ATLANTA – The night before he would compete in the 93rd PGA Championship at a course that had been very good to him 30 years ago, a humble Larry Nelson recounted his remarkable life journey after receiving the PGA Distinguished Service Award before an audience of 1,200 composed of friends, family and industry admirers.

Nelson, 63, was bestowed with The PGA of America’s highest annual honor Wednesday at The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre inAtlanta, following a performance by award-winning country singer Vince Gill, one of his longtime friends and the 2003 PGA Distinguished Service Award recipient.

Nelson, the owner of three major championships that include the 1981 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, thanked family, friends and PGA Life Member Bert Seagraves of Rome, Ga., who gave him his first job in professional golf and handed him a book to learn the game, Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.”

“Someone long ago told the story of a turtle perched on top of a fence post, and how he didn’t get there by himself,” said Nelson. “I feel like the turtle, but I don’t know which one is more surprised, me, or the turtle.”

Nelson said that the guideposts throughout his life began with his childhood sweetheart, Gayle, who has been his wife for 44 years.

“God put Gayle in my life to keep me humble,” said Nelson, who went on to list fellow players and his late father, who gave him invaluable pieces of advice.

“I learned anger management from Tommy Bolt,” Nelson said, “and diplomacy and patience from Gary Player. I remember one story that Gary told about playing in Scotland and behind a very slow group. Gary looked around and saw a beautiful home up on a hill. ‘How long has that house been there,’ Player asked his caddie, who responded in a perfect Scottish brogue, ‘It wasn’t there before we started.’ ”

Nelson competed Thursday afternoon in his 27th PGA Championship, with his oldest son, Drew, serving as caddie. Nelson posted an 8-over-par 78, and said that he would have youngest son, Josh, caddie on Friday.

“Looking back at all of the things that have happened to me since ’81, it’s been a great ride and I kind of got to see it in pictures last night,” said Nelson of the video tribute to him during the PGA Distinguished Service Award ceremony. “It’s just kind of hard to believe.

“Things pass by. You see things and see yourself in different places. You actually can look back and enjoy. I look at everything, when I wake up in the morning; I look at everything through real eyes and kind of see things for what they are.”

Nelson’s determination to compete this week at Atlanta Athletic Club came 48 hours after he nearly had to withdraw due to a sudden infection that was treated by his longtime physician, allowing the World Golf Hall of Famer to attend the ceremony and tee it up the next day.

“I felt good enough to hit balls in the morning, and am not in pain,” said Nelson. “I wanted to play here, and my sons and many friends wanted to see me play.”

Nelson was asked Thursday afternoon what he thought of first-round leader Steve Stricker’s 63, which matched the all-time major championship lowest 18-hole round.

“Sixty-three is great,” said Nelson. “To see somebody on the golf course the same day shot somebody’s age — he shot my age today. Somebody shot my age.”

For those who know and admire Nelson, he is a wonder. The winner of two PGA Championships (1981, ’87) and the 1983 U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, Nelson also won 19 times on the Champions Tour after turning 50 in 1997. He competed on three U.S. Ryder Cup Teams (1979, ’81, ’87), posting a 9-3-1 overall record.

“It’s quite an honor and I’m very humbled by it,” said Nelson of the PGA Distinguished Service Award. “I have been very blessed in my career, and have been fortunate that golf has allowed me to meet many wonderful people around the world, develop special friendships and serve others. I am very proud that The PGA of America would honor me with this award.”

Nelson’s impact in competition is complemented by his work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). In 1981, he helped develop the first FCA Junior Golf Camps. In 2004, he teamed with a missionary to construct a gymnasium and add additional support to an orphanage in Lucena City, The Philippines. Closer to home, Nelson worked with fellow Champions Tour professional Joe Inman in developing The First Tee of College Park in Atlanta.

The PGA Distinguished Service Award, inaugurated in 1988, honors outstanding individuals who display leadership and humanitarian qualities, including integrity, sportsmanship and enthusiasm for the game of golf.

Raleigh, N.C. – August 1, 2011 – RBC Bank, in partnership with RBC Wealth Management, is celebrating the upcoming PGA championship in Atlanta by inviting local youth for a once-in-lifetime shot for a $10,000 college scholarship. As part of the “Shot for College,” participants will receive golf instruction from PGA pro and Team RBC member Anthony Kim. The “Shot for College” clinic and scholarship competition is free and open to boys and girls ages 12-17 of all skill levels.  The event will be held on Monday, August 8, at St. Ives Country Club, in Johns Creek, GA.

The dynamic Kim will share his talents and experience with Atlanta-area kids with sessions covering topics including golf etiquette and tips for short-game play. The event will end in dramatic fashion as each participant gets a chance to shoot for one pin in the “Shot for College” scholarship contest. Ten finalists closest to the hole will get another shot, and the male and female golfer closest to the pin after that will attempt to sink a pressure putt for the exclusive $10,000 college scholarship.

“The PGA Championship is a special event and we wanted to celebrate our involvement by giving back to Atlanta-area youth and providing a unique learning opportunity in the midst of golf’s final major event,” said Jeffrey Scharps, regional president for RBC Bank. “Nothing could be more exciting for a young golfer than combining the chance to meet one of the PGA’s most exciting players while competing for the chance to win a college scholarship.”

In addition to the “Shot for College” scholarship contest, RBC Bank and RBC Wealth Management together will contribute $10,000 to the First Tee of Atlanta youth development program.  The organization is dedicated to positively impacting the lives of Atlanta’s young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf.  More than 40 kids from the program have already signed up to participate in the “Shot for College” clinic event as well.

All “Shot for College” participants will receive a commemorative t-shirt, picnic lunch and the chance to take a shot to win the $10,000 college scholarship. For more information, or to sign up for the clinic online, visit www.seeyouthere.com/rbcshotforcollege2011. Registration deadline is August 7, 2011.

For more information on First Tee of Atlanta, visit www.thefirstteeatlanta.org.

About RBC and Golf

RBC is the Official Bank of the PGA of America and Official Banking and Financial Services partner of touring professionals Anthony Kim, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Fred Couples, Luke Donald, Morgan Pressel, Stephen Ames and Mike Weir.

STATHAM, GA- The Southeast section totaled 64.16 points to claim the 38th annual GSGA Junior Sectional Challenge Match at The Georgia Club in Statham, July 26-27, 2011.  The Southwest section finished second with 44.83 points, almost 20 points behind the SE team, to earn runner-up honors.

With the win, it’s the Southeast’s 10th title of the Junior Sectional Challenge Match, and first since 2006.  The Southeast has won this annual competition (10 times) more times than any other section.

The Southeast section was led by three players who won their respective age groups.  In the 18-hole division, Jake Minchew (SE) beat Carter Mobley (E) in a playoff to medal and finished at 6-over-par 150 in the Boys, 14-15 age group and Lee Bennett (SE) finished first in the Boys, 12-13 bracket with a 7-under-par 137 36-hole score.  In the 9-hole division, Bailey Buie won the Girls, 12-13 age group with a two-day total of 4-over-par 74.

This year’s runner-up in the Junior Sectional Challenge Match, the Southwest section, was led by Jake Flynt (SW), who medaled in the Boys, 16-17 18-hole group with a final score of 1-under-par 143, and Elizabeth Funderburk (SW), who medaled in the Girls, 11-under 9-hole division with a final score of 18-over-par 88.

Other competitors who earned medalist honors in their respective age groups were Lorenzo Elbert, Jr., (NW, 1-over-par 71) in the Boys, 11-under 9-hole division and Hannah Barger (NE, 2-over-par 146) in the Girls, 14-17 18-hole division.

The shot of the day came from Thomas Bearden of the Southwest section when he recorded his seventh ace of his young golfing career on the par-3, 183-yard 17th hole using a 5-iron.

The Junior Sectional Challenge Match is a statewide competition that brings together the top performers from the summer-long GSGA Junior Sectional Program.  Participants earned the opportunity to compete and represent their section in the tournament by accumulating points in their section’s qualifying events.  Each of the seven geographic sections sends their top four point earners from each boys age division, the top three from each Girls’ 14-17 division and the top two from the Girls’ 12-13 and 11 and under divisions to the Challenge Match.  The team winner, or winning section, is determined by cumulative points earned based on order of finish in the various age divisions during each round.

The Junior Sectional Program began in 1974 and was established by the Georgia State Golf Association as a grassroots effort to provide juniors across the state with the opportunity to experience competitive golf.

BLUFFTON, S.C. – Georgia used a strong second-round performance to break the first-round tie and defeat South Carolina, 10-6, at the 36th annual Georgia-South Carolina Junior Challenge Match, which took place at May River Golf Club, July 15-16.

The two teams entered Saturday knotted at 4-4 following Friday’s matches.  As they did in the first round, Georgia got off to a good start, winning the first two matches of the day.  Aaron George of Dahlonega (3 and 1) and Tyler Young of Kennesaw (1 up) both went undefeated in this year’s competition, as did Evan Usry of Evans, who clinched Team Georgia’s victory with a 4-and-3 decision in the sixth match of the day.

Georgia’s Emmanuel Kountakis of Martinez posted the most lopsided score of the day, a 6-and-5 victory.  The PeachState also picked up wins from Seth Sanders of Macon (1 up) and Christopher Guglielmo of Cumming (5 and 4).

This was the 36th playing of the Georgia-South Carolina Junior Challenge Match, which brings together the top junior golfers in the two neighboring states.  Teams are composed of the top eight finishers from each state’s Junior Championship.  The two-day competition features 16 matches (eight each day) which are each worth one point. Georgia now owns a 22-13-1 lead in the all-time series.

Johns Creek, GA- The 93rd PGA Championship, Aug. 8-14, at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga., will allow spectators to carry and use mobile devices in select areas on the golf course.

The integration of mobile devices to enhance the golf spectator experience was conducted last May the 72nd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, which was the first PGA of America-sponsored major spectator event to implement the new policy.

“Having successfully introduced the mobile device policy at one of our major spectator events, we are confident that we will have a positive response from those attending the 93rd PGA Championship in Atlanta,” said PGA of America President Allen Wronowski. “Mobile devices are a part of our daily lives, our personal caddie, and we ask that the great spectators who support our premier Championship will respect the ground rules and the players while enjoying one of the year’s foremost sporting events.”

During the PGA Championship, spectators at Atlanta Athletic Club will be alerted to follow proper usage on site by adjusting the volume setting to “silent” or “vibrate.” Spectators may accept or make phone calls in designated areas throughout the golf course, primarily near concession stands. Digital messaging and checking data is allowed on the golf course. Cell phone camera use is only permitted during the Practice Rounds. No video recording will be permitted at any time during Championship Week. Spectators attempting to use their mobile device in unauthorized areas or in ways not sanctioned will be asked to surrender the device and pick it up at a designated location after they depart the golf course.

Tickets for the 93rd PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club are available by visiting www.pga2011.com or by calling the PGA

ATLANTA – David Noll Jr., of Dalton fired a final-round, 4-under-par 66, holding off a late charge from Billy Mitchell of Roswell to win the 90th annual Georgia Amateur Championship by a score of 6-under 274 at Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta.  It was the second Georgia Amateur title for Noll (2003).  Mitchell was one of two players to card a tournament-low 65 in the final round; finishing four strokes back at 278.

Current Georgia Tech golfer Anders Albertson of Woodstock, who trailed Noll by one stroke going into the final round, shot a 1-over 71 to finish third at even-par 280.  Franco Castro of Alpharetta placed fourth at 283.  Another Georgia Tech golfer, Seth Reeves of Duluth, tied with Ridge Purcell of LaGrange for fifth place with 284.  Reeves carded 67 in the final round to move up into that position.

Second-round leader Bill Jones III of Albany and Cameron Simmons of Acworth tied for seventh at 285.  Four players tied for ninth at 286, including defending champion Lee Knox of Augusta, Kris Mikkelsen of Atlanta, Mark Strickland of Woodstock and Doug Hanzel of Savannah.

Noll owned a one-shot lead over Albertson going into the final 18 and began the day steady with five straight pars.  Albertson tied him briefly with a birdie on No. 1, but it didn’t last as he posted bogey on the 188-yard second. Noll still owned a one-shot lead at No. 6, and made a 25-foot uphill putt for birdie while Albertson three-putted from about eight feet to expand the lead to three shots.  Albertson then went on to double-bogey No. 7.  Both players bogeyed No. 8 (Noll missing a one-footer), which he described as “the best thing that happened to me today.”

“Both players (Albertson and Lee Knox) had just had bogeys or double bogey, and I had been steady-eddy.  I was standing in the fairway thinking, ‘Well, here we go.’  I was almost thinking about my acceptance speech.  So as embarrassing as it was, it really helped bring me back down to reality.  In hindsight, it helped me out because it helped me refocus a little bit.”

But meanwhile, Mitchell, the reigning Georgia Public Links Champion, was making a charge.  Playing two groups ahead of the final pairing, Mitchell posted two birdies on the front nine (holes 3 and 9) to turn at 2-under and move into second place, three shots back of Noll.

On the back nine, Mitchell posted a birdie on 12, and then had three in a row on holes 14, 15 and 16.  He cut Noll’s lead to one shot, but Noll was starting a birdie barrage of his own, gaining ground on 13, 15 and 16.  On 16, he hit his approach from the rough to within seven feet, a shot which he described as his turning point of the day.

“That ball could have run 40 yards off the green,” Noll said.  “(From where it landed), that ball was inches from bogey, definitely par at best.  Making that (birdie) putt at that particular moment was crucial.”

That birdie moved him to 5-under for the Championship.  After a par on 17, Mitchell couldn’t keep the pace on 18, posting his only bogey of the day but finishing with a tournament-best round of 65.  Cherokee club champion Dan Whigham Jr. matched him with a 65 of his own to move up to 16th place.

So Noll owned a three-shot lead on 18, but finished the Championship with an exclamation point, sinking a breaking 15-footer for birdie while he said he had tears in his eyes.

“You have to have good fortune come your way in a golf tournament, and I just feel very, very fortunate,” he said.

Noll captured the 2003 Georgia Amateur at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw and, with this win, has finished sixth place or better in the Georgia Amateur in each of the last seven years, including two runner-up finishes (2005, 2009).  Noll has won GSGA Men’s Player of the Year honors six times since 2003, including the last four years (2007-10).

Noll becomes the 15th golfer in the 90-year history of the Georgia Amateur Championship to win at least two titles.  Allen Doyle owns the record with six, followed by Arnold Blum (five), Jim Gabrielsen and Danny Yates (three each).  Others with two titles include Watts Gunn, Eugene Cook, Charles Yates, Billy McWilliams, Frank Mulherin Jr., Jack Key Jr., William Goodloe, Tommy Aaron, Carter Mize and Russell Henley.

The Georgia Amateur Championship brings together 144 of the state’s best male amateur golfers for the prestigious state title first won by Bobby Jones in 1916.

The Championship format is 72 holes of stroke play over four days. After 36 holes, the field was cut to the low 70 players and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader.  The cutline fell at 10-over 150 with 73 players advancing.

McIlroy – US Open (web site)

By Mike Blum

With Tiger Woods no longer Tiger Woods, front running fans and a superstar-craving media have been fervently awaiting the arrival of a new golf hero to take his seat on Tiger’s vacated throne.

After Rory McIlroy’s record-shattering performance in the recent U.S. Open, the successor to Tiger’s reign has apparently been identified.

Even before McIlroy had secured his first major championship title, he had been anointed as the game’s next dominant player. Those who watched McIlroy’s brilliant performance at Congressional could not help but compare it to that of Woods at Pebble Beach in the 2000 U.S. Open, but the breathless attempts to stamp the young Irishman as the “next Tiger” are way premature.

At the ripe old age of 22, McIlroy is playing his fourth full season as a tour player and has amassed a total of three victories in his brief professional career, one in each of the last three years. He won in Dubai against a world class field before celebrating his 20^th birthday and played one of the greatest final rounds in recent memory last year to score his first U.S. victory at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.

Prior to his eight-stroke victory in the 2011 U.S. Open, McIlroy was known as much for his two major championship meltdowns as he was for his two professional victories. His back nine collapse in the Masters 10 weeks prior to his U.S. Open triumph was fresh in everyone’s memory when McIlroy assumed early control at Congressional, but his showing at the 2010 British Open was also grist for the golf media mill.

McIlroy opened last year’s British Open at St. Andrews with a spectacular 63, but ballooned to an 80 the next day, with weather a mitigating factor. That knocked him out of contention, but he rebounded with scores of 69-68 on the weekend to tie for third, an early example of the resilience he has displayed since his train wreck at Augusta National in this year’s final round.

Leading by three after 54 holes in the Masters, McIlroy stumbled out of the blocks on Sunday, but quickly righted himself and still held a slim lead as he headed to Augusta National’s pressure cooker back nine.

One snipe hook and two holes that required seven painful-to-watch putting strokes later resulted in a triple bogey, a bogey and a double bogey, and McIlroy’s hopes of claiming a coveted green jacket were dashed. His closing 80 dropped him all the way to a tie for 15^th, 10 strokes behind Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

McIlroy was hailed for the grace and forthrightness with which he dealt with his back nine collapse, the third time in less than a year that one of the game’s bright young stars had imploded after leading a major championship with 18 holes to play. McIlroy asserted that he would recover from his Sunday swoon in Augusta, and less than a week later was back in the lead in a European Tour event in Malaysia.

Although he ended up in third place, two strokes behind Italian teenager Matteo Manassero, McIlroy hung tough down the stretch and certainly appeared true to his declaration that he would be back on top again in the near future.

Not many anticipated the future would be so near. After missing the cut in his title defense in Charlotte, McIlroy turned in a solid fifth place finish in the Memorial two weeks before the Open. His name was not at the forefront of the list of favorites coming into the Open, but that quickly proved to be a glaring omission when he shot a 65 Thursday afternoon at Congressional to take a three-stroke lead after the opening round.

McIlroy’s lead reached six strokes after 36 holes following a 66 that could have been better if he had avoided the water with his approach shot to the par-4 18^th. Having already shot 80 in the second and fourth rounds of two of the past three majors, the third round of the U.S. Open held some trepidation for McIlroy, but he answered any and all questions with a superb 68 as his lead reached a seemingly insurmountable eight strokes.

When McIlroy began the final round with a birdie on the first hole, any thoughts of another Sunday debacle were erased. All that was left to be determined was how many scoring records McIlroy would set and who would finish second behind him.

The latter honor belonged to fellow phenom Jason Day, who made it back-to-back runner-up finishes in majors with a final round 66, a distant eight strokes behind McIlroy, who set Open scoring records for 72 holes (268) and score in relation to par (16-under).

McIlroy’s victory was reminiscent of some of the dominant performances by Woods in his major runaways, but he needs to win a few more before he is tagged as a likely challenger to the career marks of Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

Clearly, McIlroy has the swing, the game and the temperament to assume Woods’ former stature as the best player in professional golf, but three total victories and one major in three-plus seasons as a pro do not guarantee a career to rival those of Woods and Nicklaus.

The potential is there, but after his exceptional performance at Congressional, the pressure on McIlroy to produce comparable results in the future will be considerable. He has proven he can come back from major disappointment, but maintaining the level of play he exhibited at Congressional is another thing entirely.

Winning just one major championship is a serious accomplishment, although there is a lengthy list of names from the recent past that appear out of place along side the likes of Fred Couples, David Duval, Jim Furyk, Tom Kite, Tom Lehman and Davis Love, all of whom captured just one major championship in their distinguished careers.

Since 2009, the last 10 major championships have been won by 10 different players, with 8 of them first-timers. The last five have been won by players age 30 or younger at the time, with McIlroy the youngest of the group.

McIlroy appears to be most likely of the current crop of standout 20-somethings to have a career that will place him among the game’s elite, but there is a whole lot that can short circuit that possibility. By all indications, McIlory has everything required to become golf’s next dominant performer, but the weight of expectations is among the most likely pitfalls that could keep that from happening.

Thanks to his magnificent showing in the U.S. Open, McIlroy will be under an even more revealing microscope at this month’s British Open, with relatively recent history not entirely in his favor. Europeans have won the last three majors and currently hold down the top four spots in the World Rankings, but those are extremely recent and potentially fleeting occurrences.

Prior to Padraig Harrington’s 2007-08 run of three victories in the span of five majors, Europeans had been almost invisible at the majors for a decade.

The European contingent led by Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer won more than half the Masters in the 1980s and ‘90s, but Jose Maria Olazabal’s 1999 victory is the last in Augusta by a European player.

Before Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open, the last Euro to win that event was Tony Jacklin in 1970. McIlroy’s win made it two in a row for Northern Ireland.

Until Harrington won back-to-back British Opens, the only European winner of that tour’s flagship event since 1992 was Paul Lawrie, the beneficiary of Jean van de Velde’s 72nd hole debacle at Carnoustie in ’99.

Euros have won two of the last three PGA Championships, which is two more than the continent’s total from 1931 to 2007. Harrington took care of the 75-plus-year drought and singlehandedly kept the post-Faldo-Ballesteros generation of European stars from suffering a career shutout in majors.

Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke are likely to retire without a major championship on their resume, and Lee Westwood is getting closer by the year despite repeatedly making serious runs at a title. Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald, the next group of Euro stars after Harrington and Westwood, are also o-fer in majors, with McDowell’s somewhat surprising win in last year’s U.S. Open starting the current Euro major run, interrupted only by South African Schwartzel.

With Woods on the DL and Phil Mickelson seemingly in post-40 decline, things have been bleak of late for the Americans, who have been blanked since Mickelson’s win at Augusta last year.

Since 2003, just three Americans not named Woods or Mickelson have won major championships – Zach Johnson in the 2007 Masters and back-to-back victories in the two Opens by Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink in ’08.

The British Open would seem an odd place for that trend to end, but a tournament that includes Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis and Lawrie among its past dozen winners is eminently capable of producing an unexpected winner.

Or solidifying the superstar status of a curly-haired 22-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland.

Georgia Open preview – 2011, page 16

By Mike Blum

Over the past two decades, the Georgia Open has provided an opportunity for some of the state’s lesser-known tour players to make a name for themselves in one of the most prominent professional events in the state.

The tournament has been played continuously since the 1950s, and some of the biggest names in Georgia golf history are among its champions, beginning with Tommy Aaron, who captured his third Georgia Open title two years after his triumph in the Masters in 1973.

Among the winners in the 1970s and ‘80s were the likes of DeWitt Weaver, Larry Nelson, Tim Simpson, Bob Tway and Gene Sauers. Tway shared the title with Simpson in 1980, with both players going on to successful careers on the PGA Tour. Tway was still an amateur at the time, with Franklin Langham also winning as an amateur nine years later en route to his professional career on the PGA and Nationwide Tours.

Langham won the tournament again in 1992 as a young professional, beginning a two-decade stretch of dominance in the Georgia Open by a string of tour players, either on their way up to the top levels of their profession or trying to return to that status.

No amateur has won since Langham’s victory in 1989, and only three PGA club professionals have been champions since Gregg Wolff captured the title in 1991. Stephen Keppler scored back-to-back victories in 1994 and ’95 after losing in a playoff to rising tour player Matt Peterson in ’93, but the only other Section members to win since are Tim Weinhart (2004) and Jeff Hull (2007).

Langham and Peterson started the trend of up-and-coming young professionals winning the Georgia Open on their way to careers as tour players. The two former Georgia Bulldog teammates have since retired as tour players, with Peterson now the head professional at the UGA course in Athens.

Langham, who played successfully for well over a decade on the Nationwide and PGA Tours, left the game a few years back when his swing suddenly left him after he scored his third Nationwide Tour victory in 2007.

Justin Bolli won the Georgia Open at Settindown Creek in 2003 as a member of the Hooters Tour, and has played on either the PGA or Nationwide Tour every year since. Roberto Castro won the Georgia Open at Barnsley Gardens, the site of this year’s event, in 2009, and within a year was a Nationwide Tour member and near winner after splitting his time between the eGolf and Hooters Tours.

The 2011 Ziplocal Georgia Open will be played July 28-31 at Barnsley Gardens, the third time in four years the event has been played at the northwest Georgia resort in Adairsville.

With both the eGolf and Hooters Tours off that week, it will be a conflict-free week for most of the state’s tour players not playing on either the PGA or Nationwide Tours. The Georgia-based Peach State Tour will be in action that week, with a tournament at Nob North in Cohutta ending the day before the Georgia Open tees off.

Among the state’s mini-tour contingent already inquiring about playing in the Georgia Open are current Nationwide Tour player David Robinson of Sandersville and former Nationwide Tour member Jonathan Fricke of Covington. Robinson has limited Nationwide Tour status and plays primarily on the eGolf Tour as does Fricke.

Mini-tour players finished 1-2-3-4 in last year’s Georgia Open, played at Savannah Harbor, the home course for the Champions Tour Legends of Golf. Samuel Del Val, who played his college golf at Berry and now lives in Athens, won in impressive fashion, posting a 20-under 268 total to win by four strokes over Savannah’s Tim O’Neal, who spent several seasons on the Nationwide Tour.

Duluth’s Brent Witcher, a young mini-tour player, was 3^rd at 273. Savannah’s Mark Silvers, who has won a number of tournaments in the past year on the Peach State Tour, was 4^th at 276 along with fellow Savannah resident Doug Hanzel, one of the state’s top amateurs.

Sharing low club professional honors were 2007 Georgia Open champion Hull, an instructor at the UGA course in Athens, and CC of the South Director of Instruction Shawn Koch, who tied for 7^th at 279.

Barnsley Gardens hosted the Georgia Open in 2008 and ’09, with Castro and Bryant Odom the two featured performers. Odom, a former Georgia Bulldog who played briefly on the Nationwide Tour, won in 2008 at 14-under 274 with Castro five shots behind in 2^nd.

Castro turned the tables the next year, firing a final round 66 to break out of large logjam at the top of the leader board. The former Georgia Tech standout from Alpharetta finished at 281, two strokes ahead of mini-tour player Drew Bowen and three in front of Odom and Travis Nance, both from Cartersville.

Nance, a former mini-tour player, is now an assistant at Coosa CC in Rome, while Odom is out of the golf business after working for a time as an assistant at Ocean Forest. Both tied for 10^th at Savannah Harbor last year, along with Georgia PGA members Brian Dixon, Michael Parrott and Winston Trively, and mini-tour veteran Don Wright, who notched his third straight top-10 finish in the tournament. It was the fourth consecutive top 10 in the Georgia Open for Odom.

The best showing in the two Georgia Opens at Barnsley Gardens by a Georgia PGA member was turned in by Stevens, an Atlanta area instructor who tied for 5^th in 2009 at 285. Peterson was the only other Section member in the top 10, tying for 7^th at 286.

The lone Georgia PGA member in the top 10 in ’08 was Towne Lake Hills assistant Bill Murchison, who tied for 7^th at 284. Hull, who has been the Section’s most consistent performer in the tournament in recent years, tied for 15^th in ’08, for 11^th in ’09 and was T7 last year with Koch.

Hull won at Champions Retreat outside Augusta in 2007, outdueling rookie pro Luke List, now on the Nationwide Tour. David Noll of Dalton, who tied for 11^th both times the tournament was played at Barnsley Gardens, almost became the first amateur winner in nearly 20 years, finishing just two shots back in 3^rd place.

The field for this year’s Georgia Open will tackle one of the state’s finest courses, with the Jim Fazio-designed Barnsley Gardens layout providing a serious test. Odom’s winning score of 14-under in 2008 was the only score better than 9-under for 72 holes the two years Barnsley Gardens hosted the Georgia Open, with Castro winning the next year at 7-under.

Barnsley Gardens has decent length (almost 7,200 yards from the tips), one of the state’s best and strongest collection of par 3s and a stout quartet of par 4s averaging 450 yards. But Fazio’s outstanding layout also includes mostly ample fairways, a vulnerable if slightly hazardous group of par 5s and a trio of short-ish par 4s that are also susceptible to birdies.

The putting surfaces are not as expansive as those on most courses designed by Fazio’s brother, but have plenty of character, with several offering modest-size targets requiring precise iron shots to set up birdie opportunities. Barnsley’s greens are typically of top caliber, with enough speed and roll to test players’ putting skills.

Six qualifiers will be held for players not exempt into the field, with the deadline July 8 at 10 a.m. Qualifying sites are: Cartersville CC (July 11); Orchard Hills (July 13); Berkeley Hills (July 18); The Frog (July 19); Wilmington Island Club (July 20) and Eagle’s Landing (July 21).

For information, visit www.georgiapga.com.

Berkeley preview (web site)

By Mike Blum

Berkeley Hills Country Club will host the second Championship at Berkeley Hills July 11-12, with the top Georgia PGA players in the field, along with a sizeable number of amateurs.

The club professional field includes the top players in the Georgia PGA Section, including Tim Weinhart, Craig Stevens, Sonny Skinner, Jeff Hull and Shawn Koch, all coming off recent appearances in the PGA Professional National Championship, the top event for the country’s club pros.

Stevens was among 20 club pros that qualified for the upcoming PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, and will be competing for the third time in that event, with his first appearance a decade ago at AAC.

Skinner, Weinhart and Stevens all recorded top-five finishes in last year’s inaugural Championship at Berkeley Hills, with Skinner taking second behind winner Chris Nicol, who is unable to defend his title.

Nicol posted an 8-under 136 total to edge Skinner by one stroke in the 36-hole event. Nicol shot 65 in the opening round. Weinhart was fourth at 141, with Stevens tying for fifth at 143. Stevens won the Atlanta Open last month at The Frog.

Also tying for fifth last year at Berkeley Hills was Stephen Keppler, who is again in the field along with his teen-age son Jonathan. Clark Spratlin, Greg Lee, Bill Murchison, Michael Parrott and former PGA and Champions Tour player DeWitt Weaver are also playing, as is Mel Mendenhall, last year’s low amateur.

Berkeley Hills Country Club is located in Duluth, and will present an inviting opportunity to the tournament field, which will try to capitalize on the layout’s absence of length. The course measures under 6,700 yards from the tips, with only two par 4s longer than 406 yards.

Most of the field will be hitting short irons into a majority of the par 4s, and Berkeley Hills’ layout includes two short-ish par 5s and a par 3 under 150 yards, although all three holes are deceptively testy.

The Berkeley Hills layout includes holes that are tree-lined and quite tight, along with others that offer generous fairways. Those who place the ball in prime position will be able to attack most pin positions, with the course’s challenge largely a product of some fast, sloping greens that are particularly tough on those who are putting downhill too frequently.

The Bermuda putting surfaces are among the metro area’s best, and the course was in outstanding condition tee to green less than a week before the tournament, which is presented by Creative Financial Partners.

The Championship at Berkeley Hills is part of a heavy stretch of Georgia tournament action in early July that included the Georgia Women’s Open and Dogwood Invitational, and concludes with the GSGA’s Amateur Championship and the Berkeley Hills event.

Floyd 4^th in Dogwood: Augusta State golfer Taylor Floyd was the top finisher among the Georgia contingent in the Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills GC, tying for 4^th at 15-under 273.

Floyd finished seven strokes behind tournament winner Nate McCoy from Iowa State, who shot 22-under 266 to win by two strokes over Bobby Wyatt from Mobile, Ala. McCoy posted scores of 66-68-67-65.

After an opening 73, Floyd shot 67-67-66 to make a steady move up the leader board.

Georgia Tech’s Paul Haley tied for 10^th at 276, with Duluth’s Seth Reeves, also a Tech golfer, T12 at 277. Reeves shot 64-66 the second and third rounds, notching 10 birdies the second day. He was among the contenders before taking a 9 on the par-4 12^th in the final round, shooting 73 on the day.

Woodstock’s Anders Albertson, also a Yellow Jacket golfer, tied for 17^th at 279 along with Georgia Bulldog Bryden Macpherson, the recent British Amateur champion. Tech freshman Ollie Schniederjans of Powder Springs and recent Georgia grad Russell Henley of Macon were T20 at 280.

Carter wins in playoff: LPGA Tour rookie Dori Carter of Valdosta won the Georgia Women’s Open at SummerGrove in Newnan, surviving a two-hole playoff against Futures Tour player Lacy Agnew of Jonesboro.

Both players finished with 4-under 140 totals, with Agnew forcing a playoff when she birdied the 18^th hole, her sixth birdie of the day, for a second round 69. Carter, who had at least a share of the lead the entire final round, closed with a 72 after shooting 68 the first day to share the lead with Lacey Fears, a member of the Mercer women’s team.

The playoff started and ended on the difficult par-4 9^th hole. Both players had birdie opportunities on the first playoff holes after hitting big drives, but both missed short par putts to extend the playoff.

After an errant drive on the second extra hole, Agnew’s approach sailed over the green into thick vegetation, and after declaring her ball unplayable, had to replay the shot with a penalty stroke added. She made double bogey, with Carter winning with a par after an excellent second shot to within 5 feet of the hole.

Carmen Bandea, a frequent contender in the tournament in recent years, was 3^rd at 142 after back-to-back scores of 71, with Fears 4^th overall and low amateur at 143.

Stevens – Atlanta Open, page 18

By Mike Blum

After shooting a 63 in the first round of the recent Yamaha Atlanta Open at The Frog, Craig Stevens was in position to comfortably win a fourth Georgia PGA tournament inhis last five starts.

But after almost hitting the flagstick with his approach shot on the par-4 opening hole,Stevens proceeded to four-putt the green for double bogey, with his last two misses fromno more than three feet each.

“Unbelievable,” Stevens said of his stumbling start after completing his round. “That wasa reality check.”

Instead of being flustered by his unexpected slip on the first hole, Stevens proceeded tobirdie five of the next six holes, including four straight to cap his torrid stretch.

Thanks to the rapid recovery from his faltering start, Stevens never yielded the lead andappeared to be on his way to an easy victory, leading by four strokes midway through theback nine.

But unlike the Yamaha Georgia Senior Open, which Stevens won several weeks earlierby eight strokes after trailing late on the front nine, his margin began shrinking as heneared the finish.

Winston Trively, looking for his first win in a Section points event, birdied the last twoholes, while Stevens found fairway bunkers on his tee shots on both 17 and 18. Stevens’bogey at the 17th reduced his lead from four to two, but he managed to par the par-5 18th to lock up his first Atlanta Open title.

A final round 68 gave Stevens a 36-hole total of 13-under 131, just one ahead of Trively,who posted scores of 65-67. Clark Spratlin, who was looking for a second straight Georgia PGA victory after his runaway win at Chicopee Woods, was 3rd at 135 after asecond round 69. The three players were 1-2-3 after the first round and that’s the waythey finished when the event concluded.

Stevens is now three-fourths of the way to a career Georgia PGA Grand Slam, lackingonly a win in the Georgia Open. As much as he would like to add the Georgia Opentitle to his growing list of tournament victories, Stevens would not be disappointed if he doesn’t get the chance next month.

The Georgia Open is being played the same week as the U.S. Senior Open, with Stevenshoping to qualify for that event in his first year of senior eligibility.

Stevens, who teaches at Steel Canyon GC in Sandy Springs, has qualifier status onthe Champions Tour, but has yet to make it into a field for a tournament this year. Heattempted to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open in Pennsylvania, the day after the finalround of the PGA Professional National Championship, which was played in late June inHershey, Pa.

“If I don’t make that, I’m sure I’ll be at Barnsley Gardens,” Stevens said of the site of theGeorgia Open.

Stevens won the last two individual Georgia PGA events of 2010, taking theSection Championship at Sea Island GC and the Section’s qualifier for the PGAProfessional National Championship. After tying for 9th in the Chicopee Woods Players Championship, the Georgia PGA’s season opener, Stevens romped to victory in his firstever appearance in the Georgia Senior Open.

The veteran teaching pro has now captured 13 individual Georgia PGA titles, his firstvictory coming all the way back in 1985 in the Section’s Match Play Championship.Stevens’ next win was 13 years later in 1998, part of a four-year stretch in which he won six times and twice was the Georgia PGA Player of the Year.

Until last month, the Atlanta Open was one of the Section’s two major titles that hadeluded him, but he went a long way toward resolving that when he shot a 9-under 63 inthe opening round, playing his last 11 holes in 8-under.

After closing out the back nine at The Frog (his opening nine) with birdies at 17 and 18,Stevens ripped off five straight birdies beginning at the short, par-4 second hole, andwrapped up his sensational start with his 10th birdie of the day at the ninth.
“I had 24 putts yesterday,” Stevens said after his victory. “I’ve been putting good, but Iwent brain dead (on the first hole of the second round). I was very careless and did notpay attention.”

Stevens still led by one shot as he walked off the first green, which Trively three-puttedfor bogey. Although he was clearly perturbed by the opening double bogey, Stevens wasable to quickly put that behind him.

“I knew I had to stay focused. The next four or five holes are all birdie-able and I knewClark was going to make some birdies.”
Stevens hit his short approach on the second hole to about 10 feet and made it, then tookadvantage of both par 5s on the opening nine (5 and 6), reaching both in two for two-putt birdies. He almost holed his second shot on the sixth, the second short par 4 on thevulnerable front nine at The Frog, and closed out his torrid stretch of birdies by holing a 15-footer on the seventh, with the putt just making it to the hole.

With Spratlin matching Stevens’ birdies at 4, 5 and 6 and Trively scoring birdies at 4and 6 (he three-putted 5 for par), Stevens was unable to break away from his two playingpartners. Spratlin, who teaches at Georgia Golf Center, hit it close at the ninth for birdie to close within two of the lead, with Stevens barely missing his birdie attempt after aclutch par-saving putt at the previous hole.

Stevens’ lead was still two when he parred the 12th after a deft chip shot while Spratlinchipped long and missed an 8-footter for par before lipping out his second putt. That putStevens four ahead of both Spratlin and Trively, who were unable to catch the leaderdespite a combined eight birdies over the final seven holes.

Trively, the head professional at Crooked Oak GC in Colquitt, birdied five of his lastseven holes to put some late pressure on Stevens, who birdied the par-5 13th with a chipand a putt and rattled in a long putt from the fringe on the 15th to maintain a 4-strokeadvantage with three holes to play.

As it turned out, he needed that final birdie to hold off Trively, who had mostly escapedthe attention of Stevens while the leader was keeping a close watch on Spratlin, who iscapable of birdie barrages when his putter is cooperating.

Stevens also had concerns of his own after the rocky start to his second round.

“This game is so mental. I played so well Monday, then I go out and did what I did on thefirst hole today.”

Stevens has recorded a string of low rounds in his four recent Georgia PGA victories,but has been unable to match those numbers in Champions Tour qualifiers. He says it’s amatter of confidence and feeling comfortable in his surroundings.

“I’m very confident playing with these guys,” he says of his tournaments against GeorgiaPGA competition. But against the former PGA Tour players he competes with in theChampions Tour qualifiers, their stature “is in the back of my mind, and I put stress on myself. That kind of takes me down.”

Stevens took home $4,600 for his victory in the Atlanta Open, with Trively earning$3,100 for his runner-up finish and Spratlin collecting $2,100. The tournament waspresented by Bushnell/Bolle.

Jack Hall of St, Simons Island, was low amateur and placed 4th overall, closing with a 66for an 8-under 136 total. Tying for 5th at 137 were Marietta CC Director of Golf StephenKeppler and Cherokee CC instructor Kevin Roman, with both players shooting in the 60s in each round.

Josh Adams, an assistant at The Frog, shot a 67 in the second round to tie for 7th at 138 with amateur Ricky Casko, who had scores of 68 and 70.

Tying for 9th at 139 were amateur DeWitt Weaver III and former Atlanta Openchampions Tommy Brannen, the head professional at Augusta CC, and Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods. All three shot 69-70. Also tying for 9th was Bill Murchison of Towne Lake Hills, who closed within two of Stevens’ lead after going out in 30. But Murchisonstruggled on the incoming nine and settled for a 69.

Recent Atlanta Open winners Tim Weinhart and amateur Bob Royak were among agroup of players tying for 13th at 4-under 140.