinity for Augusta Nationalin the 1980s and ‘90s to TPC Sugarloafin Duluth in the current decade.

The Greater Gwinnett Championshiphas been part of the Champions Tour forjust two years, and already has twoEuropean champions. Germany’sBernhard Langer, who won theMasters in both the 1980s and ‘90s, wonthe inaugural event at Sugarloaf in 2013.Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, an occa-sional contender in Augusta but never awinner, made a successful ChampionsTour debut last year, winning theGwinnett event a week after finishingfourth at the age of 50 in the Masters.

Langer and Jimenez will be among theplayers who will be in the field for thismonth’s Greater GwinnettChampionship, which will be played the

week of April 13-19. The tournament, which is presented

by Atlanta-based Mitsubishi ElectricCooling and Heating, begins with theMatt Ryan Celebrity Pro-Am Classic onthe Monday after the Masters, with freeadmission to the public. The State BankPro-Am is scheduled for Wednesday andThursday of tournament week, with the54-hole Greater GwinnettChampionship teeing off Friday and con-cluding Sunday.

Spectators can park for free at theGwinnett Arena, with shuttle buses run-ning continuously between there and thegrounds at Sugarloaf. Ticket informationis available through the tournament website (www.GreaterGwinnettChampionship.com) or by calling the tournamentoffice at 770-232-7872.

Golf Channel will havelive coverage of allthree rounds, withFriday’s broadcastfrom noon to 2:30p.m. Broadcasttimes Saturday andSunday are 3-6 p.m.,with tee times all three days expected tobe from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. off both thefirst and 10th tees.

Among the new offers this year is theMellow Mushroom Chill Club, whichwill serve lunch in an open air tentbehind the par-3 16th hole. The lunchconsists of a giant pizza slice, salad,

cookie and one alco-

holic bev-erage orCoca-Colaproduct .

Hummus and bruschetta will also beserved throughout the day. Tickets to theclub, which also includes admission tothe tournament, can be purchased online,with packages that include transporta-tion available through the tournamentoffice.

The Greater Gwinnett Championshipis the first full field tour event to beplayed in Atlanta since the PGA Tourlast played at TPC Sugarloaf in 2008.East Lake Golf Club has been an annualhost to the limited field PGA TourChampionship and Atlanta AthleticClub was the site of the 2011 PGAChampionship, but the area lost itsspring Champions Tour, LPGA and PGATour events in the 2000s, as well as thePGA Tour stop at Callaway Gardens.

With the recent move of theChampions Tour Legends of Golf fromSavannah to Missouri and the end ofWeb.com Tour events in Athens andValdosta, Georgia now has just threetournaments (not including the Masters)on the five PGA/LPGA affiliated tours --the Tour Championship and McGladreyClassic at Sea Island Golf Club on thePGA Tour and the Greater GwinnettChampionship.

Prior to the 2013 Greater GwinnettChampionship, the last Champions Tourevent in metro Atlanta was the

Nationwide Championship at Golf Clubof Georgia in 2000.

Hale Irwin, who won the lastNationwide Championship 15 years ago,was the Champions Tour’s dominantplayer then, with Langer filling that rolesix of the last seven years.

Langer had never played TPCSugarloaf before tournament week twoyears ago. He trailed by six shots after anopening 73, but shot the low scoresSaturday (66) and Sunday (67) to win bythree over Tom Lehman and TomPernice. Langer trailed second roundleader Esteban Toledo by one shotheading to the final round, with Toledoclosing with a 75 to tie for seventh at213, seven behind Langer’s winning totalof 10-under 206.

Jimenez went wire-to-wire to win lastyear, opening with a 65 in rainy, coldconditions to lead by three shots. He ledLanger by one after 36 holes after asecond round 70. Langer shot 68 the finalround to finish at 12-under 204, butJimenez turned in a sparkling 67 for a14-under 202 total to win by two.

The top 10 included such notables asJay Haas (3rd, 206), Fred Couples(4th, 207) Kenny Perry and ColinMontgomerie (both T8, 210).

Jimenez, Langer, Haas andMontgomerie are all in the field thismonth, with tournament officials hopingCouples and Perry will also return. As ofpress time for Fore Georgia, players stillhad about two weeks to enter.

As one of the three most prominentEuropeans on the Champions Tour,Montgomerie would appear to be next inline as likely champion if the pattern ofthe last two years continues.

Also committed to compete atSugarloaf are Paul Goydos, Lee Janzen,Marco Dawson and David Frost, alongwith Jimenez the 2015 Champions Tourwinners. Langer, Michael Allen, KirkTriplett, Montgomerie, Pernice,Lehman, Fred Funk, Jeff Sluman,Duluth resident Scott Dunlap, WesShort, Goydos and Haas are the 2014winners who had committed to the tour-nament by the end of March, withCouples, Jeff Maggert, Perry and JohnCook the lone tournament championsfrom last year who had yet to commit.

Also in the field are Georgians

[ See Champions Tour, page 27 ]

D


European seniors take a liking to Sugarloaf Langer, Jimenez win first 2 in Gwinnett

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http://www.wantteetimes.com/atlanta

B y M i k e B l u m

he Champions Tour has pro-vided a mulligan of sorts for avariety of golfers who havereached their 50th birthdays,

including three Georgians who took verydifferent paths before joining the tour inthe late 1990s/early 2000s.

Marietta’s Larry Nelson took the con-ventional path to the Champions Tour,enjoying a successful PGA Tour careerbefore becoming one of the top seniorplayers for seven years, winning 20 tour-naments in that span.

Allen Doyle was a career amateuruntil making the decision to turn pro atthe age of 46. After an outstandingseason on the Nike (now Web.com) Tour,the long-time LaGrange resident becamethe oldest PGA Tour rookie in historyand played there for two years beforeturning 50 and enjoying eight out-standing Champions Tour seasons,winning 11 times including four majors.

Georgia native James Mason was acareer club professional until he turned50 in 2001 and took a shot at theChampions Tour. After playing his wayinto a 2002 tournament in New Jersey ina Monday qualifier, Mason became justthe eighth qualifier in tour history to winthe event, and played the tour on a reg-ular basis for almost a decade beforebecoming an infrequent tournament par-ticipant.

Nelson continues to play the tour onan occasional basis, but Doyle last playedin 2013, leaving the tour due to healthissues. Mason no longer has status to getinto tournaments, and is back to playinggeographically convenient Monday qual-ifiers. He will get at least one morechance to play on the Champions Tour,qualifying for this year’s Senior PGAChampionship after tying for second inlast year’s PGA Senior ProfessionalChampionship, the national champi-onship for senior PGA of Americamembers.

The 67-year-old Nelson played thePGA Tour for 24 years before turning 50in 1997. He won 10 PGA Tour titlesbetween 1979 and ’88 including threemajors – the 1981 and ’87 PGAChampionships and ’83 U.S. Open. His’81 PGA Championship came at AtlantaAthletic Club and was one of three victo-ries he scored in his home town.

Nelson won the Atlanta Classic in1980 and ’88 at Atlanta Country Club,where he has long resided. The latter winwas his last on the PGA Tour, as hebecame a less frequent competitor formost of his 40s before playing a bit moreas he neared his 50th birthday.

After a few lean years, Nelson turnedin some solid efforts in his final two sea-sons on the PGA Tour, nearly scoring awin at the age of 49 when he tied forsecond at Doral in 1997.

Nelson was still a competitive playeron the PGA Tour when he became aChampions Tour member, and was one ofthe top over-50 players from 1998 to2004, finishing in the top 10 on the

money list six times in seven years. In 2000 Nelson enjoyed one of the best

seasons ever on the tour, winning sixtournaments and placing second seventimes. He won 17 times in his first fouryears on the tour and added three morevictories in 2003 and ’04 before injuriesand age ended his seven-year run ofexceptional play.

In addition to his 20 Champions Tourwins, Nelson also teamed with sons Joshand Drew to win three Father/Son titlesbetween 2004 and ’08. He remained acompetitive Champions Tour through2013, but made just 10 starts last year.

After winning three majors on the reg-ular tour, Nelson contended a number oftimes on the Champions Tour, but set-tled for five runner-up finishes. He wassecond in three of the four senior majorsin 2000, losing in a playoff in one andfinishing one stroke behind the winner inanother despite shooting in the 60s thefinal day in both events.

In addition to his outstanding careeron the course, Nelson had a second careeras a golf course architect, with designs inboth Japan and the U.S. Although one ofhis Atlanta designs (Centennial inAcworth) no longer exists, two of hiscourses remain – Brookstone in Acworthand the Legacy executive course inSmyrna. Among his designs are GaylordSprings in Nashville, which hosted aChampions Tour event for several years,and a highly regarded resort layout inMyrtle Beach (Wild Wing).

Nelson, known throughout his careerfor his low-key personality but fiercecompetitive drive, has drawn some atten-tion since his PGA Tour days for thenever fully explained decision by thePGA of America to bypass him as RyderCup captain.

His playing credentials – three majors,two of them PGA Championships, 9-3-1Ryder Cup record, unbeaten in singles –are impeccable and Nelson is one of asmall number of pro golfers who servedin the military, including a tour duringthe Vietnam War.

But he was repeatedly passed over, andafter Tom Watson’s less than successfulstint in that role last year, Nelson’s hopesof a belated selection appear to be nearzero, something he has publicly acceptedgracefully over the years in the face of hispuzzling snub.

Doyle enjoyed the most successful

Champions Tour career of any player whowaited until he was 50 or near 50 to turnpro. As an amateur, Doyle competed ontwo Walker Cup teams, won six GeorgiaAmateur championships and five promi-nent events in 1994, including the PorterCup, Sunnehana Amateur and Atlanta’sDogwood Invitational.

At the age of 46 in 1995 Doyle turnedpro with no status on any tour. In hissecond start on the Nike Tour he defeatedfellow Georgian Franklin Langham in aplayoff to win in Gulfport, Miss., andadded a second victory in Texarkana,Ark. He closed out his first season as apro by winning the Nike TourChampionship at Settindown Creek inRoswell.

Doyle, 66, celebrated his 48thbirthday midway through his rookieseason on the PGA Tour, but had toattempt the arduous qualifying processto retain his status for 1997. In his firstand only visit to Q-school, Doyle was theco-medalist in the 1996 finals, but hissecond PGA Tour season didn’t go muchbetter than his first.

“I did not do myself justice those twoyears,” Doyle said during his first andonly appearance in the Greater GwinnettChampionship of his brief PGA Tour“career,” lamenting that he allowed him-self “very little time to show what I coulddo.”

Doyle admitted that trying to play thePGA Tour for the first time in your late40s was not an optimal situation, “but itmade me play to a higher level and that’swhy I turned pro.”

With his 50th birthday approaching in1998, Doyle enjoyed a nice stretch of golfon the Nike Tour before ending his briefPGA Tour career with a tie for 7th in theMississippi event played opposite theBritish Open.

Less than a month later, he made hisChampions Tour debut and recorded apair of top-5 finishes before winning inthe finals of qualifying for the secondtime in three years.

With his short, hockey-style swingand highly competitive nature, Doylewas an immediate hit on the ChampionsTour. He won four times as a rookie,including the PGA Seniors, one of thetour’s two most prestigious titles. Doylealso finished second four times, postedtop-10 showings in more than half his 31starts and ended the year third on the

Nelson, Doyle, Mason took very differentDoyle first of trio to step away from course

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Larry Nelson

Allen Doyle

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money list with more than $1.9 million. After placing seventh in earnings the

next year with a lone victory, Doylerebounded from his “sophomore slump,”with a terrific third season as a senior. Hewon twice including one of the tour’sfour majors, was second five times andthird three times, had a staggering 25top 10s in 34 starts and topped themoney list with more than $2.5 million.

In his next five seasons Doyle finishedbetween ninth and 17th each year inearnings and produced four more wins,including back-to-back U.S. Senior Opentitles in 2005 and ’06.

In ’05, Doyle came from nine shotsback after 54 holes, shooting a finalround 63 to overcome a group of con-tenders that included Loren Roberts,Greg Norman and Tom Watson. Heoutdueled Watson for a second straightU.S. Senior Open win, closing with a 68to turn a two-stroke deficit after 54 holesinto a two-shot victory.

After a strong season-opening secondplace finish in Hawaii in 2007, Doylenever contended again on the ChampionsTour, but he left with 11 wins, 112 top10s and $13.4 million in earnings, thevast majority of that total in his firsteight seasons.

Doyle also left the tour as one of themost respected competitors to play onthe Champions Tour, especially forsomeone who spent just two seasons onthe PGA Tour in his late 40s.

Just six months away from his finaltournament appearance, Doyle said he was“going out with my head up. I just neededa chance and I took advantage of it.”

Mason was not the only career clubprofessional to win on the ChampionsTour, but few came as far as he did toenjoy a respectable career on the tour.Mason did not win a Georgia PGA eventuntil he was 46, but was one of theSection’s top players in the late 1990s,winning six tournaments and threePlayer of the Year titles from 1997-2000.

After turning 50 early in 2001, Masonwon both the Georgia Senior Open andGeorgia PGA Senior Championship, andbegan attempting Monday qualifiers onthe Champions Tour, making it into fiveevents.

Mason’s seventh successful qualifyingeffort came in late May in 2002. Hemade it into the NFL Classic in Clifton,N.J., the second straight week he playedhis way into the field. He began the finalround two strokes off the lead, butmoved in front when he holed a wedge

shot from the fairway for an eagle on apar 5 and also holed a greenside bunkershot for birdie, both on the front nine.

With the pressure mounting and anumber of players poised to take advan-tage of any slip by the surprise leader,Mason held onto his lead on the backnine, shooting a final round 69 to win bytwo strokes over a trio of contenders.

That proved to be Mason’s only victoryon the Champions Tour, be he was able toturn the one triumph into more than adecade on the tour. Although he never

won again, Mason demonstrated onnumerous occasions that his victory wasnot a fluke, as he made occasional runs ata second senior title, the first cominglater in 2002 in Minnesota.

Mason found himself tied for the leadafter 36 holes and paired in the finalround with Hale Irwin, the ChampionsTour’s dominant player. Irwin won thehead-to-head duel 68-72, but Masonplayed well enough to finish in a tie forthird to end up 40th on the money listwith $444,000.

Without a win in 2003, Masonslightly increased his earnings from theprevious year with $466,000, placing41st in earnings with three top 10s and15 finishes in the top 25.

But that turned out to be the last yearthat Mason held fully exempt status on

the Champions Tour. For the next sevenseasons, he spent many of his tournamentweeks not knowing whether he wasgoing to be in the field, getting intobetween 12 and 21 events each year andplaying just well enough to retain somestatus through 2010.

Mason placed 42nd on the money listin 2005 highlighted by a tie for fifth inthe Tradition, a Champions Tour major.But after three seasons in which he failedto crack the top 60 in earnings, Masonneeded a strong showing in the finals of

qualifying to regain his status for 2009.He tied for third in Naples, Fla., fin-ishing only two shots behind the winner,tied for ninth in the Senior PGAChampionship and narrowly retained hisstanding for 2010 by placing 50th on themoney list.

Although he played respectably thatseason, he dropped out of the top 50 inearnings, and has gotten into just 21events since, mostly through Mondayqualifiers.

Mason’s last Champions Tour highlightcame in 2011 in the Greater HickoryClassic in North Carolina. He shot 65 thefinal round to get into a playoff but lost toMark Wiebe, who also closed with a 65.Thanks to his runner-up finish, Masonended up 65th on the money list, the 10thstraight year he placed between 40th and

75th in earnings. “I shot 19-under for three rounds and

I’m not that good a putter to shoot thatlow,” Mason said recently. “I wasn’t eventhinking about winning. I got in my ownworld and wasn’t thinking about out-comes.”

It’s been a struggle for Mason on theChampions Tour since, with his opportu-nities dwindling and his results not goodenough to give himself more chances.

Mason displayed that he’s still gotgame late last year, tying for second inthe PGA Senior PNC, earning a spot inthis year’s field for the Senior PGAChampionship. It could be the lastChampions Tour event for Mason, whohas relished his time on the tour since hiswin in New Jersey 13 years ago.

“The end is near,” he admits, saying hewill leave the tour “when I know that Idefinitely can’t compete at that level.

“My scores will tell me when it’s timeto quit,” the 64-year-old Mason asserts.“But I just shot 12-under for four roundsand I still feel competitive. I still feel I’vegot enough game, but the access is sohard.

“It’s been a fantastic run. I neverdreamed I’d do what I did. I can’t reallyput it into words.”

Mason has made 194 starts during hisChampions Tour career with earnings ofjust over $3 million. He also made a dozenPGA Tour starts from 1977 to 2001,mostly in two of Georgia’s now defunctevents – the Southern Open in Columbusand Callaway Gardens and the AtlantaClassic. He also made one start in thePGA Championship, playing at WingedFoot in 1997, but most of his recent tour-nament appearances are in Georgia PGASection or Senior Division events.

He remains one of the state’s top seniorplayers and is still very competitive inSection events, contending for victoryseveral times the past few years.

And as always, Mason is a familiarfigure on the golf course in his colorfularray of knickers, which have been a stapleof his wardrobe since the mid-1980s.

Mason’s family owned Sky ValleyResort in the northeast Georgia moun-tains from 1975-91, and he still residesin Dillard, while playing out of theOrchard, where he has taught over theyears. After graduating from Auburn in1973, Mason played as a tour pro beforejoining the Georgia PGA, working as aclub professional and instructor beforereturning to a playing career when heturned 50.

paths to successful careers on Champions Tour


James Mason

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t the age of 46, long timeAtlanta resident BillyAndrade came to a realisticbut hard-to-accept decision

regarding his PGA Tour career. After 22 seasons, 624 starts, four vic-

tories and $12.38 million in earnings,Andrade determined he could no longercompete at a sufficient level to continueplaying the tour on a regular basis.

Andrade made just two of 17 cuts andless than $20,000 in 2009, and decidedto look elsewhere within the golfindustry as his primary focus. Andradespent the next three years as a broadcastgolf analyst for Golf Channel, and likelycould have continued in that profession.But as his 50th birthday approached, hereturned to the course with his clubsinstead of a microphone and a headset.

After playing only five tournamentscombined from 2010 to ’12, Andrademanaged seven appearances in 2013,split between the Web.com and PGATours. Six of those seven starts producedlittle in the way of results, but in just hissecond PGA Tour event that year,Andrade turned the clock back inJackson, Miss., playing the way he fre-quently did in the two decades in whichhe was a highly competitive member ofthe PGA Tour.

Andrade shot 66-67-65 the last threerounds to tie for fifth, his first top-10finish since 2006. He made only onemore start the rest of the season, but thatone week in Mississippi gave Andradesome hope that he could make a go of iton the Champions Tour when he turned50 in January of last year.

“I took three years off to do TV andplayed a little bit when I turned 49, butnot as much as I would have liked,”Andrade said in a media gathering priorto the 2015 Greater GwinnettChampionship, which will be playedApril 17-19 at TPC Sugarloaf.

“I know how to do this,” Andrade saidof his return to a full-time role as aplayer. “But I haven’t done it in a while.How long is it going to take before I getinto a groove? ”

In just his second start on theChampions Tour, Andrade tied for eighthin an event in Naples, Fla. Two tourna-ments later, he had a chance to win theMississippi Gulf Resort Classic, but was

edged out down the stretch by fellowChampions Tour newcomer JeffMaggert.

Andrade’s rookie season went alongquietly for the next five months beforehe re-emerged in Canada, where hescored one of his four PGA Tour victo-ries 14 years earlier. Andrade and fanfavorite Fred Couples engaged in oneof the most spirited battles on theChampions Tour in recent memory.

Going to the final round, Andradewas three shots off the lead in a tie for11th, with Couples four back in a tiefor 16th. Both players shot 3-underon the front nine, but were stilltrailing when they made their moveson the incoming nine.

Couples played the first four holeson the back nine in 4-under, goingeagle-birdie-birdie on holes 11, 12 and13. Andrade, playing behind Couples,answered with four birdies on the firstfive holes on the final nine, as the twoplayers moved to the front.

An eagle at the 18th gave Couples theclubhouse lead at 15-under, and Andradethree-putted the 17th for a bogey to falltwo behind with one hole to play. ButAndrade matched Couples’ closing eagleto force a playoff, which lasted only onehole when Andrade was unable to birdiethe hole he had eagled to conclude hisround.

Couples tapped in for birdie and thewin, leaving Andrade to suffer the agonyof defeat in virtual isolation.

“Fred is like Frank Sinatra on ourtour,” Andrade said. “They had hugecrowds in Calgary. After he tapped in,everybody went straight to him, and Ihad sort of a disease. I felt like BillMurray in Caddyshack with the priest.

“I just walked away and nobody saidgood tournament. Everyone was like‘Freddie, Freddie, Freddie’.”

Andrade played a great final round,but was not rewarded for his effort.

“You don’t usually shoot 62 on Sundayand lose,” Andrade mused. “How manytimes does a guy eagle the last hole andlose? I did that as well.”

Even with his near miss in Calgary,Andrade said his first year on theChampions Tour was “fantastic. Theplayers all kind of root for each other.”

As much camaraderie as there is on thetour, Andrade discovered that the com-petition is no less elevated than when

he was a regular on the PGA Tour. “You have to shoot some pretty low

scores and do it quickly. For 25 yearswhen I played the regular tour, you havefour days. It took me a while to figureout that Friday is not Thursday. You haveto start on Friday thinking that it’s moreof a sprint than a race. You can’t make awhole lot of mistakes because it’s toughto make up shots.”

Andrade played well enough as arookie to finish 23rd on the money listand earn a spot in the season-endingCharles Schwab Cup. In his first fourstarts of 2015, Andrade recorded a trio oftop-20 finishes, ending up outside thetop 50 in the Naples tournament wherehe scored his first top 10 last year on theChampions Tour.

The early stage of the 2015 scheduleconsists of two tournaments followed byfour off weeks, then two more tourna-ments and two off weeks.

“We have a little break before we gethere and everybody will be pretty eager,”said Andrade, with the Greater GwinnettChampionship coming after the two-week break.

“The golf course here at Sugarloaf isprobably one of the best-conditionedcourses we will play all year on tour. Ithink everybody is looking forward tocoming.”

Andrade made his first appearance inthe Greater Gwinnett Championship lastyear, but was not entirely optimisticabout his chances to win after what neobserved on TV the week before.

“Last year it was tough for me because I

came in here watching the Masters.I’m sitting watching the Mastersand going ‘How the hell am I goingto beat this Jimenez guy? OrBernhard Langer?’ They both fin-ished in the top 10 at the Mastersand I’m sitting on my couch at home.

“They both beat me. Maybe thisyear will be different.”

Andrade closed with a final round67 last year at Sugarloaf to tie for12th, finishing with a 5-under 211total, nine shots behind Jimenez,who won by two over defendingchampion Langer. Only four playersin the field shot lower than 7-underfor the tournament.

“I like Sugarloaf because it’s hard,”Andrade said. “It gives me a betterchance to win.” Andrade, a native of Rhode Island,

came south to play his college golf atWake Forest and settled in Atlanta. Heremains closely attached to both hishometown and his adopted home,hosting major charity events in bothRhode Island and Atlanta.

Prior to attending Wake Forest,Andrade was the top-ranked junior in thecountry and enjoyed an outstanding col-legiate and amateur career, earningAll-America status three times andhelping lead Wake to a national champi-onship in 1986. Later that year, he wonboth the Sunnehana and North andSouth amateur events and competed inthe 1987 Masters as an amateur.

Andrade qualified for the PGA Tour inhis first attempt and took about a yearand a half to settle in on the PGA Tour.He closed out the second half of his soph-omore season with three top-5 finishesand was a solid player on tour for the nexttwo decades.

The first two wins for Andrade came inconsecutive weeks in 1991, first inWashington, D.C., in the Kemper Openand the next week in suburban New Yorkin the Buick Classic at WestchesterCountry Club. He finished a career best14th on the money list that year and lateradded wins in the Canadian Open (1998)and Las Vegas (2000).

Andrade made several runs at victoryafter that, with what turned out to be hislast hoorah coming in 2006 when he fin-ished second and third in consecutivestarts in the two events he won back-to-back 15 years earlier.

Andrade back to playing after broadcast stint

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Billy Andrade

Denied win as Champions rookie by Couples


http://www.governorstowneclub.com

B y M i k e B l u m

redicting a winner in any golftournament is a lot differentthan picking the winner in abaseball/football/basketball

game where there are only two possibleoutcomes.

There are at least several dozen playerscoming into this month’s Masters whoare plausible champions, with prettymuch every player in the game whomight have a chance to win in Augustain the field.

Not every prominent player is a decentbet to leave Augusta in a green jacket,however, including some recent majorchampions and tournament winners andresidents of the upper echelon in theWorld Rankings.

Martin Kaymer, Ernie Els, JasonDufner and Webb Simpson have allwon major championships the past fewyears, but for various reasons, none islikely to repeat that feat in Augusta. Thesame can be said of former major cham-pions Geoff Ogilvy and PadraigHarrington, whose recent victory inFlorida may be more a one-off than a signthat his long slump is over.

Billy Horschel, the 2014 TourChampionship winner and FedExCupchampion, won a big event in Georgialast year, but two in a row in the state isa bit much to ask. Talented youngstersHideki Matsuyama and VictorDubuisson have impressive world rank-ings, but they won’t translate into thefirst Masters victories by players fromtheir respective countries. The same

applies to veteran Thomas Bjorn. Players like Graeme McDowell,

Luke Donald and Jim Furyk, who relyon precision rather power, can’t be com-pletely counted out, but givenMcDowell’s ailing ankle, Donald’s ailinggame and Furyk’s Sunday struggles whenin contention, they should be well downthe list of potential winners. Ditto sim-ilar players like Miguel Jimenez (tooold), Tim Clark (one of a number ofplayers who may be sidelined by injury)and Kevin Na (one of the hotter playerson the PGA Tour but too nervous).

The likes of Ryan Moore, RyanPalmer and Bill Haas have excellent cre-dentials and all have played well this year,but it’s hard to imagine any of them in agreen jacket. The same goes for two of thegame’s big hitters – J.B. Holmes andGary Woodland – who clearly have thepower, but seem to lack some of the otherqualities that enabled a fellow bomber towin two of the last three Masters.

Cross off the new contingent ofEuropean and international players whohave made it into the top 50 in theWorld Rankings and we’re down toabout 25 players who have a seriouschance to win in Augusta, some moreserious than others.

Zach Johnson and CharlesSchwartzel have both won the Masterssince Augusta National was lengthenedto its current maximum yardage, but nei-ther has played well there otherwise.Schwartzel is not in form and Johnsonfaces the same problem as Furyk,McDowell, et al. Hunter Mahan has

hovered around the top 10 inAugusta three times in the last sixyears, but his star is not shining asbright as it did. Same for KeeganBradley, who has yet to solve thepuzzle of Augusta National.

Former UGA golfers have enjoyedconsiderable success on the PGATour the past few years, butWatson, whose career in Athenspales compared to most of hisfellow ex-Bulldogs, is the only oneto reach golf’s elite level. ChrisKirk is the best bet of the twenty-something former ‘Dogs with somedecent showings in majors lastyear, but don’t discount BrendonTodd, who stepped up at the 2014U.S. Open. Russell Henley hasbeen AWOL of late, but you never

know when his putter is goingto heat up. Probably not inAugusta.

Patrick Reed, who wouldlike to forget the year he spentin Athens, will be a popularpick based on his track recordover the past year-and-a-halfand his 2014 Ryder Cupshowing, butmay not be

ready tohandle thepressure ofa Masters

final round. Paul Casey and BrandtSnedeker painfully encountered thatsituation earlier in their careers, but bothare in top form and may be capable ofanother shot at a victory.

A number of Masters champions wonafter earlier near-misses and LouisOosthuizen fits that bill. He playedwell on the Florida swing, but his playoffloss to Watson is his only strong showingin Augusta. Angel Cabrera, on theother hand, has a Masters victory, aplayoff loss and several other high fin-ishes, and can never be overlooked inAugusta no matter the state of his game.

Six European golfers combined for 11Masters titles in the 1980s and ‘90s butno Euro has won since. Justin Rose hasa U.S. Open trophy and a string of solidMasters showings, but his dismal recordso far this year probably rules him out.Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter havebeen stellar in the Ryder Cup, but bothseem destined to go major-less, Poulterlacking the overall game and Garcia theconviction that he can actually win one.

Rickie Fowler enjoyed an outstandingrun in the majors last year, but will behard-pressed to approach top-5 finishes inall the majors plus a strong Playoffs run.He is eventually going to break through,but is not coming into the Masters inprime form. Jimmy Walker had three top10s in U.S. majors last year, but did notseriously contend in any of them. He isone of the two hottest U.S. players at themoment, but whether he is ready to with-stand Sunday pressure at Augusta is aquestion he still has to answer.

Perhaps thebest American player in 2015 has beenDustin Johnson, who has shown zerorust coming back from his sabbatical/sus-pension. Johnson clearly has the talent towin anywhere, but his record at AugustaNational is not encouraging and he hashad his chances in majors before and hasfallen short.

No one has had more opportunities towin majors and been unable to do so thanLee Westwood, who has come closetwice in Augusta over the last five years.Westwood has to look to Tom Kite for acomparable career in the majors, and hasto hope he’s still got at least one moregood shot left. His record in Augusta istoo good to discount him.

Henrik Stenson enjoyed a terrificthree-week stretch before withdrawingfrom Houston with an illness. HisMasters record is respectable but lacksany top finishes and his putting is a lia-bility in Augusta. But if Vijay Singh canwin the Masters, so can a player withStenson’s ball-striking skills.

The three players most likely to leaveAugusta with their first major are MattKuchar, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day,all of whom have come close to a greenjacket. Kuchar has been 3rd, 8th and 5ththe last three years and has a remarkablyconsistent overall record the last five-plusyears, but is known more as a top-10machine than a frequent winner.

Day and Spieth are going to win majorssoon, and no one would be surprised ifsoon is this month. Both have held up wellunder Sunday pressure when in contentionand have one playoff win each in 2015.

Just based on his Masters record,

[ See Masters, page 28 ]

Masters: Plenty of possible winners to consider

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Rory McIlroy

3 favorites, lots of contenders and pretenders Adam Scott

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http://www.cuscowilla.com/

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or the past two decades,Stephen Keppler has startedhis competitive season in thePot O’Gold Pro-Am at Sunset

Country Club in Moultrie. Club professionals from Georgia and

surrounding states annually bring a teamof their top amateur members with themto South Georgia for the event, whichfeatures competitions for low pro, low amand low team.

Coming into this year, Keppler hadwon low pro honors eight times and hadbeen part of the winning team threetimes. Keppler, the Director of Golf atMarietta Country Club, made it nine PotO’ Gold pro titles this year, although itcame in the senior division for the firsttime, as he shared honors with CraigStevens. The two also tied for secondamong the club pros.

Keppler also was part of a fourth vic-tory for Marietta Country Club since2003 in the team competition. But aftertwo decades of being a dominant figurein the popular season-opening tourna-ment, the veteran club pro may no longerbe the most prominent Keppler on theMarietta Country Club team.

Jonathan Keppler, a senior atKennesaw Mountain High School, wonhis second straight low amateur title inthe Pot O’Gold, with his 10-under 206total for 54 holes helping to lift hisfather’s team to a narrow one-stroke vic-tory with a 31-under 185 total,including scores of 61 in the first andthird rounds .

The younger Keppler’s total wasmatched by Kinderlou Forest pro JaredDavis, who also shot 206, 10 shots lowerthan the next best club pro. Jonathanhelped make his dad a nice chunk ofchange as the pro on the winning team,and also took home plenty of merchan-dize for his first place finishes in theamateur and team competitions.

“It’s always fun to go down there forthe first event of the season,” the elderKeppler says. “And it’s nice to get awayfor a couple of days.”

In recent years, the event has also takenon a father/son element for Keppler, whois not as single-minded as he used to bebecause of the presence of Jonathan onthe team.

“I find myself watching him and

helping him, and as a result, my game isnot quite as important as it used to be,”Keppler says. “I’ve taken a back seat thelast two years because he played great.

“Last year he shot a 63, and this year heplayed well all three days.”

Under those circumstances, Kepplersays, “You can lose some focus in yourgame, but that’s OK. It’s a matter of con-centrating a little better. You root foryour teammates, but you want to focuson your own game more than your team-mates, even if it’s your son.”

In order to lessen the distractions andavoid potential familial conflicts as muchas possible, father and son don’t ridetogether in the same cart. Keppler alsosays he and his adult amateur teammates“treat Jonathan like he’s another memberof the team.”

Jonathan is one of just a relativelysmall number of teen-agers who has com-peted in the tournament, but his dad sayshe is accustomed to being in a mostlyadult environment.

“He’s handled it really well,” Kepplersaid. “Just look at the scores he’s posted.”

Growing up, Jonathan got used toplaying with a father who was one of thestate’s most talented players among theclub professional ranks. Now, his father

is having to get accustomed to watchinghis teen-age son blow it past him off thetee and shoot the kind of scores he usedto when he was at the top of his game.

“The kids now hit it so far,” Kepplersays admiringly. “They can get to parfives in two with medium irons and canshorten holes to set up a lot more birdieopportunities. “

Jonathan has been one of the state’s topjunior players for several years, but isabout to leave junior golf and will beginhis college career this Summer at FloridaState. Both his parents went to school inTallahassee, and he will join his oldersister Jordan, who is a manager for theFSU golf team.

Keppler came from his native Englandto play college golf at Florida State, andfollowed his future wife Karen toAtlanta. He worked as an assistant atDunwoody Country Club and as the headpro at Summit Chase in Snellville beforetaking the job at Marietta Country Club.

Some 30 years after he completed hiseducation and college golf career,Keppler and his family still retain closeties with his alma mater.

“Jordan went to her first FSU gamewhen she was six days old, and Jonathanhas been going to their golf camp since

he was 10 or 11.” Jonathan will again be at the

Seminoles’ camp this Summer, but thistime will serve in a counselor’s role,assisting the school’s head golf coach.

Keppler says he “never put any pres-sure” on his son to attend Florida State,but did not need to steer him in thatdirection. He says Jonathan has beencommitted to the FSU golf program“since he was 15 or so.”

Having a father/son relationship trans-form into coach/player can beproblematic, but Keppler has avoidedthe trap of letting the two become aproblem.

“I’ve made a conscious effort to givehim his room,” Keppler says. “If he needshelp he can ask.”

Jonathan works with MichaelBerning, an instructor at MariettaCounty Club. When his son is in need ofa lesson, Keppler says if he does observe,“I watch from the back. I try to stay as faraway as I can.

“I’ve been around golf all my life andI’ve seen how parents handle their kids.There are a lot of good ones that stay outof the way, but there are some that areoverbearing. I’ve seen the negative sideand I’d hate to be like that.”

Father and son have played a lot of golfsince Jonathan was a youngster, withJonathan advancing from riding with hisdid while Stephen was playing in a tour-nament, to competing in the same event.

Having his son as part of the winningteam in the Pot O’ Gold made the vic-tory “a little more special,” Keppler said.“Any time you can win with one of yourchildren, it’s neat. You can do that ingolf. I’m not sure how many other sportsthere are where you can compete withyour son or daughter.”

The Kepplers are not the first father-son combo to compete in the Pot O’Gold, nor are they the most prominent.Bob Duval and his son David played inthe event, as did Hugh Royer Jr. andHugh III, with the elder Duval andRoyer both pros on winning teams andthe younger Royer winning the amateurtitle before joining his father in makingit to the PGA Tour.

Both Royers are among a long list ofthe state’s top amateurs since the 1950swho list the Pot O’ Gold among their

[ See Keppler, page 22 ]

Max Hancock presenting the trophy to the winning team from Marietta Country Club (l-r): Chris Hall, Stephen Keppler (pro),

Jonathan Keppler, Max Hancock, and Hap Fleming

All in the FamilyKepplers (father and son) win three ways in Pot O’ Gold

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everal of the GeorgiaPGA’s top players willhave a little extra incen-tive as they compete in

the Section’s Match PlayChampionship, which began inmid-March.

The 64-man field will be whit-tled down to four players, whowill play in the semifinals andfinals August 24 at Peachtree GolfClub. The first four rounds will beplayed at courses determined by theparticipants, with the playershaving approximately one month toschedule and complete theirmatches before the semifinals.

The defending champion is BrianDixon, an instructor at Fox Creek. Itwas Dixon’s second victory in theevent, the first coming in 1997, andsnapped an eight-year streak of third-round defeats for Dixon, who had notadvanced beyond the quarterfinalssince 2001.

Dixon ended five of his six matches onthe 17th hole, including a 2&1 decisionover 10th seeded Greg Lee in the cham-pionship match. Dixon’s toughest matchcame earlier that day in the semifinals,when he needed 20 holes to get past No.1 seed Craig Stevens.

The path to a championship was not aneasy one for the 13th seeded Dixon, whodefeated four of the top 12 seeds in hisfinal four matches, beginning with a 2&1win in the third round over Kyle Owen.Having finally got past his third roundbarrier, Dixon followed with a 2-up deci-sion over Matthew Evans in thequarterfinals before his semifinal andfinal victories over Stevens and Lee.

Dixon’s two Match Play Champion-ships came 17 years apart, and his firstround opponent also has two Match Playtitles, with his two victories separated by19 years. Gregg Wolff, the head pro atWillow Lake in Metter, won the tourna-ment in 1984 and 2003, but has not beena factor in the event since he reached thefinals in 2005.

Wolff lost to Tim Weinhart in thefinals that year, and Weinhart will be oneof the more motivated players in the fieldfor this year’s tournament. Weinhart hasthree victories in one of the GeorgiaPGA’s four “majors,” including back-to-

back titles in 2011 and ’12. Weinhart, an instructor at the

Standard Club, could not defend his titlein 2013 when the field filled up beforethe entry deadline, and he and severalother top players were unable to com-pete. Weinhart was upset in the secondround last year by Kevin Gibbs of OakMountain Golf Club, a rare early-roundloss for the seven-time Georgia PGAPlayer of the Year.

Since 2000, Weinhart has won theMatch Play Championship three times,lost twice in the finals, reached the semi-finals twice and the quarterfinals once.

If the second-seeded Weinhart andDixon win their first three matches, theywould meet in the quarterfinals. Dixon isseeded seventh this year.

Stevens has history on his side this yearas he shoots for a third Match Play title.He won the event for the first time in1985 and captured his second MatchPlay title in 2000, 15 years later. It’sbeen 15 years since his last win in theevent for Stevens, an instructor atBrookstone Golf & Country Club, so itwould seem that he’s due for a third title.

Since his second Match PlayChampionship, Stevens has lost threetimes in the finals, the first in 2002, thelast two in 2012 to Weinhart and in2013 to Peachtree head pro Donn

Perno. Stevens also has reached thesemifinals three times and the quarterfi-nals once. He’s seeded fourth in thisyear’s field.

Sonny Skinner is seeded first in thefield after earning Player of the Yearhonors in 2014, but his track record inthe match play event is spotty since hewon the tournament the first year he waseligible to participate in it in 2006. Helost his opening match each of the nexttwo years, but has played well in thetournament several times since, reachingthe semifinals in 2010 and the quarterfi-nals in 2012 and last year.

The tournament hasn’t ended well forSkinner the last two years. He was elim-inated on a coin flip in 2013 when hisearly round opponent could not fit hismatch with Skinner into his schedule.Skinner handily won his first threematches last year before suffering a sur-prisingly one-sided 7&6 loss to JenningsMill assistant Seth McCain.

Skinner is in the top quarter of thebracket along with three former tourna-ment champions. Clark Spratlin,Director of Golf at the Currahee Club,won the event three times in four years inthe early 2000s, and has consistently wonmultiple matches annually since. He hasreached the semifinals and quarterfinalstwice each, but has been knocked outseven times in the third round, including

each of his last four Match Playappearances.

Spratlin is seeded eighth, withhis possible second round oppo-nent 2008 Match Play championShawn Koch, the Director ofInstruction at Country Club of theSouth. Since his win at CallawayGardens in 2008, Koch reached thesemifinals in ’09 and made it to thethird round in 2010 and ’12.

The other seed in the top bracketis Lee, an assistant at ChicopeeWoods. Lee, the ninth seed, won atCallaway Gardens in 2007 and has along history of success in the tourna-ment. He reached the finals in 2001(losing to Spratlin) and last year, andhas advanced to the semifinals andquarterfinals three times each.

Only one player in Stevens’ quarterof the draw is a past champion.Country Club of the South instructorDavid Potts won the Match Play in2010 at the UGA course in Athens,

but is unseeded after playing light tour-nament schedules in recent years. Pottsreached the third round in 2011 and thequarterfinals in ’12, losing to eventualchampion Weinhart.

Potts will play Standard Club Directorof Golf Scott Curiel in the first round.Curiel made it to the third round threestraight times from 2011-13.

Rivermont head pro Matthew Evansis the fifth seed and has played well in thetournament the past five years, reachingthe quarterfinals in 2010 (where he lostto Potts), the semifinals in ’11, the thirdround in ’12 and the quarterfinals lastyear, where he again lost to the eventualchampion.

The bottom of that quarter of thebracket includes Brookfield Director ofInstruction Michael Parrott andMarietta Golf Center instructor TedFort, who also have successful matchplay records in recent years. Parrott,seeded 12th, was a finalist in 2009,losing to fellow ex-Georgia Bulldog MattPeterson, and has reached the thirdround, semifinals and quarterfinals thepast four years. Fort has advanced to atleast the third round three times in thelast five years.

The quarter of the bracket withWeinhart and Dixon includes several

[ See Match Play, page 22 ]

Georgia PGA’s top players seek Match Play titleDixon to defend against big group of contenders

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raig Stevens will shoot forhis fourth Yamaha GeorgiaSenior Open title in the lastfive years when the tourna-

ment returns to the UGA course inAthens April 27-28.

Stevens, an instructor at BrookstoneCountry Club, has won the tournamentthree of the last four years, finishing aclose second the one time he did not win.

Each of Stevens’ three victories in thetournament came in a different manner.In his first Georgia Senior Open start in2011, Stevens won by a whopping eightstrokes after being tied for the lead after18 holes at Newnan Country Club.

The next year, also in Newnan, SonnySkinner edged Stevens by one shot aftera birdie on the final hole of the secondround. Stevens came back to win by oneshot in 2013 at Chattahoochee GolfClub, posting an 8-under 136 total to

hold off a charging Danny Elkins, whofired a final round 62.

Last year, Stevens won by three at theUGA course, shooting 1-under par 70 inboth rounds for a 2-under 140 total anda three-stroke victory. Amateur BobRoyak opened with a 65 to lead Stevensby five heading to the final round, butfell back the next day with a 78 and tiedfor second at 143 along with veteranChampions Tour member JamesMason and amateur Rusty Strawn.

Stevens has been one of the GeorgiaPGA’s top players since the late 1990s,winning 16 individual Section titlessince 1998. He is a four-time Player ofthe Year (1999, 2001, 2012, 2013) andhas won the Section Championship,PNC qualifier and the Georgia SeniorOpen three times each, the Match PlayChampionship twice and the AtlantaOpen once.

The one year he did not win theGeorgia Senior Open, he won the

Georgia PGASenior Championship, giving him a vic-tory in one of the state’s top two eventsfor senior club professionals four straightyears. Stevens, who won his first GeorgiaPGA title in 1985, also has notched fourvictories in events that are no longer onthe Section’s schedule, including a pair ofwins in 1998 that ended a 13-yearstretch without a title after he won theMatch Play Championship in ’85.

Stevens has won his three GeorgiaSenior Open titles on three differentcourses, comfortably handling the moredemanding test posed by the UGAcourse, which hosted a Web.com Tourevent for four years, the last in 2013.

Other than Royak’s opening 65, noplayer in last year’s tournament broke 70,and there were only two scores of 70apart from the two shot by Stevens. LikeStevens, Strawn shot 70 in the openinground and was paired with Royak andStevens in the final pairing the secondday.

Royak’s five-stroke lead began to slipaway after he made double-bogey on theopening hole, and he lost the lead toStrawn with a double-bogey on therisk/reward par-5 12th. Strawn birdiedthe hole to take a one-shot lead overStevens, but Stevens gained four shots onStrawn over the last five holes, movinginto the lead as Strawn bogeyed 14, 16

and 18. Strawn and Royak fin-

ished tied for second at1-over 143 with Mason,who suffered his onlybogey of the day on thelong, par-4 18th and shot70. It was the secondstraight strong showing inthe Georgia Senior Openfor Mason, who placedfourth in 2013 atChattahoochee GC.

Georgia has a stronggroup of seniors – both clubprofessionals and amateurs– and Stevens will not lackfor competition as he pur-sues a fourth Georgia SeniorOpen title.

The only person otherthan Stevens to win the tour-nament in the last four yearsis Skinner, who tied forsecond and won the first two

years he played in the tournament, buthas finished eighth and seventh the lasttwo years. Skinner won the Georgia PGASenior Championship in 2013 and playedwell enough in Section events last year toearn Player of the Year honors for asecond time.

Marietta Country Club Director ofGolf Stephen Keppler was third in thetournament in 2012, two shots behindSkinner, and third in 2013, three behindStevens, but did not compete in lastyear’s event. He played in the GeorgiaPGA Senior Championship and won thatevent by four strokes.

Veteran mini-tour player JavierSanchez of Fayetteville won the GeorgiaSenior Open in 2009 and ’10, the lasttwo years before Stevens, Skinner andKeppler all turned 50, but did not com-pete again in the tournament until lastyear, when he tied for ninth.

Other Georgia PGA members whohave turned in strong showings in theGeorgia Senior Open in recent yearsinclude Winston Trively of CrookedOak, Russ Davis of Cherokee Town &Country Club, Atlanta area instructorTed Meier, Chattahoochee GC head proRodger Hogan, Augusta Country Clubhead pro Tommy Brannen, Ansley GCDirector of Golf Phil Taylor, Bob Burk

Stevens shoots for fourth Ga. Senior Open title

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[ See Senior Open, page 22 ]

Craig Stevens

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Keppler [ Continued from page 16 ]

victories. Allen Doyle was low amateurfour times as was David Noll, with bothplayers multiple Georgia Amateur cham-pions. Carter Mize, Griff Moody andBill Brown also won both the Pot O’Gold and Georgia Amateur, with DaveWomack and Jim Stuart capturingUSGA Mid-Amateur titles along withPot O’ Gold low am victories.

Keppler’s list of career titles extendswell beyond his success at Sunset. He wasthe Georgia PGA’s Player of the Yearfrom 1993-96, winning two GeorgiaOpens, two Georgia PGAChampionships, the Georgia PGA MatchPlay Championship and an event atGriffin Country Club where he playedhis last 10 holes in the opening round in10-under to shoot a 62.

After going some 13 years without avictory in a Section event, Keppler has

other top senior players in addition toWolff. Georgia Golf Center instructorDanny Elkins won the tournament in1990 and reached the quarterfinals asrecently as 2013. Cherokee Town &Country Club Director of InstructionRuss Davis remains a competitiveplayer in Section events and is seeded10th.

The 15th seed is Chicopee WoodsDirector of Instruction Jeff Frasier, whohas reached the third round twice and thequarterfinals once since 2008.

The highest seed in the bottombracket is Dunwoody Country Club’sOwen, who has lost to the eventualchampion each of the last two years. Hereached the quarterfinals in 2013 beforefalling to Perno and made it as far as thethird round last year. Owen is the No. 3seed and could face Perno in the secondround.

Sixth seed Hank Smith is making hisfirst appearance in the tournament after

won his fourth Section Championshipand two other events since 2011,bringing his career total to 16 individualtitles, including last year’s Georgia PGASenior Championship.

That victory earned Keppler a spot inthe Senior PGA Professional NationalChampionship, and he played wellenough in that event to qualify for the2015 Senior PGA Championship.Keppler made four appearances in thePGA Championship, narrowly missingthe cut in 2001 at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Keppler’s signature tournament per-formance came in the 1995 BellSouthClassic at Atlanta Country Club, wherehe came closer to victory than any clubprofessional has in a PGA Tour event in40-plus years, finishing third and con-tending until late in the final round.

Match Play [ Continued from page 18 ]

winning two of the Georgia PGA’s fourmajors last year – the Atlanta Open andSection Championship. Smith the headpro at Frederica Club on St. Simons, ispart of a group of eight players from thesoutheast part of the state who will bepaired together for the first three rounds.

Also in that part of the bracket are No.11 seed John Wade of Sea Island GolfClub, and Wilmington Island Club headpro Patrick Richardson, who has madeit to the third round four times since2004, but has never gone beyond that.

One of the more interesting potentialsecond round matchups would involveMcCain, the No. 14 seed, and TowneLake Hills assistant Bill Murchison.Both have reached either the quarterfi-nals or semifinals each of the last twoyears, with McCain knocking outSpratlin and Skinner in successivematches last year. Murchison has made itto at least the quarterfinals four timessince 2009, but is unseeded this year.

Senior Open [ Continued from page 20 ]

of Stone Creek in Valdosta, and Elkins,the head pro at Georgia Golf Center.

Amateurs won the tournament in2006 and ’07, but David Nell’s title in‘07 was the last victory by a non-profes-sional. Among those who have contendedof late prior to the strong showings lastyear by Royak and Strawn are Jeff Belk

(fifth in 2013), Don Marsh (fourth in2012), Jack Kearney (tied for second in2011), Larry Clark (fifth in 2011), andJack Hall (third in 2010). MelMendenhall has two top-10 finishesduring that stretch and was contendingfor a victory in 2011 before struggling onthe final nine.

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he Georgia Bulldogs bouncedback from a last place finish ina tournament in Las Vegas towin a one-day event hosted by

UGA at Athens Country Club and takesecond in the annual Linger LongerInvitational at Reynolds Plantation.

Georgia’s Lee McCoy earned medalisthonors in the Linger Longer tournament,which was played at the Great Waterscourse. Texas won with a 24-under 840total, five strokes ahead of the Bulldogs.Kennesaw State placed 3rd at 847 afterleading after the first two rounds, withMercer 6th at 859 and Georgia State12th at 873.

McCoy, a junior from Clarkesville,won by two shots over Beau Hossler ofTexas, sharing the opening round lead at65 and leading heading to the finalround after a 70 later that afternoon.McCoy closed with a 67 for a 14-under202 total.

Georgia shot 280 in both rounds thefirst day and was seven behind Kennesaw,which posted scores of 273 and 280.Texas, which was tied with Kennesawafter the first round, was four back after a

284 score in the afternoon, but shot 283the final day, while the Owls struggled,closing with a 294 total.

Sepp Straka, a junior from Valdosta,also posted a top-10 finish for theBulldogs, tying for 8th at 211 with scoresof 70-72-69. Augusta’s Greyson Sigg, asophomore from Augusta, closed withscores of 69-71 to tie for 25th at 216.Senior Nicholas Reach fired a pair of 69sthe first day, but struggled in the finalround, forcing Georgia to count Sigg’s 76.

Norcross freshman Zach Healy,playing as an individual for the Bulldogs,tied for 19th at 215 after an opening 69,and could have improved the team’s scoresufficiently for Georgia to win had hebeen in the lineup.

Kennesaw was led by sophomoreTeremoana Beaucousin, who shot 65-72-72 to place 6th at 209. Austin Vickwas next for the Owls, tying for 12th at212 after shooting 68-68 the first day.Kelby Burton, like Vick a senior fromEvans, opened with a pair of 69s, but alsohad as tough final round and tied for19th at 215. Columbus senior JimmyBeck, Kennesaw’s No. 1 player, shot 71-72-73 and tied for 25th at 216. Aftercarding seven under-par scores and a par

72 the first day, no Kennesawplayer broke par the finalround. Mercer got strong show-

ings from Lake Oconee seniorTrey Rule and Augusta sophomoreEmmanuel Kountakis, who tied for4th at 208. Rule shot 71-66-71 andKountakis carded scores of 68-71-69.

Georgia State was led by Griffinsenior Davin White and junior J.J. Grey,who both shot 217 to tie for 30th. Whiteshot 69 in the second round.

Georgia easily won the SouthernIntercollegiate, a one-day, 36-hole tour-nament at Athens Country Club, playedthe same week as the Linger LongerInvitational. The Bulldogs won with a 1-under 575 score, with Georgia Statesecond at 588 and Augusta State thirdat 592 in the 14-team field.

Straka and Reach led the Bulldogs,tying for 4th at 1-under 143. Straka shot70 in the morning round and Reachcarded a 69 in the afternoon. Sigg shot71-74—145 and tied for 10th, withMcCoy T12 at 146 and Duluth seniorMookie DeMoss T17 at 147. Healyplayed as an individual and also tied for

4th at 143. Georgia State’s Grey was medalist with

scores of 72-68—140. TeammateDamon Stephenson shot 70 in thesecond round and tied for 12th at 146,with White and Lexington sophomoreNathan Mallonee T19 at 148.

Augusta was led by Maverick Antcliff,who shot 69-74 to tie for 4th at 143.

Prior to its two successful tournamentsin Georgia, the Bulldogs finished last inthe 15-team Southern HighlandsCollegiate Masters in Las Vegas, fin-ishing 45 shots behind tournamentchampion Texas with an 883 total.McCoy tied for 11th at 213 with scoresof 70-69-74, but the other Georgiagolfers in the lineup placed between 60thand 75th.

The Bulldogs closed out March with asecond-place showing in the SeahawkIntercollegiate in Wilmington, N.C.,McCoy shared medalist honors at evenpar 216, with the Bulldogs 21-over as ateam on a difficult course. Georgia fin-ished five shots behind tournamentwinner Campbell. Healy and DeMossboth were two behind McCoy in a tie forthird, but DeMoss played as an indi-vidual, so his scores did not count for theteam.

Georgia State scored its first victoryof 2014-15, winning the FurmanIntercollegiate by 16 shots at 6-under858. The Panthers went from six behindafter an opening 290 to seven ahead aftera tournament best 280, and pulled awaythe final day by matching par. Grey shot66 in the second round and placed 2nd at7-under 209, three behind the medalist,with White shooting 68 that day andfinishing 4th at 211. Stephenson wasT11 at 216.

Georgia Southern took 3rd in theannual Chris Schenkel Invitational,with Auburn winning a duel withVanderbilt for the tournament title.Vanderbilt shot 40-under 824, but lostby one stroke to Auburn, which posted ascore of 823. The two teams had seven ofthe top eight individual finishers in thetournament, which had four SEC andthree ACC teams in the field.

The Eagles were 21 shots back at 844,posting scores of 282-278-284 at ForestHeights. Kim Koivu was low forSouthern, shooting 70-70-69 to tie for12th at 209. Cumming senior MattMierzejewski shot 72-68-71 and wasT19 at 211. St. Simons’ senior ScottWolfes was T24 at 212 after scores of 73-69-70. Griffin junior Henry Mabbettcontributed an opening round 69.

Kennesaw, Augusta and GeorgiaSouthern competed in the annualPalmetto Invitational in Aiken, S.C.,with the Owls placing 3rd, the Jaguarstying for 5th and the Eagles 8th.

The Owls shot 279-279-274 atPalmetto Golf Club to finish at 6-under274, seven behind South Carolina.Beaucousin was low for Kennesaw, tyingfor 4th at 6-under 204 with scores of 68-69-67. Beck shot 65-71-69 to tie for 8that 205, with Vick closing with scores of67-68 to tie for 19th at 209.

Augusta shot 841, with Antcliff tyingfor 8th at 205 with scores of 66-70-69.

Wolfes tied for second individually at202 with scores of 67-65-70, but was theonly Georgia Southern golfer to place inthe top 50, as the Eagles finished with ateam total of 857.

Augusta State closed out March byplacing third in the Hootie @ Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in South Carolina.

McCoy medalist at Reynolds PlantationBulldogs finish first and second in state events

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The Jaguars shot 13-under 851 and fin-ished 13 behind South Carolina. RobinPetersson shot a second round 66 andtied for 5th at 209 and three of his team-mates closed with scores in the 60s as theteam shot 13-under 275 the final day.

Georgia State and Mercer competed inthe Tiger Invitational, hosted byAuburn at Grand National in Opelika,Ala., with the Panthers placing 3rd andthe Bears well back in 11th place.Georgia State shot 3-under the last tworounds and ended up 34 shots behindhost Auburn, which won by 28.

Grey finished second individually at 7-under 209 with scores of 70-69-70. Whiteshot 71-72 the last two days and tied for19th at 218, with Mallonee closing withscores of 70-72 to tie for 25th at 220.

Rule shot 71-67 the last two days totie for 13th at 215, but no other Mercergolfer finished better than 39th as theBears posted an 896 team total.

Georgia Tech and Mercer played in the Seminole Intercollegiatehosted by Florida State, with the Yellow Jackets making a strong run atvictory despite playing without No. 1player Ollie Schniederjans, who wascompeting that weekend in the PGATour event in Tampa.

The Jackets closed with scores of 280

and 281 for a 16-under 848 total, fiveshots behind host FSU’s winning total.Woodstock senior Anders Albertson,assumed the No. 1 spot in the lineup inSchniederjans’ absence and tied for 4thindividually at 9-under 207 with scoresof 70-70-67.

Freshmen James Clark of Columbusand Chris Petefish both tied for 9th at211, with Clark posting scores of 69-69-73. Auburn senior Drew Czuchry shot72-70 the final two rounds.

Mercer was 9th at 3-under 861, withRule tying for 9th at 211 with scores of67-73-71. Kountakis shot even par 216and tied for 34th.

Schniederjans was back in the lineup the next week in the Tampa area as theYellow Jackets competed in the ValsparCollegiate at the Floridian, the tournamentSchniederjans won last year to earn his spotin the PGA Tour event. Tech’s senior All-American suffered through one of hispoorest efforts in his college career as Techended up in 10th place with an 873 total.

Albertson led the Jackets with a tie for 11th at 2-under 211 with scores of 72-70-69. No other Tech player finished in the top 30, with Clark, whocompeted as an individual, closing with a70, the only other sub-par score for theYellow Jackets.

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B y M i k e B l u m

n recent years, Georgia’s mini-tour pros have had several optionsto choose from as they try to work their up the professional

golf ladder. The NGA Hooters Tour was the pri-

mary option for years before the NorthCarolina-based Tar Heel (now eGolf)Tour emerged as a viable option about adecade ago. The Georgia-based PeachState Tour came along five years later andoffered a less-costly, less competitivealternative.

The Georgia-based tour seemedheaded for its most successful year in2014, but fell victim to financial con-cerns that put an apparent end to it afterfive seasons, leaving just two options formini-tour players in the state.

Both remaining tours have undergonechanges in the past year or two. Theformer Hooters Tour, which has beenaround for some 25 years under severalnames, is now known as theSwingThought.com Tour, and seems tobe headed in a positive direction after arough year in 2014.

Field sizes and purses dipped to recordlows, but both have returned to tradi-tional levels after the tour was acquiredby Golf Interact, a startup companyowned by a former mini-tour player. Thetour conducted more than 25 events,most of them either one or two days, overthe Winter in Florida, and began its2015 schedule at Valdosta’s KinderlouForest in late February.

The tournament was won by formerNorth Carolina State golfer Albin Choi,who also won the next tour event inMississippi. Choi shot 6-under 210 atKinderlou, the home of a Web.com Tourevent the previous eight years, to finishone shot ahead of Charlotte’s CoreyNagy and take home the winner’s checkfor $20,000 from the $140,000 purse.

Two recent Georgia Tech standoutsfrom the Atlanta area tied for third tocollect checks for $5,623. Tying for thirdat 213 was tour rookie Seth Reeves ofSuwanee and James White of Acworth.Reeves shot 71-69-73 and was a con-tender until a double bogey on the 15thhole in the final round.

White, who has enjoyed some successat the mini-tour level in the early stagesof his tour career, shot 70-68-75, making

three birdies, three bogeysand a double bogey on thefinal nine in difficult weatherconditions.

Evans’ Chip Deason tiedfor 20th at 217, with youngtour players Keith Mitchell(UGA) and Bryan Fox(Roswell/Georgia College)T25 at 218. Also makingthe cut and earning checkswere tour veterans ChrisWolfe (Warner Robins),Tim O’Neal (Savannah),Jay McLuen (Forsyth) and Wade Binfield(Fayetteville).

Choi also won the nextSwingThought.com Tourevent in a playoff. FormerGeorgia Tech golfer Shun Yat Hak tiedfor 10th at 208, four shots out of theplayoff, with ex-Georgia Southern golferLogan Blondell T13 at 209 andBinfield T22 at 210.

Binfield came right back with a vic-tory in the next tour event, which wasalso played at Diamondhead CountryClub on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast but on adifferent course. Binfield, who played his college golf at Clayton State, shot 66-67-68 for a 15-under 201 total to winby two.

The victory was worth $20,000 forBinfield, who also earned a spot in theWeb.com Tour event in May inGreenville, S.C. He was tied for the leadafter 36 holes, but shot 5-under on thefront nine the final day to take the lead.For the tournament, Binfield was 15-under on the front nine and even par onthe back.

Recent UGA golfer Joey Garber shot70-64-72 and tied for sixth at 207.White shot 65-69-73 to tie for ninth at207 with former Atlanta area residentReid Edstrom, who played in college atAuburn and now lives there. Hak tied for16th at 209.

The SwingThought.com Tour has sev-eral more tournaments scheduled thisyear that will be played in Georgia or justoutside Augusta in South Carolina.

Savannah Lakes in McCormick, S.C.,will host its annual event April 30-May3. Chattahoochee Golf Club inGainesville will again serve as a tour hostMay 14-17, with other events scheduledJuly 14-17 at Callaway Gardens and

Aug. 20-23 at the River Club in NorthAugusta, S.C.

Georgia tour players have enjoyed along history of success on the formerHooters Tour, with Dave Schreyersecond in career victories (10) behindveteran PGA Tour member ChadCampbell (13). Other Georgians whowon on the Hooters include DickyThompson (6 wins), FranklinLangham and Vaughn Taylor (4 wins),Kris Blanks, Kevin Blanton, JustinBolli, Jon Hough (Governors TowneClub head pro), John Kimbell andCharlie Rymer (3 wins), JoshBroadaway, Paul Claxton, D.J. Fiese,Ned Michaels, Travis Nance (CoosaCountry Club pro) and Matt Peterson(UGA Golf Club head pro), all with twowins, and Blake Adams, JodyBellflower, Jason Bohn, NickCassini, Stewart Cink, Tim Conley,Jack Croyle, Steve Gilley, Hank Kim,Hicks Malonson, Major Manning,Rob McKelvey, Bryant Odom, KyleOwen (Dunwoody Country Club pro)and Mark Silvers, all with one tour wineach.

Since it began in 2006, the eGolf Tourhas featured a strong Georgia presence,although that waned a bit the past fewyears as the Peach State Tour gainedmomentum before its apparent demiseafter the 2014 season.

McLuen was the first Georgian tomake impact on the tour, finishing 10th,10th and 11th on the money list its firstthree years with one victory each season.

Former Georgia Amateurchampion David Robinson ofSandersville led the tour inearnings in 2008, winningthree times, and Augusta nativeScott Brown also was theleading money winner withthree victories the followingyear. Roberto Castro(Alpharetta/Georgia Tech) wonfive times between 2007 and2010 before moving up to theWeb.com and PGA Tours, withKevin Kisner (Aiken,S.C./UGA), Blake Adams (LakeOconee/Georgia Southern) BrianHarman (Savannah/UGA) andHudson Swafford (UGA) alsoreaching the PGA Tour after win-ning eGolf Tour events.

Former Georgia Tech golfersCameron Tringale and ChessonHadley both started their rapid rise tothe PGA Tour on the eGolf Tour, withSavannah native Chris Epperson themost successful player from the state inrecent years, placing third on the moneylist in 2012 and sixth in ’13. NorthCarolinian J.T. Griffin, also a formerYellow Jacket, won on the tour last year,with Epperson opening the 2015 seasonwith a victory at Hilton Head’s PalmettoPlantation.

Epperson, who played full time on theWeb.com Tour in 2014, dominated theevent, leading by seven shots at 13-under203 before a quadruple bogey on the72nd hole left him with a 76 the finalday and reduced his margin of victoryfrom seven shots to three. Epperson tookhome $14,000 from the $100,000 purse,with recent Georgia Tech golfer BoAndrews and Atlanta’s Brett Langealso in the top 25.

Augusta’s Dykes Harbin, who playedhis college golf at South Carolina, lost ina playoff the following week in SouthernPines, N.C., shooting 2-under 69 thefinal round in extremely difficult weatherconditions.

Zach Caldwell, an assistant atAchasta Golf Club in Dahlonega, fin-ished one shot out of the playoff at2-under 211, while Augusta’s ChaseParker tied for 13th at 214. Griffin andAugusta’s Clark Palmer were alsoamong the top 25 finishers in the event,which was also played under unfavorableweather conditions.

Mini-tour pros down to 2 regional optionsPeach State Tour folds after strong start in ’14

I


Seth Reeves

ROBERT

MATRE


Gene Sauers, Billy Andrade, LarryMize and Larry Nelson, former majorchampions Mark Brooks, MarkCalcavecchia, Sandy Lyle, MarkO’Meara, Corey Pavin, Nick Price,Hal Sutton and Bob Tway, and fanfavorite Rocco Mediate.

During its years as host of a PGA Tourevent, Sugarloaf tended to favor big hit-ters, with champions including PhilMickelson (three times), ScottMcCarron (twice) and major championsTiger Woods, David Duval and RetiefGoosen. But fellow major champion andnon-bomber Zach Johnson won twice,with Ben Crane and Ryuji Imada alsoSugarloaf winners. Former GeorgiaBulldog Imada took the final PGA Tourevent there in a playoff in 2008 overPerry, who probably still hasn’t forgottenthe ricochet off the tree near the 18thgreen that cost him the tournament.

Sugarloaf is among the longer andmore difficult courses the ChampionsTour visits, with the last year’s tourna-ment yardage listed at 7,131 yards, lessthan 130 yards short of the yardage thelast time the PGA Tour stopped inDuluth.

Four of Sugarloaf’s demanding groupof par 4s (5, 9, 14 and 17) play 440 yardsor longer, with the fifth among thetoughest holes on the course with a creekfronting a narrow green guarded at theback by sand.

The par 5s are typically where the tourpros look for birdies and possible eagles,but the four at Sugarloaf average almost560 yards and require two big hits forthe longer Champions Tour players toreach them in two unless the tees arepushed up a bit or there are favorablewind conditions. The best birdie oppor-tunity is likely the short, par-4 13th,potentially drivable at 310 yards.

The par 3s are not an especiallydemanding group, with the 11th theonly one with water in play and theeighth the lone member of the quartetwith significant yardage. At just 144yards, it’s almost always surprising howfew birdies the second hole yields.

Sugarloaf is not the easiest course towalk, but is not appreciably more diffi-cult in that regard than the previousAtlanta area course to host theChampions Tour (Golf Club of Georgia).Just a few more roads to cross.

Champions Tour [ Continued from page 8 ]

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Miller, Alaya win in Haskins Junior Nolan Miller of Midland and AlejandraAyala of Alpharetta were the boys andgirls winners of the Georgia PGA JuniorTour Haskins Invitational, played lastmonth at Country Club of Columbus, thetour’s opening event of 2015.

Miller shot 74-72—146 to win the 14-15age group by six shots and the overallboys title by five. Carson Whitton ofNewnan was 2nd in 14-15 at 152, withMacon’s Charles Stroud winning the 16-18 division and taking 2nd overall at75-76—151. Jordan Long of Stockbridgewas 2nd in 16-18 at 152. Jonathan Parkerof Columbus shot 80-70—150 to win the11-13 division by seven over CharlesWaldrop of Columbus.

Ayala shot 176 to win the girls divisionby five over Alexis Gopfert of Dahlonega.

The Georgia PGA will conduct the NorthGeorgia High School Classic at ChateauElan April 17-18, with the next Junior Tourevent set for April 25-26 at Oak Mountain.

Mobley, Carter capture titles at Brunswick CC Waynesboro’s Jay Mobley won aSoutheastern Junior Tour event atBrunswick Country Club, with scores of 67-72—139, finishing one shot ahead of therunner-up.

Jacob Bayer of Lawrenceville shot 71-72—143 to take 1st in the 14-15 division.Logan Perkins of Locust Grove was 2nd at144 and Thomas Hogan of St. Simons 3rdat 145. Harry Jones of Augusta shot 77-75—152 to win the 12-13 age group byfive over Will Spivey of Douglas.

The girls winner was Layne-MarieCarter of Lyons, who shot 72-78—150 tofinish four ahead of Julianna Collett of St.Simons.

The Southeastern Junior Tour plays atKinderlou Forest in Valdosta April 18-19and at Chattahoochee Golf Club inGainesville May 9-10.

Kahlstorf capturesHurricane playoffWill Kahlstorf of Watkinsville won aHurricane Junior Tour event at Chateau Elan,taking a playoff over Acworth’s AdamMorris after both finished with 144 totals.Kahlstorf shot a second round 70, whileMorris carded a pair of 72s. Macon’s ZachZediker was 3rd in the 15-18 division at 147.

Andy Mao of Johns Creek shot 73-74—147 to take 1st in the 13-14 age group bytwo shots over Suwanee’s Preston Topper.In girls 11-14, Buford’s Tess Davenportplaced 2nd at 153.

In a Hurricane Junior Tour event earlierlast month at Mirror Lake in Douglasville,Kenny Park of Cumming shot 71-76—147to win the boys division by one shot overZediker, who also opened with a 71.

Mac Thompson of Marietta was the 13-14 age group winner at 155, with Mao andNoah Zediker of Macon tying for 2nd at158.

Diane Lim of Peachtree Corners was thegirls winner with scores of 72-76—148, oneshot ahead of Macon’s Carol Pyon.Peachtree City’s Ivy Shepherd was 3rd at151. Ashley Shim of Newnan won girls 11-14 by 11 shots with a 163 total.

In out of state Hurricane Junior Tourevents last month:

Logan Perkins shot 71-76—147 to winboys 15-18 by nine shots in Glencoe, Ala.Mark Long of Alpharetta was 2nd in the 13-14 division at 177, one behind the winner.

Three Georgians won their divisions atWoodside Plantation in Aiken, S.C. HarryJones shot 161 to win boys 13-14 by two,Alex Colligan of Evans won the 11-12 agegroup by one at 165, and Buford’s SkylarThompson shot 171 and won girls 11-14 by11. Salil Ghamande of Evans tied for 2nd inboys 15-18 at 153, three behind the winner.

Wilson Andress of Macon was the boys13-14 winner in Perdido, Fla., with scores of77-76—153. Jake Allstun of Cohutta tiedfor 2nd at 154. Aaron Sweatman ofNewnan tied for 2nd in boys 15-18 at 156,three shots behind the winner.

Vijay Patel of Rome and HannahSolesbee of Winston placed 2nd in theirdivisions in Knoxville, Tenn. Patel shot 155to finish three behind the winner in boys15-18 and Solesbee was two behind thewinner in girls 15-18 at 167.

Upcoming Hurricane Junior Tour eventsinclude Jekyll Island April 11-12, Traditionsof Braselton April 25-26 and Bartram TrailMay 9-10.


Golf FORE Juniors

Alejandra Ayala

Nolan Miller

Masters [ Continued from page 14 ]

Phil Mickelson is still a threat, but not ifhe putts like he has since his unexpectedBritish Open triumph in 2013. Mickelsoncan contend out of nowhere (2014 PGA),but he’s been putting too bad for too longto suddenly find it. Maybe.

That leaves the three players who arethe no-brainer favorites. A lot of peoplewere surprised when Bubba Watsonwon the Masters in 2012. At least thatmany were surprised (again) whenWatson won (again) last year. Unlikemany players who win their first majors,Watson is showing no signs of careershrinkage, rising to third in the WorldRankings. You wouldn’t think he couldwin for the third time in four years, butwhose game is better suited to AugustaNational than his?

Watson won for the second time in

three years in 2014 . Adam Scott has thechance to match that this year, with theonly concern about him his occasionalputting struggles. If his putting is justdecent, he’s the most likely player toleave with a green jacket.

Rory McIlroy is shooting for his thirdstraight major and a career grand slam amonth short of turning 26. When he’son, he’s the best player on the planet, buthe has not really been “on” in Augustasince his Sunday back nine meltdown in2009. The law of averages are againsthim after winning the last two majors,they’re on his side when it comes to hisrecord in Augusta. Which will win out?

Then there’s the player who, whetherhe’s in Augusta or not, will be themedia’s favorite topic Masters week. Nothere. Not interested.

http://www.ussportscamps.com/

Frasier, James winPro-Pro ScrambleThe Chicopee Woods team of Jeff Frasierand Jason James won the Georgia PGAClub Car Pro-Pro Scramble last month atAlpharetta Athletic Club’s East course,shooting a 10-under 62 to finish two aheadof eight teams that tied for second at 64.

Starting at the 12th hole in a shotgunstart, Frasier and James birdied six of theirfirst seven holes, then added four birdies ina six-holes stretch on the front side. It wasthe first win in a team event for James,while Frasier teamed with Craig Stevens ofBrookstone G&CC to win the Pro-ProScramble in 2011. Frasier and James spiltfirst place money of $2,000.

Tying for second at 64 were: ShawnKoch and David Potts of Country Club ofthe South; Eric Hester of Nob North andJustin Jolly of Tunnel Hill GC; MatthewEvans of Rivermont and Bradley Smith ofEagle’s Landing; Chris Asbell and ChrisNicol of Georgia Golf Center; Scott Curieland Tim Weinhart of the Standard Club;Chris Cartwright of West Pines and SteveRidge; Josh Nichols and William Rahm ofTPC Sugarloaf; and Todd Ormsby ofHighland CC and Thomas Mitchell ofHeron Bay.

Evans, Nicol, Asbell and Koch are allformer Pro-Pro Scramble winners, withWeinhart part of three winning teams, thelast with Curiel in 2006.

The tournament was presented by LaserLink Golf, Sun Mountain, Cobra Puma Golfand Haas-Jordan.

Amateurs sweepSr. Division eventsAmateurs won the first three Georgia PGASenior Division tournaments in 2015, withfive players sharing titles in the first two

tournaments and Rocky Costa taking thethird tournament outright.

Costa won last month’s tournament atDoublegate in Albany, shooting 67-71-138to win by five over Rusty Strawn, whoclosed with a 69 for a 143 total. Costa andStrawn were the only players to post scoreslower than 71.

Sharing low pro honors and tying forthird overall at 146 were Winston Trivelyof Crooked Oak and Glen Herrell ofDoublegate. Amateurs John Foster andLee Dennis tied for fifth at 147 along withpros DeWitt Weaver of the Legends atChateau Elan and Richard Korytoski ofGreen Island. Rounding out the top 10 wasamateur Joey Kaney at 148 and proCharlie King of Griffin Golf Course at 149.

The previous two Senior Division eventswere both weather-shortened and endedwith players sharing first place.

There was a three-way tie for first atSapelo Hammock on the Georgia coast,with Strawn, Jack Kearney and Ed Davisall shooting 2-under 70. They finished oneshot ahead of co-low pros Sonny Skinnerand Clark Spratlin. It was the senior debutfor Spratlin, the Director of Golf at CurraheeClub.

Foster tied for sixth at 72 along with prosScott Hare of Collins Hill GC and CraigStevens of Brookstone G&CC. Tying forninth at 73 were amateurs MelMendenhall and Don Marsh and proJames Mason.

Marsh and Kearney both shot 4-under 68at Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta to share firstplace in the Senior Diivision opener for2015. Finishing third, fourth and fifth wereamateurs Frank Remmes (69), MarkBenefield (70) and Strawn (71).

Sharing low pro honors and tying forsixth at 72 were Herrell, Mike Shannon ofSea Island GC and Bob Burk of Valdosta’sStone Creek. Also shooting 72 were ama-teurs Brian Slezak and Doug Rayford.

2 0 1 5 A P R I L 29G O L F F O R E G E O R G I A . C O M

Chip Shots

Georgia PGA Pro-Pro Scramble winners Jeff Frasier (left) and Jason James

GEO

RGIA

PGA

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Across1. New golf movie coming out,directed by Terry Jastrow (2 words)7. ____ the flag10. A lip out only goes around it11. Bobby Jones founded this famous club13. Fred Couples was famous for his full ____ (rotation around a fixed point)14. It might hold a full complement of clubs17. Club designed for playing high, soft shots from short distances18. Go into the rough, for example19. Hurry a shot21. Process of judging the break and path of a putt, ____ the green23. Month of the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits24. Skill26. "Obviously!"

27. 2009 Houston Open winner, ____ Casey28. Bunker material29. Media handler30. He set a record score at the US Open in 201133. Shot from the rough that reduces the backspin on the ball36. 2014 leader at the Masters after an opening round of 68, ____ Haas37. World Golf Hall of Famer, ___ Alcott38. Tom or Bubba40. Position of the ball41. ___ Nick Faldo42. First letter of the last name of the designer of the Augusta course44. World Golf Hall of Famer, Laura ____45. Tournament where you'll navigate Amen Corner

Down1. Iconic golf resort in Scotland, now a Trump property2. Large tree3. Very low trajectory shot (2 words)4. Shoot two under5. Grab lunch6. Being ___, can result in a shank8. Easy putt, ___ in9. Water hazard12. Hole that uniquely defines acourse15. Equal16. Winning all four majors (2 words)19. Winner of the 2014 HondaClassic, ____ Henley20. Golfer's feet position22. Open space between trees, perhaps25. Hit a putt with a short, firm stroke30. Boston's state31. Initials of the golfer who was 2nd in the 2014 US Open

32. Tiger has waited almost seven of these since winning his last major33. The PGA Tour may levy them for professional conduct violations34. "___ say!"35. Tall grasses36. Van Pelt's first name37. Pitch in38. Golf phenom Michelle39. Golfing great, Snead41. Yes in Madrid43. Mountain, abbr.

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