March 2016 FORE Georgia Magazine

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MARCH 2016

Masters PREVIEW ISSUE

Heritage Golf Links an Atlanta standout New ownership enhances quality facility

By Mike Blum

S

ince it opened in the mid1990s, Heritage Golf Links has been regarded as one of the best daily fee golf courses in Atlanta with perhaps the most ideal location of any facility in the metro area.

That combination, however, was not enough to ensure commercial success, as two separate ownership entities were unable to capitalize on the club’s combination of quality layout and prime location.

The club, located just outside Spaghetti Junction on the DeKalb/Gwinnett border, was renamed and fell into decline under the ownership of former NBA great Julius Erving, who acquired Heritage in 2006 before losing it to foreclosure in 2010. The efforts of Textron and Affiniti Golf Partners enabled the club to emerge from foreclosure and the work of brothers Jim and Adam Owen, who purchased the club in 2013, helped restore the luster Heritage had displayed in its early years.

Heritage Golf Links was acquired by Texas-based Triumph Golf in June of last year, and the company is in the midst of significant improvements to the club, which now sports two very recognizable names in Atlanta golf circles as the new General Manager/Head Professional (Scott Curiel) and Director of Instruction (Tim Weinhart).

Curiel was the long-time Director of Golf at the Standard Club in the north Fulton suburbs, with Weinhart working as an instructor at the Standard Club in recent years. Curiel and several of Triumph’s owners have their golf roots with ClubCorp in Texas, with Curiel and Triumph Founding Partners Billy Sitton and Mike Feild all sharing Texas backgrounds.

Triumph Golf, which is based in Houston, owns or operates clubs in Texas and Ohio along with Heritage, the company’s most recent acquisition. Because the company is able to pay cash for its acquisitions, it does not start with a mountain of debt, which helped lead to the struggles that plagued Heritage

Scenic but demanding par-4 18th at Heritage Golf Links

under previous owners.

Curiel says Triumph “looks at about one hundred courses a year and may pick only one or two. They are experts at acquiring properties. They know the cream of the crop and they are very picky.”

Triumph’s goal with Heritage is to make it “the best daily fee/semi-private club in Atlanta,” says Curiel, with the new ownership prepared to invest in upgrading both the condition of the

course as well as the club’s infrastructure.

Heritage is one of just a handful of 27hole daily fee facilities in the Atlanta area, with the original 18 designed by Georgiabased golf course architect Mike Young, and the newer Tradition nine designed by Tim Cate, who has done most of his work in the Myrtle Beach area.

The new Heritage ownership inherited members from the previous owners, and [ See Heritage Golf Links, page 6 ]

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Instruction Fore You

P R E S E N T E D BY

Use your GPS to be more consistent!

By Tim Weinhart PGA Director of Instruction Heritage Golf Links “I want to be more consistent!”

I would wager a lot of money that I hear this from 95% of the lessons I give. We all want to be more consistent, but are we doing the things that will make us more consistent? How is your grip? How is your posture? How is your alignment? Are you the same distance from the ball each time? When we watch Jordan Spieth or Jason Day or any number of other professionals on television set up to a golf ball, they look exactly the same on every shot, unless they are hitting some type of specialty shot or have a funky lie.

Why do most amateur golfers not set up to the ball the same on each shot?

The answer is simple, you need a checklist, the same way a pilot needs to go through a preflight checklist EVERY time before he takes off. Let’s make it a lot simpler than that though by using only three letters, GPS. GPS causes most people to think of driving directions or global positioning satellites, not their Grip, Posture, Stance.

Grip, Posture, Stance is the key to becoming more consistent. Let’s go over each of these briefly.

Forecast

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Vaughn Taylor going home . . . . . . 12 College golf preview . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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Jason McCullough / Carly Aronin / Rebecca Rast / Olivia Rawlings JUNIOR / COLLEGE GOLF NEWS COORDINATOR

Samantha Stone

The Posture

(For a right handed golfer; left handed golfers please substitute right for left) Are you gripping the club the same way every time? Some basics of your grip should be that you are gripping the club in the base of your fingers on an angle from the third bone of your index finger to the third joint of your pinky finger.

Doing this should allow the heel pad of your left hand to rest on top of the club.

Your left thumb should go straight down the shaft. Your checkpoint to see if you are doing this correctly is you should be able to see a minimum of two knuckles on the back of your left hand. Your right hand goes on the club so that the grip is in the base of your fingers, which should allow for the thumb of the left hand to fit snugly into the crease formed by your right thumb and the heel pad of your right hand. Your right thumb should be as close as possible to your right index finger. Your checkpoints for your Grip are:

Are you bent over at the waist or tilted at your hips? How much are your knees bent? How wide are your feet? Some basics of your Posture are you should spread your feet to approximately shoulder width, meaning your shoulders should fit inside your toes. You should be tilted at your hip joint or pelvis (this keeps your back straighter) enough so that your arms hang out and over a line formed by your toes (toe line or foot line). Next, flex, don’t bend your knees, finding your balance. Your checkpoints for your Posture are:

u Heel pad on top of club v See minimum of 2 knuckles on back

Is your alignment correct? Is your ball position the same every time? So many golfers aim way right or way left. Stance includes ball position and alignment.

Some basics of your stance are that your target line (line formed between your ball and the target) and your toe line are like train tracks. Ball position begins in the center of your stance with the shortest club in your bag and gradually moves toward your target and away from you, as the clubs get longer, ending with the ball just inside your left heel or on your instep. Your checkpoints for your Stance are:

of left hand

w Your left thumb should be covered

by the crease of your right hand

x Your right thumb should be as close

as possible to your right index finger

u Feet shoulder width apart

The Stance

tracks (always parallel)

v Ball position starts in center and Women's college preview. . . . . . . . 16

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Georgia PGA preview. . . . . . . . . . . 20

MARKETING & ADVERTISING

National Sales: Ed Bowen/Bowen Group, edbowen.foregeorgia@gmail.com Local & Corporate Sale: John Barrett/Rick Holt, foregeorgia@comcast.net • Brandy Jones, brandy.foregeorgia@gmail.com Corporate/Professional Relations: Scott Mahr A 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 Dwayne Walker CONTRIBUTORS

Tim Weinhart • Steve Dinberg Rob Matre • Al Kooistra GEORGIA SECTION, PGA OF AMERICA OFFICERS

President Mark Mongell, PGA / mmongell@cherokeetcc.org Vice President Brian Albertson, PGA / bamulligan@bellsouth.net Secretary John Godwin, PGA / jgodwinpga@earthlink.net Honorary President Brian Stubbs, PGA / bstubbs@ccofcolumbus.com

(shoulders should fit inside toes)

v Tilted at your hip joint or pelvis w Knees flexed, not bent x Arms hanging out and over toe line

u Target line and toe line are like train

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Big 3 eye Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PUBLISHER

Golf Media, Inc. / John Barrett E D I T O R Mike Blum

The Grip

Tim Weinhart is an 8-time Georgia PGA Player of the Year and is the Director of Instruction at the Tim Weinhart Golf Academy at Heritage Golf Links. You can reach Tim at 678-920-4003 or e-mail him at timweinhart@gmail.com.

FEATURES:

3021 Kalah Place, Marietta, GA 30067 770-933-04GA / 770-953-6638 fax FOREgeorgia.com / foregeorgia@comcast.net Send all press releases to: info@foregeorgia.com

moves forward as the clubs get longer You can use these simple steps to make your GPS more consistent and in turn, set up to the ball the same way every time making your game more consistent.

CHAPTER PRESIDENTS

Central Chapter President Cary Brown, PGA / cary@valdosta-country-club.com East Chapter President Brandon Youmans / brandonyoumans@pga.com North Chapter President Shawn Koch, PGA / prokoch@pga.com AT - L A R G E D I R E C T O R S

Billy Jack, PGA / bjack@stivescountryclub.org Brandon Stooksbury, PGA / bjstook@pga.com Mark Lammi, PGA / mal9599@msn.com Brian Conley, PGA / pgaugadawg@aol.com Matthew Evans, PGA / mevans@pga.com Todd Ormsby, PGA / taormsby1020@gmail.com SENIOR DIVISION

President Scott Hare, PGA / shhare@pga.com A S S I S TA N T S ’ D I V I S I O N

President Will Bartram, PGA / will@hawksridge.com S E C T I O N S TA F F

Executive Director Mike Paull Assistant Executive Director/ Junior Golf Director Scott Gordon Tournament Director Pat Day, PGA Operations Manager Eric Wagner Foundation Program Manager Maria Bengtsson Section Assistant Carrie Ann Byrne FOREGeorgia is produced by Golf Media, Inc. Copyright ©2014 with all rights reserved.

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Heritage Golf Links

[ Continued from the cover ]

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is looking to expand on those numbers with a “Loyalty Program” that includes several levels of membership.

For an annual fee of $69.99, golfers receive discounted rates off the weekday and weekend greens fees along with free breakfast, lunch and two drinks with each round, a free round of golf for each 12 played and reduced pro shop prices on soft goods and apparel.

The Loyalty Plus membership is designed for players who spend much of their time on the range and offers unlimited range access along with the other Loyalty Club offers for $49.99 per month.

The Associate Golf Membership includes Monday to Friday golf course access, unlimited complimentary greens fees, cart fees, and two free drafts or soft drinks per round along with special events and free clinics hosted by the teaching staff for $2,200 per year, with children or spouses included for an additional $550 per year.

The Platinum Membership provides full weekday and weekend access to the course, along with the other benefits of Associate membership for $3,000 per year, with children or spouses an additional $750 per year.

In addition to 27 holes of golf in a totally development-free environment, Heritage Golf Links also features one of the Atlanta area’s largest and finest practice facilities, with Weinhart taking charge of the club’s instructional operation last Fall.

Weinhart is an eight-time Georgia PGA Player of the Year and a wellregarded instructor, and heads up a facility that includes high-tech swing instruction equipment and six covered hitting stations, with an indoor area devoted to putting. Improvements to the teaching center are in the planning stages, with the already expansive practice area for the Golf Academy expected to be enlarged and enhanced.

Joining Weinhart on the Heritage teaching staff are veteran Atlanta area instructors Oswald Drawdy and Jeff Jerrel, former tour pro Richard Swift and Andy Hwang.

The Tim Weinhart Golf Academy is one of three in the state that are part of the Golf Channel Academy network of facilities. Weinhart will contribute instruction videos to the Golf Channel Academy web site, with the web site providing “one more place for people to find us,” Weinhart said.

With a sizeable range, a quality FOREGEORGIA.COM

instructional facility and an accessible location, Heritage Golf Links is a magnet for those who love to practice, but it’s the excellence of the 27 holes that is the club’s primary draw.

Thanks to the work of Andy superintendent Neely, Heritage has fully Par-4 ninth hole recovered from the subconditions the standard course was in when Neely took the job hole could be added to more than five years ago. Neely said that group with a 200Heritage will return to its practice of yard-plus carry off the tee over-seeding for the winter later this over water from the blues. year, and will be one of the few Atlanta Despite the lofty slope area courses with green grass on the fair- numbers, the original 18 is ways once the weather turns cold. very playable for golfers of With warmer weather on the way, all abilities if you play from among Neely’s challenges at Heritage is the set of tees that best to keep the heavily undulating putting reflects your ability. Other surfaces in top condition and at the than a pair of tour-length proper speed to prevent the club’s par 3s and four par 4s with demanding greens complexes from over- forced carries from the tee, whelming players of modest short game the Legacy and Heritage nines offer skills. plenty of scoring opportunities, with a Neely points out that Heritage was “pace of play” policy in effect to make designed “for the high end player,” with rounds faster and more enjoyable. the superb greens among the best and With a few exceptions, all 27 holes at fastest bent grass surfaces in Atlanta and Heritage are relatively generous off the the primary defenses on all 27 holes. tee, with the newer Tradition nine a bit Heritage is not an especially long tighter as well as shorter. The modercourse, particularly the newer Tradition ately rolling terrain is a factor on all nine, which plays to a par of 35 with three nines, with very few flat holes but three par 3s and measures just under no severe elevation changes. Water haz3,000 yards from the Gold tees. ards are at a minimum, but some Don’t let the absence of significant wetlands areas also impact play, with a length fool you. Although the original creek that runs through the Tradition 18 tops out at 6,875 yards from the tips, nine mostly a non-factor.

Heritage is rated as the second most difIn addition to its more demanding ficult daily fee course in the state behind group of holes, the original 18 includes Echelon, but is not as intimidating as its a pair of short and inviting par 3s and a numbers if you play from the proper sets quartet of par 5s lacking in length but of tees. featuring some bunkers in varying locaThere are several holes on the original tions that are best avoided.

Legacy and Heritage nines that require Because of the challenge of the putsome fairly hefty carries from the tee for ting surfaces, Heritage places a premium the distance challenged among us, and at on quality approach shots to avoid some 6,453 yards, the blue tees (72.2/141) are putts over and across the pronounced likely more of a challenge than most tiers and ridges that are a part of many of golfers of modest ability can handle. The the greens. Few courses will test your white tees measure a more comfortable ability to gauge speed and break on 5,750, but still have a slope number of lengthy putts as much at Heritage, but 131, and provide all the test a non-single the quality of the greens will enable you digit handicapper would want. to hole a few from more reasonable disThe forward tees eliminate the forced tances when you encounter the relatively carries and are very accommodating for rare putt with little break around the women or juniors just getting started. hole.

A member’s set of tees combines the In addition to the challenge posed blues and whites with five of the more by the putting surfaces, the large, demanding holes played from the occasionally deep bunkers at whites, reducing the length by more Heritage will give your sand game a than 300 yards. The difficult finishing workout if you find them. With some of

Tough par-3 11th

the greens slightly elevated, a deft, vertical short game is also an asset if you miss to the low side.

The Tradition nine, located across the street from the original 18, was designed to complement the other two nines, particularly in the green designs. Apart from a short par 3 and a drive and pitch par 4, Tradition is not appreciably easier than its sister nines, and has the unique feature of beginning and ending with a pair of par 3s over some ominous looking front bunkers. The third par 3 is significantly friendlier apart from one of many greens with a sizeable ridge that divides it into distinct tiers.

Like the previous owners, who were both career PGA pros, Triumph Golf is led by individuals with long careers in the golf business as both players and operators. That experience will help Heritage finally achieve its status as one of the premier daily fee/semi-private clubs in metro Atlanta, while offering a very affordable product for its regular visitors.

The excellent Heritage Grill is well known in the area and has become a lunch destination for many area residents and businesses, and the club is a popular host for golf outings, luncheons and parties.

For information on Heritage Golf Links, or to book a tee time or event, call 770-493-4653 or visit www.heritagegolflinks.com., or contact Curiel at scott.curiel@heritagegolflinks.com.

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MASTERS 2016

Golf’s new ‘Big 3’ take shots at Masters title Spieth hopes to repeat, McIlroy aims for Slam

By Mike Blum

F

Jason Day

Jordan Spieth

Rory McIlroy

At any rate, those four players will be the focus of major championships this year and likely for the foreseeable future, beginning with next month’s Masters, with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson joining them as a favorite in Augusta.

Now all of 22 years old, Spieth is about to make his third appearance in Augusta after the best start to a Masters career by any player who has ever stepped foot on the grounds at Augusta National.

Spieth had the lead in the final round of his first Masters in 2014, but was overtaken midway through the round by Bubba Watson, who held on for his second win in Augusta in three years.

Spieth came back last year to score a wire-to-wire victory, matching the 72hole record of 18-under 270. Spieth took control of the tournament with opening scores of 64-66, and followed with a pair

STEVE DINBERG

FOREGEORGIA.COM

wild hook off the 10th tee resulted in a triple bogey, leading to an 80 and a tie for 15th. He has recorded top-10 finishes the last two years but was not a serious contender either time, closing with a 66 last year to finish fourth.

After his back nine collapse in Augusta, McIlroy rebounded with a resounding 8-shot victory in the U.S. Open at Congressional, again opening with a 65. Following three straight disappointing showings in the 2012 majors, McIlroy put on another dominant display

STEVE DINBERG

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of 70s to win by a comfortable 4-shot margin over Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose.

Despite lacking the power games of Nicklaus, Woods, Mickelson and Watson that produced 15 Masters titles among them, Spieth carved up the lengthened Augusta National layout with stellar displays of ball-striking and putting.

Spieth followed up that brilliant performance with his U.S. Open triumph highlighted by a superbly played birdie on the 72nd hole. He was one putt away

STEVE DINBERG

ollowing his overwhelming victory in the 1997 Masters, the focus of almost every major championship for the next 17 years was on Tiger Woods, even when he was absent with injuries.

Since 2014, Woods has become largely irrelevant on the golf course, opening the way for a new generation of golfers to compete for the status of the game’s No. 1 player.

The first player to emerge from the post-Tiger era was Rory McIlroy, who made his first big splash in the U.S. at the age of 21 in Charlotte when he blistered the highly regarded Quail Hollow layout with a final round 62 to take down Phil Mickelson, who lost the 54hole lead despite a closing 68.

Following a very public Sunday back nine meltdown at Augusta National the next year, McIlroy displayed his resolve when he rebounded to win the U.S Open two months later, the first of his four major championship victories.

After winning the final two majors of 2014, McIlroy was on the verge of establishing a Tiger-like grip on the No. 1-ranking in golf when another 21-yearold captured the first two majors of 2015, beginning with a record-matching victory in the Masters.

Jordan Spieth made the strongest run in golf history at capturing a professional calendar year Grand Slam, finishing one shot out of a playoff in the British Open and scoring a solo second place finish in the PGA Championship. Spieth replaced McIlroy’s as golf’s newest golden boy, but before he could be officially crowned, Jason Day made a spectacular Summer run that included a victory in the PGA after close calls in both the U.S. and British Opens.

That leaves golf in a similar situation to the 1960s, when Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player formed the game’s Big 3, which may or may not have spawned the idea for “super group” power trios in rock music, best represented in the ‘60s by the band Cream.

(Probably not.)

Golf’s modern trio of standouts has a collective five wins in the last six majors, with Spieth and Day coming up one shot

short of a playoff in the British Open.

Veteran Zach Johnson was the somewhat unlikely player to stop the major championship streak of the current Big 3, but despite capturing his second career major at St. Andrews, is considered no threat at converting the recently formed power trio into a quartet.

That role falls to Rickie Fowler, who has made enough noise to suggest that the band may sound better as a foursome, but needs a major on his resume to secure that status.

from a spot in the British Open playoff, and it took a sensational effort by Day to deny Spieth in the PGA. After close calls in the British Open and PGA, Spieth closed out a remarkable 2015 by capturing the Tour Championship and FedExCup, and began 2016 with a runaway win in the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, shooting 30-under for 72 holes.

The win in the T of C was Spieth’s ninth as a pro since he won the 2013 John Deere Classic in a playoff that included local hero Johnson, holing a bunker shot on the 72nd hole to pull into a tie for the lead.

McIlroy is a Masters title away from a career Grand Slam, coming closest to victory in his third Augusta start. McIlroy opened with a 65 in 2011 and was still four ahead after 54 holes. Despite a shaky opening nine, he retained the lead until a

in the PGA at Kiawah Island’s Ocean course, again winning by eight.

McIlroy’s third and fourth majors came in succession at the end of 2014, finally getting a challenge in the PGA at Valhalla, where he narrowly held off Mickelson. An ankle injury suffered last year kept McIlroy from attempting to defend his British Open title. He came back late in the year to win the Dubai World Championship, wrapping up the Race to Dubai title for the third time in four years. He also was the PGA Tour’s leading money winner in 2012 and ’14, and has a total of 19 victories worldwide since his first professional win in Dubai at the age of 19 in 2009. He has been a major player on the world stage for some time, but has not yet turned 27.

Day is the oldest of the Big 3 at 28, [ See Big 3, page 19 ] MARCH 2016

Just Like Its High Heat Driver, Knuth Golf’s Fairway Woods, Hybrids Getting Rave Reviews

By Mike Jamison

t is an accepted fact that hitting a 3-wood off the fairway strikes fear into the hearts of most amateur golfers. It can be difficult for even good players to get the ball airborne with that club.

With that challenge in mind, former USGA Senior Director Dean Knuth designed a fairway wood that makes it easier for low and high handicappers alike to strike the ball cleanly and get consistent results off the deck.

Knuth Golf’s High Heat fairway woods and hybrids were introduced to the golf industry at the PGA Merchandise Show in January. And like the launch of the High Heat Driver in 2015, the reviews have been astoundingly positive.

Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle wrote: “The Show’s sexiest club was the Knuth Golf High Heat 3-wood, which combined a low profile with the sleek curves of a ‘58 Corvette and, oh yeah, balls shot like out of a cannon. New 3 Hybrid High Heat was also best in breed, easy to hit, and beautifully blue.”

From Golfweek magazine: “Knuth Golf has added High Heat fairway woods and hybrids, following the same principles it used with its popular driver. The buzz last year came mostly from the fact the driver immediately could add yards (the company claims between 5 and 30 yards, approximately) to an amateur’s game.”

Tony Leodora, host of Golf Talk Live radio show and The Traveling Golfer TV show: “Very seldom have I seen a product take the industry by storm like the High Heat driver did in 2015. Now engineering guru Dean Knuth has produced a line of hybrids and fairway woods that integrates the same solid principles as the driver -- easy to hit, yet red-hot results off the face of the club.”

Tim Branco, publisher of Golf Gear Weekly: “The ball jumps off the face unlike any club I have ever hit. The sweet spot is much larger than most clubs and miss-hits are still fairly straight, long and in play. There is something to be said for quality and Knuth says it well. Go to

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knuthgolf.com to get yours today.”

Chuck Garbedian, host of the Garbedian On Golf on ESPN Radio, said it best: “If you are going to do one thing with your golf game, the best thing you can do is get yourself some High Heat. Get the driver, get the fairway woods and get the hybrids. It’s a win, win, win.”

The High Heat fairway woods and hybrids come with Knuth Golf’s Optimal Center of Gravity (CG) Game Changer and Fire Zone Face Technologies™ that enabled its High Heat driver to be one of the most decorated new products at last year’s PGA Show. The technology provides a 25% deeper and 18% lower center of gravity compared to major brands.

There are other design features that differentiate the High Heat fairway woods and hybrids from their competitors: They feature a Beta titanium cup face, providing an increased spring-like effect across the entire face for extra distance and increased forgiveness compared to traditional steel faces. They feature a much wider clubface than major brands. Since

most of amateurs’ offcenter misses are on the toe or heel, the wider face provides a higher spring-like effect and more forgiveness.

Said Knuth, “Our High Heat clubs are engineered for single digit to high handicap amateurs who have difficulty getting their ball up in the air from the fairway or rough, or who need more distance and accuracy. Our technology will help all amateurs improve.”

Teaching professional Eriq Brown is a 1 handicap who does not have a 3 wood in his bag because he has a hard time getting the ball up in the air. The San Diego resident agrees with Knuth’s assessment.

“High Heat’s 3 wood is the best 3 wood I have ever hit,” said Brown. “It takes all the pain of hitting a 3 wood out of the equation. 3 woods are so hard to get up in the air, but this is easy to get up in the air. This is amazing.”

For more information about Knuth Golf, visit www.knuthgolf.com or call 410-353-0446

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MASTERS 2016

Watson tops list of Georgians in Masters Ex-Bulldog looks for third win in 5 years

he 2016 Masters will feature a healthy number of players with Georgia ties in the field, but with April approaching, there is an impressive list of Georgians who are still hoping for a last-minute invitation (page 13).

Of the 10 players with Georgia ties already qualified, three are former Masters champions, including former Georgia Bulldog Bubba Watson, who will be looking to extend his recent run of winning in Augusta every other year.

Watson won in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen in 2012, highlighted by his memorable recovery shot from the trees on the first extra hole. Two years later, he captured a head-to-head duel with Jordan Spieth, one of his nine PGA Tour victories since 2010, 10 counting last year’s World Challenge.

Watson has been a hit-or-miss performer for much of his PGA Tour career, with that fact reflected in his Masters record. He tied for 20th in Augusta last year, his only finish better than 38th apart from his two victories. Watson’s record in other majors is similar, with the long-hitter lefthander contending only two other times over the past nine years, tying for fifth in 2007 U.S. Open and

T

Zach Johnson

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losing a playoff in the 2010 PGA, his lone setback in six playoff appearances.

Along with his 10 career wins, the most recent coming in Los Angeles, Watson has 13 runner-up finishes including three each the last two years to go along with two victories in both 2014 and ’15. He finished fifth in the FedExCup standings both years and is currently the fourthranked player in the world.

St. Simons Island resident Zach Johnson ranks as one of the more surprising Masters champions, winning in unpleasant weather conditions in 2007 with a 1-over 289 total, matching the highest winning score in tournament history.

Johnson has been one of tour’s top players since he won the defunct BellSouth Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in 2004, with the unexpected nature of his Masters victory resulting from his style of play, which does not fit the power game that has been successful in the majority of tournaments at Augusta National.

Other than his 2007 victory, Johnson has not enjoyed much success in Augusta, with a tie for ninth last year his second best showing in 10 career starts.

He captured his second major title in 2015, winning the British Open at St. Andrews and raising his career playoff record to 4-1. Johnson missed the 2010 PGA playoff at Whistling Straits by just one shot, but has never finished better than 30th in the U.S. Open.

Johnson has 12 career PGA Tour victories, and has at least one win in every year but one since 2007, when he won both the Masters and for a second time at Sugarloaf. He has placed among the top 20 in the FedExCup seven of the nine times it has been contested, and has been a fixture on Presidents/Ryder Cup teams for the past decade.

Larry Mize stands with Johnson in the surprise Masters champion category, winning in 1987 in a playoff over Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros thanks to his highlight reel pitch shot from well off the 11th green on the second extra hole.

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Bubba Watson

Mize, 57, is nearing the end of his run as a Masters competitor, but made the cut just two years ago, although it was only the third time he has made it to the weekend since 2001. Mize, an Augusta native and long time Columbus resident, has one win on the Champions Tour after collecting four titles in his PGA Tour career.

Matt Kuchar, one of four St. Simons residents in the Masters field, has been one of the most consistent performers in major championships since 2010, but is still looking for a victory in a Grand Slam event. He placed third, eighth and fifth in the Masters from 2012-14 before finishing well down the list last year, and has a string of solid results in each of the other three majors.

Kuchar has six straight top-30 finishes in the U.S. Open with a best of sixth, has a similar record in recent years in the PGA and has missed just two cuts in majors the last six years. Kuchar, the 1997 U.S. Amateur champion while a member of the Georgia Tech golf team, has seven PGA Tour wins, has placed among the top 20 in the FedExCup each of the last six years with four top-10 finishes, and has six straight Presidents/ Ryder Cup appearances.

STEVE DINBERG

By Mike Blum

Chris Kirk has never missed a cut in his eight major championship starts, but was sidelined for both the British Open and PGA last year due to injury. Kirk, a Woodstock native, lived for several years on St. Simons Island after a stellar college career at Georgia, and has recently settled in Athens. He has four victories since joining the PGA Tour in 2011, and was a hero in his first Presidents Cup last year.

Kirk has finished 20th and 33rd in his two Masters starts, with his best finish in a major a tie for 19th in the 2014 British Open. He placed second in the FedExCup standings that year, and has been in the top 50 in all five of his seasons on the PGA Tour.

With a victory late last season in Greensboro at the age of 51, Davis Love earned what will likely be his final invitation to the Masters. Love last played in Augusta in 2011, his only appearance there since 2007.

The long time St. Simons resident has compiled a strong career record in the majors, winning the 1997 PGA Championship and coming close in several other Grand Slam events. He was the [ See Georgians, page 19 ] MARCH 2016

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MASTERS 2016

Augusta’s Taylor earns return invite to Masters Revives career with surprise win at Pebble Beach

By Mike Blum

fter a long detour through golf’s wilderness, Augusta’s Vaughn Taylor found his way home in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

After more than a decade without a victory and lacking exempt status on the PGA Tour since 2012, Taylor pulled off a dramatic comeback in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, rallying from six back after 54 holes to edge out four-time tournament champion Phil Mickelson by one shot.

Taylor, just a month shy of his 40th birthday, enjoyed early success on the PGA Tour, winning in each of his first two seasons in 2004 and ’05, and earning a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2006. Taylor recorded runner-up finishes in 2008, ’09 and ’10, twice losing in playoffs, but his level of play dropped off after the 2010 season and never fully returned for more than five years.

Without exempt status, Taylor played limited PGA Tour schedules in 2013 and ’15, and made it into just three tournaments in 2014. He spent most of his time in ’14 on the Web.com Tour, where he had not played full time since 2003, playing respectably, but not well enough to regain his PGA Tour status.

Taylor divided his time between the two tours last year, playing consistent golf on both. But a poor finish in the final round in Greensboro dropped him just outside the top 150 on the final FedExCup points list, costing him conditional status on the PGA Tour.

Playing off his past champion’s status, Taylor made two starts last Fall, recording a top-20 finish in the opposite field event in Mississippi, but began 2016 on the Web.com Tour. He missed the cut in the season opener in Panama and withdrew with apparent food poisoning the next week in Colombia.

As the first alternate to get into the field at Pebble Beach, Taylor elected to fly from Colombia to northern California, and made it into the field early in the week. Taylor, who tied for 10th in the tournament last year, opened with a 70 at Pebble Beach, turning in a strong performance tee to green but struggling with his putter.

Taylor followed with an excellent

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round at Spyglass, usually the most difficult of the three courses used for the tournament, carding eight birdies in a 4-under 68, including four in a row beginning at the 14th. He started his round the next day at Monterrey Peninsula with an eagle on his first hole and was 4-under after four holes before encountering some problems midway through the round. Three birdies on his last six holes gave Taylor a 67 on the day, moving him into a tie for eighth.

Thanks to three birdies on his first four holes to start the final round at Pebble Beach, Taylor moved Vaughn Taylor into contention, but was still a few shots behind front with a fourth straight Mickelson. Taylor turned in birdie at the 16th, rolling in a putt from 2-under 34 despite spending much of the just under 30 feet.

He had excellent opening nine in the sand, resulting in a birdie opportunities at 17 and 18 but pair of bogeys against four birdies, one of narrowly missed both, finishing which came after driving into a fairway the day with a 65 to put him in the clubhouse at bunker on the par-4 fourth hole.

Taylor birdied the opening hole after 17-under, two ahead of Mickelson, who an approach to four feet, hit a beautiful had three holes to play.

With a clutch par-saving putt at 16 second shot to the par-5 second but and a birdie at 17, Mickelson gave himmissed his 12-footer for eagle, and holed self a chance to force a playoff after a putt from 18 feet at the fourth after a hitting his second shot just short of the bunker-to-bunker bogey at the third. green on the par-5 18th. He left himself Taylor failed to get up-and-down from a a 5-footer for birdie and lipped out the greenside bunker at the par-5 sixth, setputt, giving Taylor the victory without tling for par, and birdied the short having to go extra holes. seventh before missing from inside five “Just absolutely amazing,” Taylor said feet for par at the eighth after another in his media interview after his win. “I visit to the sand. can’t believe I’m actually sitting here Still several shots back of the leader right now.

Didn’t know it would ever with nine holes to play, Taylor made his happen again, to be honest.

Just lost a lot move with birdies at 10 and 13, hitting his approach shots from the same yardage of confidence, lost a good bit of my (139) to inside 10 feet on the 10th and game. I just kept working, kept inside five feet on the 13th. A precise grinding, and kept at it.”

Taylor admitted his goal coming into wedge to the difficult par-5 14th led to the final round was to finish in the top another birdie, and he got a nice break at 10, which would earn him a spot in the the 15th when his second shot deflected field in Los Angeles and keep him from off his playing partner’s ball and wound having to play in a qualifier the next day up two feet from the hole for a third to get into the tournament. straight birdie.

“I wasn’t even thinking about winWith Mickelson hovering around par ning,” he said, discounting the most of the day, Taylor surged to the

possibility of making up six shots on the second best player of Taylor’s generation.

Beginning with getting to skip the Monday qualifier in LA the following day, Taylor’s victory came with several perks. He is exempt on the PGA Tour through the 201718 season and earned invitations to two of the four majors in 2016 and next year’s Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

One of those two majors happens to be in his hometown and is just two months away.

“This opens so many doors for me,” Taylor said. “Playing in the Masters is obviously my Super Bowl. I didn’t know if I would ever get back, and I can’t believe I’m going to be there in a couple of months. It’s surreal.”

Taylor played in the Masters three times from 2006 to 2008, and was a serious contender in ’07, finishing in a tie for 10th. He was one shot out of the lead after both the second and third rounds, and was paired the final day with eventual champion Zach Johnson.

That was the last time Taylor made a cut in a major championship, with his last appearance in a Grand Slam event coming in the 2010 PGA, the other major he has earned a spot in this year.

With his victory, Taylor vaulted from 183 to 15 in the FedExCup standings and from 447 to 100 in the World Rankings. It also ended a lengthy struggle for Taylor, which included a harrowing experience in a boating accident at Lake Thurmond in Augusta in 2014.

Taylor was fishing from his boat when it flipped over in a strong current. He emerged from the accident unscathed, and even managed to finish fifth in the Web.com Tour tournament later that week.

“It was pretty scary,” Taylor recalled. “I really thought for a minute that this could be it. Once the panic kind of wore off and I realized, OK, let’s get yourself together, then I kind of calmed down and I knew I was going to be OK.” Taylor has lived in Augusta almost his entire life, moving there with his family as an infant. He grew up playing out of MARCH 2016

Goshen Plantation in south Augusta and attended Augusta State at a time when the team consisted largely of players from Europe. Taylor qualified for the U.S. Open his junior season and was an honorable All-America selection as a senior, but was largely overshadowed in his home town by fellow PGA Tour player Charles Howell and a few other locals who went to play for higher profile college programs.

After graduating from Augusta State in 1999, Taylor spent his early years as a pro playing on regional mini-tours and what is now the Web.com Tour. He qualified for the then Nationwide Tour in his first attempt and played respectably as a rookie, but did not get enough starts to retain his status. He returned to the Nationwide Tour in 2002, and again was unable to get enough starts to stay exempt.

Taylor enjoyed his early success as a pro on the Hooters Tour, winning four times.

The last of those victories came in 2003, which turned out to be a pivotal year in Taylor’s career. After winning an early season Hooters event, Taylor played his way into a Nationwide Tour event in Virginia and finished second. He tied for second the next week in North Carolina, 2016 MARCH

and after two more strong showings, shot 64 in the final round in Knoxville to get into a playoff and won, ending the year 11th on the money list to earn a spot in the 2004 PGA Tour.

The highlight of Taylor’s rookie season was a win in the Reno-Tahoe Open, held opposite the WGC event at Firestone CC. Taylor survived a final round played in difficult scoring conditions, notching a birdie on the 72nd hole to get into a four-way playoff, which he won with a birdie on the first extra hole.

Taylor repeated his Reno-Tahoe title in 2005, this time winning easily after building a six-shot lead after 54 holes.

He finished the year 36th in earnings, and followed with a string of top finishes in ’06 to earn a spot on the Ryder Cup team. He played only two matches in the U.S. loss, and remained a solid player for the next few years, but could not return to the winner’s circle before dropping off the PGA Tour in 2014.

After playing consistent golf last year but failing to earn any status on the PGA Tour, Taylor was admittedly frustrated.

“That was a tough year to swallow. I played really well and I put myself in position a lot of times to get my card, and I didn’t get it done, over and over.

And it was driving me crazy. I tried not to let it bother me, so I probably hid it pretty well, but it really started to bother me.

“And the last couple of weeks, the way they were going, I was thinking ‘what’s going on’. I don’t have anything at this moment. I was really worried about my career. And now look at it. I don’t know.

It’s unbelievable.”

Bohn hospitalized: Acworth resident Jason Bohn, among the Georgians hoping for a late invitation to the Masters, withdrew after making the cut in the Honda Classic after suffering what he said was a 99 percent blockage of a major artery. Bohn had a stent inserted and was said to be resting comfortably in a hospital the day after being admitted.

At the time of his hospitalization, Bohn was the highest ranked Georgian still looking to qualify for the 2016 Masters. Others not yet qualified include former UGA golfers Russell Henley, Brendon Todd and Brian Harman, Georgia Tech grads Stewart Cink, Cameron Tringale and Bryce Molder, and Augusta natives Charles Howell and Scott Brown.

To earn a late invitation, those eight players not yet qualified will need to win one of the handful of tournaments remaining before the Masters begins April 7.

East Lake changes: To make for a more exciting finish to the Tour Championship, the nines at East Lake Golf Club have been reversed for the tournament, resulting in the event finishing on a potentially reachable par 5 as opposed to a long, demanding par 3.

Instead of a finishing stretch beginning with perhaps the easiest hole on the course (the par-5 15th), followed by three of the most difficult holes that yielded few birdies, East Lake will now conclude with its toughest hole (No. 5), the most dangerous par 3 (the island green sixth), two moderately difficult par 4s (7 and 8) and the par-5 ninth.

Holes 7 and 8 will both be lengthened a bit, with bunkers added in the landing area for layup shots and bordering the green on the ninth. The ninth tee will be expanded to make it reachable in two in different weather conditions. In another change, the fairway bunker on the third hole (now No. 12 for the tournament) will be slightly re-positioned.

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Bulldogs look to contend again for NCAA title Jackets rebuilding without top 2015 players

eorgia’s Division 1 college golf teams began their Spring schedules last month, with Georgia Tech getting an early start in Hawaii.

Kennesaw State also opened its Spring schedule in Hawaii, and Georgia debuted in Puerto Rico with Georgia Tech also in that field. Georgia Southern played its first tournament in Gainesville, Fla., with Georgia State and Mercer playing their first events of 2016 in Mobile.

Augusta was the last of the seven D-1 teams to begin its 2016 schedule, traveling to California for a tournament Feb. 29-March 1.

(For early season college results, visit foregeorgia.com.)

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Lopez Rivarola were the

Tech also plays in Palm team’s other two primary City, Fla., at the Cliffs in starters, with Straka 10th South Carolina and in an in the opener at Pebble event hosted by Princeton Beach. Freshmen Jack before competing in the Larkin of Atlanta and ACC Championship April David Mackey of Bogart 22-24 in North Carolina. also made appearances in Augusta was 31st after the starting lineup during a Fall season that included the Fall, with coach Chris a victory in a tournament Haack looking for more hosted by North Carolina production from the Nos. 4 State and third place finand 5 players. Straka is one ishes at Shoal Creek in of four returning starters Birmingham and Kiawah from last year’s NCAA semiIsland. finalists.

Senior Robin Petersson After opening events in earned r Jacob Joine Puerto Rico and Mexico, the medalist honors in both Bulldogs play their next four events in the Carolinas events in Georgia, beginning and tied for third at Greyson Sigg with the Southern Shoal Creek, finishing Intercollegiate at the Fall ranked 48th in Athens CC March 14. the country. The Jaguars The annual Linger also had top 10 finishes Longer Invitational is by sophomore Broc Everett (fourth at NC scheduled for Reynolds Plantation March 20-22, State) and junior Jake Marriott with Georgia competing in (T9 in the Augusta Invitational Birmingham), but neiApril 2-3 at Forest Hills. ther senior Maverick Antcliff The SEC Championship nor junior returns to Sea Island GC transfer Emmanuel Kountakis of Augusta April 15-17.

Georgia Tech graduated played particularly well. four-year starters Ollie Kountakis, a two-year Schniederjans and Anders starter at Mercer, had two Albertson, and is playing respectable showings, but this year without a dominant struggled in other events. player in the lineup for the first time in the Carpet Capital were the only strong Mitch Krywulycz, a starter on both seemingly forever. showings by a Tech golfer other than Augusta national championship teams in Leesburg sophomore Jacob Joiner has Joiner, with the Jackets placing fifth, 2010 and ’11, has joined the golf staff as emerged as the Yellow Jackets’ top seventh, fifth and 10th in four Fall tour- an assistant for both the men’s and player, opening the Fall with a victory in naments. Both fifth place finishes came women’s teams. Kryrwulycz has been the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The in events hosted by Georgia Tech – the playing professionally since 2011, comFarm outside Dalton. Joiner added two Carpet Capital and the U.S. Collegiate peting on the LatinoAmerica Tour the other top-15 finishes in four Fall starts, Championship at Golf Club of Georgia. past two years. and was ranked 44th nationally by Joiner tied for 15th in the USCC, the The Jaguars play a busy Spring Golfstat. only player on the team to finish higher schedule, sticking mostly close to home Joiner was joined in the starting lineup than 25th. other than an event in Oklahoma after in all four of Tech’s Fall tournaments by Alpharetta sophomore Michael their season opener. Augusta plays at hisColumbus sophomore James Clark, Pisciotta and freshman Tyler Joiner, toric Palmetto GC in Aiken, S.C., March fellow sophomore Chris Petefish and Jacob’s younger brother, both made two 7-8, in the Southern Intercollegiate at junior Vincent Whaley. Acworth junior fall starts and will be looking to move Athens CC March 14 and the annual Michael Hines made three starts on a into the lineup on a regular basis along Linger Longer Invitational at Reynolds team that does not have a senior on the with Hines.

Plantation March 20-22. The annual roster, with four sophomores and a The Yellow Jackets, ranked 29th Augusta Invitational will be played at freshman among the top seven players. entering 2016, will do plenty of trav- Forest Hills April 2-3, with the Jaguars A third place finish by Whaley in eling this Spring, opening with playing in the MEAC Championship at Nashville and a tie for 12th by Clark in tournaments in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Crosswinds in Savannah April 21-23.

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Georgia was the top-ranked team among the state schools, ending the Fall season No. 9 in the country according to Golfstat. The Bulldogs reached the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Championship, losing to eventual champion LSU. Georgia avenged that loss to the Tigers in the inaugural East Lake Cup last Fall, but lost in the title match to Illinois.

The Bulldogs also placed second in two of their four Fall stroke play tournaments, including one without Clarkesville senior Lee McCoy, the team’s No. 1 player, who was competing with the U.S. Walker Cup team. The Bulldogs finished as runners-up in their season-opening event at Pebble Beach without McCoy, and also were second in their Fall finale in Hawaii.

Augusta junior Greyson Sigg helped fill in for McCoy at Pebble Beach, earning medalist honors in a playoff.

Peachtree Corners sophomore Zach Healy was medalist in Hawaii, with McCoy finishing fifth. The Bulldogs were fourth and sixth in their other two Fall starts, with McCoy placing third and Sigg fourth in Oregon.

McCoy finished the Fall ranked 20th individually in the country by Golfstat, with Sigg 37th and Healy 65th. Valdosta senior Sepp Straka and junior Jaime

GEORGIA TECH

By Mike Blum

MARCH 2016

Georgia Southern opened last Fall

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GEORGIA STATE

with a win at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island and followed with consecutive runner-up finishes in the Sun Belt Preview in Destin and a tournament in Mexico. The Eagles were seventh and sixth in their next two Fall starts and were ranked 55th entering 2016.

The Eagles got a strong Fall from Stockbridge freshman Steven Fisk, who debuted with a fourth place finish at Kiawah and was the team’s low scorer in three of their final four tournaments, scoring top-10 finishes in each of the three. Fisk was ranked 104th nationally.

Junior college transfer Casey O’Toole also made a major contribution in his early appearances with the Eagles, placing second at Kiawah and finishing 13th and sixth in his next two starts.

Sophomores Jake Storey and Archer Price were both in the starting lineup in all five Fall tournaments and had several strong showings, with Griffin senior Henry Mabbett contributing a tie for 21st in Destin and a T11 in Cabo.

The Eagles will not venture far from home this Spring, with tournaments in Gainesville, Fla., Aiken, S.C., Tallahassee, Fla., and Spartanburg, S.C., followed by the Sun Belt Championship April 24-27 in Destin. The annual

Schenkel Invitational will be hosted by the Eagles at Forest Heights CC March 18-20.

Kennesaw State was fourth at Daufuskie Island, S.C., and second in the Owls’ home event at Pinetree CC, but finished well back in both the Carpet Capital and a tournament in Birmingham.

Kennesaw was ranked 60th by Golfstat after the Fall season.

Freshman Jake Fendt and junior Chris Guglielmo, who both played their high school golf in Forsyth County, enjoyed successful Fall showings, with Fendt eighth, 20th and 11th in his three starts.

Guglielmo placed between 17th and 34th in his four appearances.

Kennesaw’s international trio of sophNilehn, junior omore Fredrik Teremoana Beaucousin and freshman Pablo Torres all closed out the Fall with top 10s at Pinetree, but the only other top 20 finish in the team’s first three tournaments by a player other than Fendt or Guglielmo was a tie for 17th at Daufuskie Island by sophomore Wyatt Larkin of Morganton in his only Fall start. Freshman Zach Zediker of Macon made a pair of Fall appearances and is

looking for more playing time along with Buster Bruton, a redshirt freshman from Dallas.

After a Spring opener in Hawaii, the Owls will stick close to home, with tournaments at Grand National in Opelika, Ala., Athens, Augusta and Charlotte before playing April 17-19 in the Atlantic Sun Championship at the Legends at Chateau Elan.

The highlight of the Fall season for Georgia State was a victory in Mexico, with the Panthers placing three golfers in the top 10. Junior Nathan Mallonee of Lexington, one of only two Georgia State golfers in the starting lineup in all five Fall tournaments, was third in the Panthers’ victory, and placed in the top

20 in all his appearances.

Georgia State was fourth or fifth in three of the team’s other four Fall starts, with the fourth place finishes coming in the Sun Belt Preview and the annual event hosted by the Panthers at Berkeley Hills. The Panthers were ranked 76th coming into their Spring schedule.

Senior J.J. Grey was the other player in the starting lineup in all the Panthers’ Fall tournaments, placing third in the Sun Belt Preview, ninth in Mexico and in the top 20 in two of his other three starts.

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

Woodstock freshman Nick Budd contributed to the win in Mexico with a tie for 18th. After tying for 11th as an individual in the Fall opener, sophomore Alex Herrmann started the next four events and twice tied for eighth, with his brother Max Herrmann among the top 25 in three of his four starts.

Freshmen Nathan Williams of Gainesville and James Kyles of Atlanta both appeared in four Fall tournaments and will be competing for playing time [ See College, page 22 ]

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Georgia program returns to national prominence Freshmen Tardy, Mitsunaga spark resurgence

By Mike Blum

Division 1 female golfers at the end of the Fall season.

In its first four Fall tournaments, Georgia won twice and had top-three finishes in the other two. The Bulldogs were fifth in their Fall finale at Stanford, with Tardy out of the lineup after suffering a concussion and Hollis missing the final round due to illness.

Tardy ended the Fall ranked seventh in the country, with ties for seventh in her first two college starts and an impressive win in Chicago, where she shot 12-under for 54 holes to win by five, closing with back-to-back scores of 67. Tardy was invited to an early gathering of potential U.S. Curtis Cup players for 2016 and was one of eight players selected to the team.

enth or better, but her ranking was hurt by her withdrawal at Stanford. fter failing to qualify for the Georgia’s two veteran starters are NCAA Championship each senior Manuela Carbajo Re and junior of the last six seasons, the Harang Lee. Carbajo Re’s best Fall came Georgia women’s golf team in the Bulldogs’ season opening win at has returned to national prominence, Atlanta Athletic Club, where she tied for concluding the 2015-16 Fall schedule fourth. Lee scored three top 10s in five ranked eighth in the country by Golfstat. starts and was ranked 22nd in the The Lady Bulldogs won the NCAA country. Carbajo Re was 57th. women’s championship in 2001 and were Isabella Skinner, a sophomore from regular NCAA qualifiers for the Cumming, got starts in the team’s last remainder of the decade, but the program two Fall tournaments and contributed faltered after misconduct allegations counting rounds in both events. against former coach Todd McCorkle, Georgia hosts two Spring events at the which precipitated his departure from UGA course – the Lady Bulldogs Athens.

Invitational in February and the annual Liz Murphey Classic April 1-3. The Bulldogs also play in Puerto Rico, the y Hilton Head area and Arizona before Bailey Tard competing in the SEC Championship at Greystone in Birmingham April 15-17.

The NCAA Regionals are set for Rinko Mitsunaga May 5-7 at four sites, with the NCAA Championship scheduled for May 20-25 in Eugene, Ore., just prior to the men’s championship.

Augusta, which ended the Fall ranked 53rd in the country, is the only other state team that appears in contention to get an NCAA bid without a victory in a conference Georgia’s recruiting championship. suffered in the wake of The Jaguars played the coaching change, only three times in the but the Bulldogs Fall, with their best ended their recruiting finish a fourth place drought last year, showing at Kiawah signing a trio of Island. Junior Eunice Yi standout high school of Evans was seventh and seniors who are all Mitsunaga, who sixth in the last two tournaments and is playing major roles as shared a victory in the team’s highest ranked player. Fellow freshmen. the inaugural junior Jessica Haigwood of Roswell Two of the three are USGA Women’s played well as a freshman and junior, but from the Atlanta area, Four-Ball Cha- had only one top finish in the Fall, tying with Bailey Tardy of Jessica Haigwood mpionship last for 11th at Kiawah Island.

Peachtree Corners and Juniors Josefine Nyqvist and Teresa year, had two top Rinko Mitsunaga of 10s and a top 20 in her first Caballer Hernani are the Jaguars’ two Roswell both playing well in the Fall three college starts, and began the Spring other primary players, with Nyqvist season. The third heralded freshman is as the No. 72 player in the country. posting a pair of top-15 Fall finishes.

Jillian Hollis, with all three ranked Hollis, ranked 73rd, began her college After opening their Spring schedule among the top 75 players among NCAA career with three straight finishes of sev- with two February events in Florida, the

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Jaguars host a tournament at Forest Hills March 11-13 and play in a Kennesaw State event March 28-29 at Pinetree. The team’s final two tournaments are at Clemson and Ohio State.

Unlike the men’s team, the Augusta women do not belong to a conference, but are eligible for an NCAA at-large bid and will receive one if they come close to retaining their ranking.

With a new head coach and a strong freshman class, Mercer appears to be a team on the rise, closing the Fall with a fourth place finish in an event in North Carolina, the Bears’ best showing.

Freshman Mary Juniga was medalist in that event and placed seventh or better in the team’s three tournaments that were not reduced to 18 holes by inclement weather. Payton Schanen, a freshman from Alpharetta, was 20th or better in all four Fall starts, and Terese Romeo, the third freshman starter, tied for second in the tournament that only went 18 holes.

Marin Hanna, a junior from Moultrie, Taylorsville sophomore Hannah Mae Deems and sophomore Jaelyn Tindal all started in three tournaments, with Madison’s Meredith Owen, the team’s lone senior, making one appearance in the Fall.

Mercer’s Spring schedule includes tournaments in south Florida, north Florida and Kiawah Island, along with three events in Georgia. The Bears play in Augusta March 12-13 and at Pinetree March 27-29 in a tournament hosted by Kennesaw State. The Southern Conference Championship is set for April 10-12 at Savannah Quarters.

Georgia Southern fielded a women’s team for the first time last Fall, and predictably struggled out of the gate. The Eagles’ roster consists of four freshmen and two junior transfers, with Newnan freshman Annie Swords the lone Georgian on the squad. Swords started in the team’s first two tournaments.

The Eagles managed just two individual finishes better than 30th, the best showing a fourth by freshman Ariana Macioce in North Carolina.

The team’s Spring schedule includes three February events in Texas, Florida and South Carolina, and a short trip to Augusta for a tournament March 12-13. [ See Women, page 22 ] MARCH 2016

Georgia has strong presence on Champions Tour

By Mike Blum

n terms of numbers, Georgia does not have a huge presence on the Champions Tour, with just six residents of the Peach State holding status for the 2016 season.

But of the six, three qualified for the 2015 Schwab Cup Championship, the season ending event that features the top 30 money winners from the season. The other three Georgians are former major championship winners.

Georgia’s three Schwab Cup qualifiers were 2015 multiple winner Billy Andrade, 2014 tournament champion Scott Dunlap, and Gene Sauers, who posted eight top-3 finishes in his first three seasons on the tour but is still

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Scott Dunlap

won major titles during their careers on the PGA Tour, with Nelson and Mize former Champions Tour winners.

With the exception of Love, who will be playing that week in the PGA Tour event on Hilton Head Island, Georgia’s Champions Tour members will be in the field for the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf April 15-17.

Andrade, a long time Atlanta resident, won three times last season, highlighted by a season-ending playoff victory over Bernhard Langer in the Schwab Cup. It was Andrade’s second head-to-head win over the Champions Tour’s best player in less than three months, following an earlier one-shot victory over Langer in Seattle.

Following a winless Champions Tour rookie season in 2014, Andrade teamed with Joe Durant to win the Legends of Golf team event the week after the Champions Tour made its stop at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth. After back-to-back finishes of seventh and fifth in the Senior Players and U.S. Senior Open, closing with a 63 in the latter, Andrade scored

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Andrade, Dunlap top list

looking for his first victory. Larry Nelson, Larry Mize and Davis Love all

Billy Andrade

his first individual victory in Seattle, narrowly holding off Langer and Fred Couples, who had beaten Andrade in a playoff one year earlier after Andrade shot a final round 62.

In the season-ending Schwab Cup, Andrade trailed by four shots after 54 holes in Scottsdale, Ariz., but fired a 6under 64 concluded by a birdie on the 18th, and again birdied the 18th – the

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first playoff hole – to take down Langer for a second time. He finished the year with $1.534 million in earnings to finish [ See Champions Tour, page 18 ]

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Champions Tour [ Continued from page 17 ]

fourth on the final money list.

Andrade almost scored his fourth victory in less than a year, losing a playoff to Esteban Toledo in the second event of the 2016 season in Boca Raton, Fla. Andrade was 5-under in the final round after 15 holes without a bogey and held the lead, but a bogey at the par-3 16th dropped him into a playoff. After the two players parred the first two extra holes, Andrade bogeyed the par-4 17th and Toledo won with a par.

Dunlap won as a Champions Tour rookie in 2014 in Seattle in a playoff, and ended up 10th on the money list with $1.1 million. Despite not winning last year, he increased his earnings by a little over $10,000 and again placed 10th in earnings thanks to 10 top-10 finishes, including a pair of runner-up showings, a third and a fourth.

Three tournaments into the 2016 season, Dunlap was ninth on the money list with a tie for 10th in Boca Raton and a tie for third the next week in Naples.

Like Andrade, Dunlap moved to the Atlanta area after playing collegiately in a neighboring state, with Dunlap settling in Duluth after playing his college

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golf at Florida and Andrade starring at Wake Forest. Unlike Andrade, who won four times in a successful PGA Tour career, Dunlap was a non-winner in seven seasons, only one of which came after 2002.

Dunlap won twice on what is now the Web.com Tour in 2004 and ’08, and scored a number of international victories early in his career in Canada, South America and South Africa.

Nelson, a long-time Marietta resident, won three majors championships among his 10 PGA Tour titles, among them the 1981 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club and the 1983 U.S. Open.

He also won twice in the Atlanta Classic at Atlanta Country Club, the second coming in 1988.

After joining the Champions Tour full time in 1998, Nelson won 20 tournaments in his first seven seasons, 11 of those victories coming in 2000 and ’01.

He led the tour in earnings in 2000, had four straight years in the top four on the money list and was eighth or better six times in seven years before his career began to wane after his 57th birthday.

Nelson has become an infrequent participant on the Champions Tour the last two years, making just 18 starts. His highlight of 2015 came in Minnesota, when he shot 66 in the second round to

beat his age. Nelson, who turned 68 a little over a month later, remains very competitive in the Father/Son Challenge, losing in a playoff in an event he has won a total of three times with each of his two sons.

This is Sauers’ fourth on the season Champions Tour, and he has qualified for the Schwab Cup all three years, placing 23rd, 14th and 29th on the money list.

The Savannah native started strong last year with a second place finish in Boca Raton in his first start of 2015, and tied for third in the first Champions Tour major in Birmingham. He struggled for most of the remainder of the season, with a tie for ninth his best showing after mid-May. Sauers’ top finish early in 2016 is a tie for 22nd in Naples.

Mize, an Augusta native and longtime Columbus resident, was 29th in earnings as recently as 2012, but has gradually slid down the money list since, and was a career low 64th last year. A tie for eighth in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open was Mize’s first top 10 since his first start in 2013, but he had only one other top-20 finish.

At the outset of this season, Mize was 69th on the all-time money list, which will enable him to get into most of the Champions Tour events. He finished outside the top 50 in his first two starts of 2016.

Love has made just six starts since becoming eligible for the Champions Tour almost two years ago, and enjoyed his best finish in the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, finishing third, three shots out of a playoff. The St. Simons Island resident remains exempt on the PGA Tour, and is not expected to make more than a handful of Champions Tour starts this season.

Three Georgians have qualifier status on the tour, including Web.com Tour veteran Scott Parel of Augusta, who turned 50 last year. Parel was 76th on the 2015 Web.com money list to narrowly miss retaining his exempt status, and made one successful qualifying attempt on the Champions Tour, tying for 44th in North Carolina. Parel has played on the tour since 2003, scoring his only victory in Wichita in 2013 at the age of 48.

Parel made it into the field in both early-season events in south Florida via

Scott Parel

Monday qualifiers, and was among the leaders after 36 holes in Boca Raton, but shot 75 in the final round and tied for 19th. He started the round with bogeys on his first three holes, but ended the day on a high note with an eagle on the par-5 18th.

Sylvester’s Sonny Skinner has made 29 starts on the Champions Tour since turning 50 in 2010, and competed in six events last year, including the tour’s three primary majors. He made the cut for a fifth straight year in the Senior PGA Championship, and narrowly missed the cuts in both the U.S. and British Senior Opens after playing his way into the fields in qualifiers. Skinner, a two-time Georgia PGA Player of the Year in 2006 and ’14, played four seasons on the PGA Tour in the 1990s and spent most of his 20 years as a tour player on the Web.com Tour, winning twice in the early ‘90s.

James Mason of Dillard was a recent inductee into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, with his stay on the Champions Tour nearing its end. Mason played his way onto the tour in 2002, winning a tournament after making the field in a Monday qualifier. He played the tour full time for nine years, and has been an occasional participant since 2011. His lone start in 2015 came in the Senior PGA Championship, and he will back in the field for that event in 2016 along with Skinner. Mason, who turned 65 early this year, shot a 65 in the finals of Champions Tour qualifying late in 2015.

The big change in the Champions Tour 2016 schedule is the addition of two Playoffs events the two weeks prior to the Schwab Cup Championship, with the top 72 players on the money list qualifying for the opening event.

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and took a little longer to make his mark in golf’s major leagues. He won the Web.com Tour in 2007 at the age of 19, with his first PGA Tour victory coming in 2010 in the Byron Nelson. Day would not win again for almost four years, establishing a reputation during that time frame for coming up just short in majors.

In 2011, Day tied for second in the

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runner-up in the Masters in 1995 and ’99 and tied for second in the ’96 U.S. Open.

He has six career top 10s in Augusta, was seventh or better five times in the U.S. Open, and has a combined 10 top 10s in the British Open and PGA, with his last top 10 in a major coming in the 2011 British.

Harris English, the fourth St. Simons resident in the Masters, is back in the Masters after failing to qualify last year.

English, a Valdosta native who played his college golf in Athens, won as a PGA Tour rookie in 2013 and added a second

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Masters, two shots behind Charl Schwartzel, who birdied the final four holes. He also placed second that year in the U.S. Open at Congressional, but was a distant eight shots behind McIlroy. Day was third in the 2013 Masters, two shots out of the Adam Scott-Angel Cabrera playoff, and was runner-up for the second time in the U.S. Open at Merion, two behind Rose.

Day ended his winless drought in the 2014 WGC Match Play, going 23 holes to defeat Victor Dubuisson in a memorable championship match, and opened

2015 with a victory in San Diego. He was a contender after an opening 67 in the Masters before fading to a tie for 28th.

While the first half of 2015 belonged to Spieth, the second half was Day’s, who began a spectacular three-month stretch with a gutsy performance in the U.S. Open.

An attack of vertigo late in the third round left Day flat on his back on the final hole, which he barely got through to end the day tied for the lead. An obviously struggling Day gutted out a final

round 74 to tie for 10th, and after a few weeks off, he returned to play at the British Open and missed the playoff by one shot, tying Spieth for fourth.

Day flew directly to Canada the next week and out-dueled Watson for his second win of the season. He collected his first major in the PGA at Whistling Straits, beating Spieth by three in a headto-head final round duel, and won the first and third Playoffs events by six shots each, closing with scores of 63-62 in the Barclays and opening 61-63 in the BMW Championship in Chicago.

victory later that year. He narrowly missed qualifying for the Tour Championship at East Lake in 2013 and ’14, finishing 31st and 32nd in the FedExCup, but slipped in at 28th last year to earn his spot in the Masters field.

English missed the cut in his only Masters start in 2014, with his best finish in a major a tie for 15th in the 2013 British Open.

Patrick Reed, who led Augusta State to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2010 and ’11, has emerged as one of the top young players in the game not named Jordan, Jason, Rory or Rickie, winning four times since his rookie season in 2013 and placing 21st and 12th in the FedExCup standings the last

two years.

Reed placed between 14th and 30th in the four majors last year, just his second starts in all four. He was a respectable T22 in Augusta after missing the cut the previous year, and will be on the short list of probable Masters contenders beyond golf’s new Big 3 plus 1 group of twenty-something stars.

Kevin Kisner will be the lone Masters rookie among the Georgia contingent, and is coming off a breakthrough season in 2015. He finished 21st in the FedExCup on the strength of three runner-up finishes, all of which came in playoffs in which he played outstanding golf in the final round but was beaten by birdies in extra holes.

Qualifying for the Tour Championship earned Kisner’s invitation to the Masters, and he took the lead in this year’s FedExCup standings with a fourth runner-up finish, this time in a WGC event in China, followed by an impressive victory in the RSM Classic at Sea Island GC. Kisner, Kirk’s teammate on Georgia’s 2005 NCAA Championship team, was born and resides in Aiken, S.C., less than 30 minutes from Augusta, and should have plenty of crowd support as he plays in what amounts to a hometown event.

In just his second major championship start in last year’s U.S. Open, Kisner tied for 12th, the only cut he has made in four attempts.

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Georgia Open heads to Savannah’s Ford Plantation 2016 Georgia PGA schedule similar to last year

By Mike Blum

he Georgia PGA heads to Savannah for one of its premier events, with the 2016 Georgia Open scheduled for August 4-7 at one of the state’s best, if least-known layouts.

The Georgia Open will be played at the Pete Dye designed Ford Plantation, a private club located in the community of Richmond Hill. The Ford Plantation is a little less than 20 miles south of downtown Savannah and is located along the Ogeechee River.

The club was built on property that was formerly the Winter home of famed industrialist Henry Ford, and opened in the 1980s. The course was originally known as the Ogeechee Golf Club, and drew little attention for its first 25 years before Dye extensively renovated the layout in 2014 with the aid of a sizeable sum of money invested in the project.

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Preview

GEORGIA PGA 2016

The course is now one of the best in the state and should give the Georgia Open field a challenge, with ample length (7,400 yards) and an abundance of hazards. Like Atlanta National, Dye’s other Georgia creation, the Ford Plantation also features lengthy strips of waste bunkers and greens raised up by bulkheads along bordering lakes or ponds.

The will be the first time the Georgia Open has been played in Savannah since Savannah Harbor hosted the event in 2010. The former Sheraton Savannah resort (now Wilmington Island Club), served as host of the event in the 1980s and early 1990s, Recent Georgia State golfer Davin White of Locust Grove won last year’s tournament at Pinetree Country Club, the first win in the event by an amateur since Franklin Langham won in Savannah in 1988.

The remainder of the Georgia PGA’s 2016 schedule is little changed from last year, with new sites for the Atlanta Open and the Section’s two tournaments that serve as qualifiers for the PGA Professional National Championship and 20

FOREGEORGIA.COM

Ford Plantation's par-3 fourth hole

PGA Senior PNC. The tournament schedule begins in mid-March with the Match Play Championship, which will feature a 64 player field and concludes August 15 with the semifinals and finals at Peachtree Golf Club for the third straight year. The first four rounds will be played at sites determined by the competitors, with brackets for players from the East and Central chapters to make early round matches more convenient.

Mark Anderson of Brunswick CC is the defending champion, winning in extra holes in last year’s title match against Matthew Evans of Rivermont.

The Yamaha Georgia Senior Open will be played April 25-26 at Chattahoochee GC in Gainesville, which last hosted the tournament in 2013.

Veteran Champions Tour player James Mason won last year at the UGA course in Athens, getting into a playoff by playing the last two holes eagle-birdie before defeating Anderson and Stephen Keppler of Marietta CC with a birdie on first extra hole.

Craig Stevens of Brookstone G&CC has won the tournament three of the last five years, including 2013 at Chattahoochee.

The Rivermont Championship will be played for the third year at Rivermont G&CC, with this year’s event set for May 9. Due to a scheduling conflict with the club, all 36 holes will be played in one day, with a shotgun start for both rounds.

The first two tournaments at the North Fulton course have featured multi-player battles for victory. Travis Nance of Coosa CC won by one shot last year over the trio of Chris Cartwright of West Pines, 2015 Player of the Year Tim Weinhart of Heritage Golf Links, and amateur Erik Martin. Nance lost in a playoff the previous year to Chris Nicol of Georgia Golf Center, with Weinhart and 2014 Player of the Year Sonny Skinner one shot back in third.

The Yamaha Atlanta Open moves to St. Ives, also located in North Fulton, with the tournament scheduled for June 13-14. St. Ives is an excellent Tom Fazio design and will be hosting a Georgia PGA points event for the first time.

Skinner won last year’s tournament at White Columns and was the event’s 19th different champion in the last 19 years, with three amateurs among the 19 winners.

The Championship at Berkeley Hills will be played for the seventh year at the Duluth club, with White becoming the third amateur to win the tournament the past three years. He edged out former Georgia State teammate Nathan Mallonee of Lexington by one shot, with Weinhart two back in third to earn low pro honors. This year’s tournament will be played July 11-12.

The Georgia Women’s Open returns to Brookfield CC in Roswell for a fourth straight year July 18-19, but may be without its defending champion. Ashlan Ramsey of Milledgeville scored her first

professional win at Brookfield last year, but has since qualified for the LPGA Tour, the second Georgia Women’s Open champion to move up to the LPGA Tour in the last five years. Valdosta’s Dori Carter won the tournament in 2011 prior to becoming an LPGA Tour member.

Georgia PGA member Karen Paolozzi of Druid Hills GC, won the tournament in 2014 and tied for second last year with Roswell’s Jessica Haigwood, a member of the golf team at Augusta who has placed second in the tournament three years in a row.

August will be a busy month for the Georgia PGA, with the Georgia Open and the final day of the Match Play Championship on the schedule that month, along with the Georgia PGA Championship, which will be played August 29-31 at Sea Island GC. The tournament will be played on Seaside, the host course for the PGA Tour RSM Classic.

Mason, who won the tournament three times in four years between 1997 and 2000 before joining the Champions Tour, won last year by two shots over Weinhart on the Plantation course.

Both PNC qualifiers will be played in September, with the Georgia PGA Senior Championship heading to south Georgia at Glen Arven in Thomasville Sept. 1920 and the GPGA PNC set for the Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation Sept. 26-27. The top finishers in both events will qualify for nationals.

Seven Georgia PGA members will compete in this year’s PGA PNC, which will be played at Turning Stone Resort in New York June 26-29. Paolozzi won the 2015 Georgia PGA PNC and will be among seven Georgia PGA members who will compete in this year’s event with the hope of a top-20 finish and a spot in the field of the 2016 PGA Championship. The Senior PNC is scheduled for Nov. 17-20 at PGA GC in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Mason was a contender for 54 holes in last year’s PNC and wound up tied for 11th.

For more information on Georgia PGA tournaments, go to www.georgiapga.com MARCH 2016

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College

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in the Spring along with sophomore Hayden Poole of Johns Creek and freshmen Sean Murphy of Decatur and Sam Asbury of Atlanta, each of whom saw action in the Fall.

The Panthers will not travel outside the South this Spring, with two tournaments in Alabama, a visit to Statesboro for the Schenkel, and events hosted by Furman and Mississippi State. The Sun Belt Championship is scheduled for April 24-27 in Destin.

Mercer tied for second in its Fall opener in Myrtle Beach, but did not finish better than 10th in its last four tournaments, including a last place finish among 14 teams in Georgia State’s tournament at Berkeley Hills and 10th of 12 in a tournament at Pinetree hosted by Kennesaw State.

Sophomore Jerry Ren notched a pair of top-10 finishes for the Bears, and was joined in the top 10 in the team’s Fall opener by junior Sean Smothers and freshman Dylan Deogun. Senior Jeff Heinicka joined Ren and Smothers in the starting lineup for all five Fall events, with a trio of freshmen from Georgia also getting playing time.

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McDonough’s Justin Connelly made three starts, with Cumming’s Brennan Bogdanovich appearing twice and finishing as the team’s second low scorer in the Fall finale in Greensboro. Stanton Schorr of Columbus made one appearance as an individual.

The Bears’ Spring schedule includes tournaments in Mobile, Tallahassee, Greenville, S.C., and Charlotte, along with the annual Linger Longer Invitational at Reynolds Plantation. The Southern Conference Championship will be played April 24-26 at Pinehurst.

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The Eagles will play in their first Sun Belt Championship in Destin April 1719.

Georgia State and Kennesaw State sport rosters that consist entirely of players from outside the U.S. Kennesaw won a Fall tournament at Wofford, but the Owls next best finish was a tie for sixth. Georgia State finished in the bottom half of all five of its Fall events.

Both teams will host tournaments this Spring, with Georgia State playing in the annual John Kirk Intercollegiate at Eagle’s Landing March 27-29.

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