For the second straight year, Sonny Skinner and Craig Stevens finished 1-2 in the Yamaha Georgia Senior Open at Newnan Country Club.

But the similarities between last year’s tournament and the one played recently pretty much end there.

Last year, Stevens romped to an 8-stroke victory after trailing late on the front nine.

This time, Skinner and Stevens engaged in a tight 18-hole duel that was not decided until Skinner broke a tie with a birdie on the final hole.

Skinner, who shared the lead after an opening round 67, followed with a 69 for a 36-hole total of 8-under 136. Stevens posted scores of 68 and 69 for a 137 total and his third runner-up finish in the three Georgia PGA events in which he has competed this year.

The final round was more than just a two-player battle. Stephen Keppler, like Skinner and Stevens a relatively new member of the senior set, shot the low round of the tournament – a 6-under 66 – in the second round to make a strong run at the lead. But came up just short when his birdie attempt failed at the final hole. Keppler was 3^rd at 138.

Amateur Don Marsh, who shared the first round lead with Skinner and played in the final pairing the second day, finished 4^th at 139, remaining in contention until the final hole. He earned low amateur honors by three strokes.

Skinner and Stevens have been frequent practice round partners and tournament competitors in recent years, particularly last year when both were trying to play their way into Champions Tour events.

Stevens, an instructor at Brookstone CC, has largely abandoned that quest – at least for this year – while Skinner continues his efforts to compete against golf’s best players over the age of 50 following a strong showing in the finals of Champions Tour qualifying last year.

“We’ve played so much golf together,” Skinner said after his victory. “We traveled and played practice rounds together all over the country. Our games match up pretty good. We’re both pretty steady.

“You like beating your buddies, but at the same time it’s different competing against a good friend.”

The tournament served as a tune-up for both players, who will compete in the Senior PGA Championship in Michigan, scheduled for May 24-27. Skinner, who plays out of Albany’s River Pointe GC, was the low finisher among the country’s club professionals in last year’s event, but his status on the Champions Tour this year has increased his playing opportunities.

The Senior PGA Championship will be Skinner’s fourth start in seven full field events on the Champions Tour this year, with Skinner getting into two off his status from Q school and once as a Monday qualifier. He played respectably in two of his first three starts, finishing around 30^th in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic and in Houston.

“I haven’t played as well as I think I can play,” Skinner said of his Champions Tour efforts so far this season. “It’s tough getting in tournaments at the last minute.”

Skinner says it’s equally difficult trying to make it through Monday qualifiers, where he is just 1-for-5 so far in 2012.

“You have to shoot 68 or better, but it seems like the guys who shoot low scores in the Monday qualifiers don’t play as well in the tournament.”

Skinner played well both days at Newnan CC, carding seven birdies in the opening round when he enjoyed an outstanding day on Newnan’s excellent greens. He holed a pair of putts he estimated at 40 and 60 feet and needed only 26 putts on the day.

He did not putt quite as well the next day, holing three birdie putts in the 10-to-15-foot range but also missing even more opportunities of that length and shorter. Two of Skinner’s four birdies came on the first four holes of the second round, as he moved out to an early lead that he at least held a share of the rest of the day.

Stevens pulled into a tie for the lead with back-to-back birdies at 8 and 9, with the latter hole exemplifying the biggest difference between the two players. Skinner hit his approach shot on the ninth inside five feet, while Stevens faced a considerably longer birdie putt.

“Craig has the upper hand chipping and putting,” said Skinner, who missed his short birdie try after Stevens made his. “I didn’t putt that well today. My 69 could have been a 64 without much effort.”

The difference between the two was one costly slip by Stevens, who did not take his time over a par putt of less than two feet on the 13^th and missed it.

That dropped Stevens two behind Skinner, who had reclaimed the outright lead when he holed a nice birdie putt at the 10^th. But Stevens pulled even with birdies at 14 and 16. He used his short game touch to birdie the long par-5 14^th, and tied Skinner after both hit it close at 16, but Skinner missed his birdie putt.

Both players came up just short of the green in two on the par-5 18^th, but Skinner’s low pitch and run left him with a short birdie putt, while Stevens’ pitch came up well short. After Stevens missed, Skinner holed his for the win.

Skinner, who frequently displays his frustration on the greens after missing relatively short putts, said he was able “to keep a good attitude” throughout the final round despite failing to capitalize on several birdie opportunities.

“Instead of getting down, I had a positive-ness today. That helped.”

Skinner has been among the top players in the Georgia PGA since he quit competing as a full time tour player in 2005. He was the Section’s Player of the Year in 2006, but the ’06 Match Play title and the 2009 Georgia PGA Championship are his only victories in Section events.

During his career as a tour player, Skinner played four years on the PGA Tour and 11 on the Nationwide Tour, winning twice on the latter.

Marsh held steady all day, but managed just two birdies, the first coming on the sixth that briefly pulled him even with Skinner.

Keppler, the Director of Golf at Marietta CC, made a move with consecutive birdies at 5, 6 and 7, but was unable to birdie either of the par 5s on the front nine, including the short and inviting eighth. Three more birdies in a 4-hole stretch on the back nine pulled him within one of Skinner’s lead, but he parred the last four holes, including the 18^th after almost reaching the green in two.

Taking 5^th at 140 was Chick Berry, who shot a second round 68 after beginning the day with a double bogey and bogey on the first two holes. He played his last 15 holes in 7-under.

Russ Davis, the Director of Instruction at Cherokee Town & CC, was 6^th at 141, with Ansley GC Director of Golf Phil Taylor among three players tying for 7^th at 142. Also shooting 142 were amateurs Mel Mendenhall and John Cochran. Mendenhall was in a tight battle with Stevens midway through the final round last year before falling out of contention, but rebounded with a solid 36-hole showing.

Amateur Bob Royak, a former Atlanta Open champion, was 10^th at 143.

Swafford secures first Nationwide Tour title in style

By Mike Blum

Hudson Swafford made certain that his first win on the Nationwide Tour was a memorable one.

Swafford, a 2011 U. of Georgia graduate, returned to his college town for the first time as a pro, and captured the Stadion Classic at UGA with the most spectacular shot in the tournament’s brief history.

With a slam dunk hole-out from a greenside bunker on the 18^th hole in the final round, Swafford edged out rising star Luke List and former U.S Open champion Lee Janzen by one stroke. Swafford’s 72^nd hole birdie gave him a course record 62 and was part of a wild conclusion to an event that produced plenty of twists and turns in a scintillating final round shootout.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Swafford said shortly after his victory, which vaulted him from 61^st to 7^th on the money list and puts him in position to earn his PGA Tour card for 2013.

As he walked towards the 18^th green, Swafford told his caddie, “We have to make this. But talking about it and doing it are two different things.”

Swafford’s sandy birdie closed out his remarkable final round that included 10 birdies on the stout par-71 UGA layout, with nine of the 10 coming in three stretches of three in a row.

When he teed off 90 minutes ahead of the lead group in the final round, Swafford was tied for 15^th place, five strokes off the lead of South Africa’s Tyrone Van Aswegan. A three-putt bogey on the opening hole dropped Swafford six shots off the pace, but he came right back with a birdie on the next hole and was off and running.

Swafford shot into contention with consecutive birdies at holes 5, 6 and 7, but was still three off the lead as he made the turn to the more penal but also more vulnerable back nine.

A second string of three straight birdies beginning at the 11^th pulled Swafford into a tie with List, who had won the week before in Valdosta. Several other players were also battling for the lead, but List and Swafford put a little distance between them and the other contenders.

Swafford closed with birdies at 16, 17 and 18 to set the course record of 62, but List answered with his own flurry of birdies, the last one coming on 17 to tie him for the lead with one hole to play.

But List’s tee shot on the 18^th sailed into the trees right of the fairway and his second shot clipped some branches, leaving him an equally difficult third shot, which missed the green wide left. He managed to scramble for bogey, settling for a final round 66 and a 16-under 268 total, one stroke behind Swafford.

Janzen, making just his second Nationwide Tour start of the season – his first two on the tour in more than 20 years – was lapped by the field after playing his first 10 holes in 1-over without a birdie. But he suddenly began to sizzle, making birdie on seven of the last eight holes, including the final five in succession.

That gave him a 29 on his final nine and a 65 on the day, tying List for 2^nd at 16-under. Former Florida Gator Billy Horschel finished 4^th at 15-under after a closing 69, with Van Aswegan taking 5^th at 14-under, finishing with a 70.

Swafford was a contender from the first round, carding a 66 highlighted by consecutive birdies on 13, 14 and 15 on his opening nine of the tournament. Kent Jones, a long-time journeyman on the PGA Tour, led with a 63, two on front of Janzen, David Skinns and Brandon Brown, the latter duo among the top players in recent years on the Hooters Tour.

Horschel and Jim Herman, who wound up 6^th at 13-under, shared the 36-hole lead at 132, with Horschel’s 63 the low round of the day. List was among four players one shot off the lead, along with Albany’s Josh Broadaway, former Georgia Southern golfer Aron Price and Jason Gore. Swafford struggled late on both his nines, shot 70 and was four off the lead at 136.

Van Aswegan moved to the front after a third round 65 got him to 13-under, one ahead of Horschel, South Korea’s Bio Kim, a PGA Tour rookie last year, and veteran PGA Tour player Woody Austin.

A total of 20 players began the final round within five strokes of Van Aswegan’s lead, and one of those five back wound up winning with a spectacular comeback.

Swafford, who came to UGA from Tallahassee, Fla., spent most of his college career in Athens playing in the shadow of Russell Henley and Harris English, who both won as amateurs on the Nationwide Tour last year.

After a disappointing showing in the NCAA Championship, where the Bulldogs lost in the title match to Augusta State, Swafford turned pro and placed 2^nd in his second start on the eGolf Tour, winning on the tour later in the season.

In his first experience with the often painful process of Q-school, Swafford reached the finals and put himself in position to earn a PGA Tour card, firing a fifth round 65 to move just inside the top 25. But he settled for a final round 73 to miss jumping straight to golf’s major leagues by two shots, earning exempt status on the Nationwide Tour for 2012.

Swafford had played respectably as a Nationwide Tour rookie, notching back-to-back top-20 finishes in California and Valdosta before his breakthrough in Athens.

Even after the three consecutive birdies on the front nine, Swafford said he did not seriously entertain the thought of winning until making birdie at the short but pesky par-4 11^th.

“That got me to 4-under for the day, and I thought I definitely had a chance. Then I caught fire on the next few holes.”

A nice birdie putt at the 13^th pulled Swafford into a tie for the lead, and even though he wasn’t sneaking peaks at the leader board, he recognized he “was right in it. Nobody was running away.”

Swafford took the lead with a precise iron shot to a tough pin on the par-3 16^th and followed with a birdie at the 17^th after just missing the green on the par 5 with his second shot. List, about four holes behind Swafford, answered both birdies, leaving them tied with Swafford playing the 18^th.

Like List a little later, Swafford also missed the 18^th fairway to the right, but had a less obstructed second shot. He almost avoided the greenside bunker, but it rolled back into the sand, leaving him a relatively easy recovery shot.

When he hit his bunker shot, Swafford thought it was heading past the hole, but the ball dived straight into the cup, glancing off the bottom of the flagstick on the way down.

“When that bunker shot went in, it was a surreal feeling,” said Swafford, who had to wait well over an hour before celebrating his victory.

Swafford had been looking forward to playing in the tournament since he earned his Nationwide Tour card late last year.

“It was a sense of comfort,” he said. “It helped playing the course as many times as we’ve played it.”

Swafford put his course knowledge to good use and then some.

“I did everything I could. I shot a course record. Just to have a chance was thrilling.”

Swafford was one of three ex-Bulldogs to finish in the top 10, although the other two graduated 12 and 19 years before him. Justin Bolli and Paul Claxton both tied for 7^th at 12-under, with both closing with back-to-back scores of 66-67. With previous finishes of 3^rd and 2^nd, Claxton left Athens 6^th on the money list, with Bolli 26^th after his second top 10 of the season.

Price was only 1-under on the weekend and tied for 16^th at 10-under, with former Georgia Tech golfers Nicholas Thompson and Paul Haley 24^th and 27^th respectively. Haley, a winner earlier this year in Chile, is 3^rd on the money list.

Skinns, who lives in Suwanee, was 1-over the final 54 holes and finished T34 after playing his way into the South Georgia Classic as a Monday qualifier and finishing in the top 20 in Valdosta. Broadaway fell to T45, shooting 72-76 on the weekend after opening with scores of 67-66.

The cut came at 2-under 140, with four Georgians missing by just one shot. Georgia PGA member Bill Murchison, an assistant at Towne Lake Hills, shot a second round 68, but bogeyed the 18^th. Former Norcross resident Reid Edstrom also missed by one despite a 68 Friday, with Duluth’s Brent Witcher also bogeying the 18^th after making the cut in Valdosta the week before. LaFayette’s John Kimbell was on the cut line before a bogey at the par-5 17^th.

Henley, the defending champion, shot 69 the first round, but slipped to a 74 and missed the cut by three at 143.

At Summer Grove in Newnan, Augusta’s Brad Arrington was the medalist with an 8-under 64. Mini-tour player Jonathan Fricke of Covington tied for 3^rd at 68 and advanced in a playoff, scoring a birdie on the first extra hole.

Among the players missing the playoff by one shot were Newnan’s Matt Lawson, Atlanta’s Tim Schaetzel and recent Augusta State standout Henrik Norlander.

At Marietta CC, Mitch Krywulycz was medalist with a 6-under 64. Krywulycz was Norlander’s teammate on Augusta State’s national championship team in 2010 and 2011.

Current Georgia Tech golfer Anders Albertson of Woodstock was 2^nd at 65, followed by Kennesaw State golfer Matt Nagy of Buena Vista at 66. Duluth’s Ben Greene, Nagy’s Kennesaw teammate, tied for 4^th at 67 with Atlanta pros Curt Sanders and Richard Swift.

Jay McLuen, the 2011 Georgia Open champion, shot 68 and won a playoff for the final qualifying spot. Also shooting 68 were Towne Lake Hills assistant pro Bill Murchison, who is the second alternate, and Jonathan Keppler, a freshman at Kennesaw Mountain HS and the son of Marietta CC Director of Golf Stephen Keppler.

Ollie Schniederjans of Powder Springs, Albertson’s Georgia Tech teammate, shot 69 and missed the playoff by one stroke.

A number of Georgians advanced in qualifiers held outside the state. Here is a partial list:

Georgetown, S.C.: Kevin Kisner, ex-UGA golfer, PGA Tour member; Chip Deason, Evans.

Madison, Wis.: Bryant Odom, Cartersville, 72, medalist.

Carmel, Ind.: Justin Cho, Norcross, 68, 2^nd.

Bluffton, S.C.: Mark Harrell, Hazlehurst, 71, 2^nd; Daniel Mobley, Waynesboro, won playoff.

Bryan, Texas: Steve Gilley, Newnan native, 69, T5.

Nicholasville, Ky.: Billy Shida, Duluth, won playoff.

St. Augustine, Fla.: Jeff Cammon, St. Simons, 70, T3.

Wallace, N.C.: Chesson Hadley, ex-Georgia Tech, won playoff.

Standing on the 18^th tee in the final round of an American Junior Golf Association tournament last month at Country Club of the South, Lee McCoy was focusing on just finishing strong and securing second place.

McCoy, a Clarkesville resident and U. of Georgia signee for the 2012-13 season, trailed Joshua Martin, who was playing the 17^th hole, by four strokes. In a resigned, almost joking manner, he asked someone who was following the scores on-line, “Is there any way I have a shot?”

Bogeys at 15 and 17 and a missed birdie opportunity at 16 had seemingly doomed McCoy’s hopes. He briefly shared the lead on the back nine with Martin, who was 4-under for the day and 6-under for the tournament after playing his first 16 holes without a bogey.

But as McCoy was teeing off on the 18^th, Martin was hitting his tee shot on the par-3 17^th under the lip of a greenside bunker, leaving himself with no viable option for recovery. He wound up with a triple bogey on the hole, reducing his comfortable four-stroke lead to just a single shot.

Faced with a 20-foot birdie putt on 18, McCoy rolled it in, and watched as Martin missed the 18^th green with his approach shot and was unable to save par.

Just like that, what appeared to a third runner-up finish in an AJGA event for McCoy turned out to be his first victory. With scores of 70 and 71, McCoy finished with a 3-under 141 total and a one-stroke margin over Martin, who shot 70-72—142 to take 2^nd.

“I was shocked,” McCoy said when he was told that Martin had made triple bogey on the 17^th to place the two players in a tie after McCoy’s closing birdie. “He was solid every time I’d seen him today behind me. I was not sure he had made a bogey all day.”

McCoy was accustomed to finishing second in AJGA events, having been the runner-up in two invitational tournaments, the top events on the national tour.

After the unexpected conclusion, McCoy was able to experience the achievement of winning a tournament on the AJGA tour for the first time.

“It feels great,” he said. “It’s great to get it behind me and it gives me some momentum going into the summer.”

McCoy is the only player UGA coach Chris Haack has signed for next season, and will have the chance to break into the lineup as a freshman for the Bulldogs, who don’t have a senior on this season’s roster after losing their top four players from the 2011 squad that lost in the finals of the NCAA Championship.

Although he grew up in the Tampa area, McCoy had his eye on Athens well before he moved to Clarkesville with his parents prior to the start of his senior year in high school. McCoy, who is about to graduate from Habersham Central High School, committed to Georgia as a sophomore in Florida.

“They’ve got a great program,” McCoy said of the Bulldogs. “They’ve got a lot of tour pros who played there, and Coach Haack is a great guy. I’d play for him wherever.”

Haack was on the course during the final round, and got a good look at McCoy’s talent and resilience. Several times during the round, McCoy shrugged off a disappointment, immediately responding with something positive to keep himself in the hunt.

McCoy began the final round tied for 2^nd, three strokes off the lead of Brandon Pierce, who opened with a 67. But Pierce played his first four holes in 5-over par and wound up shooting 79, tying for 6^th at 146.

Several players, including McCoy, were suddenly thrust into a battle for the lead, and McCoy began his round with five straight pars before bogeying the par-5 sixth hole for a second straight day.

McCoy came right back with a birdie at the par-3 seventh, but gave that shot back when a overly aggressive attempt to make birdie on the ninth resulted in a three-putt bogey. McCoy was three shots back of Martin as he made the turn, but again was able to quickly rebound after suffering a setback.

“I was frustrated,” McCoy said of his play in the opening round. “I had not putted well all week.”

McCoy let a little of that frustration out on the par-5 10^th, unleashing a huge drive to give himself an easy opportunity to reach the green in two. He rifled his iron shot within about 15 feet for eagle and holed the putt to vault right back into contention.

Another aggressive tee shot and a short iron to tap in range gave McCoy a birdie at the 14^th, but Martin stretched his lead with a pair of birdies on the back nine, while McCoy was struggling a bit on the closing holes.

An errant tee shot on the 15^th resulted in a bogey for McCoy, who got a nice break after pulling his attempt at a recovery shot from the woods. His ball somehow managed to avoid several trees left of the gap he was aiming for, ending up in a greenside bunker.

McCoy put his second shot just over the green on the hazardous par-5 16^th, but he was left with a very delicate pitch, and was unable to get within birdie range. He again left himself in a tough spot when his tee shot was long on the 17^th, and had little chance of saving par.

But he came right back on the 18^th, splitting the fairway with his tee shot and giving himself a chance at birdie after a well-placed approach shot to a tough-to-reach pin. That set up a chance to what proved to be the winning birdie putt.

“I made a couple of bogeys down the stretch,” McCoy said. “But I held it together on the last hole.”

Two Atlanta area boys also posted top-10 finishes in the tournament, which was sponsored by Exide Technologies and presented by Mizuno.

Zachary Healy of Norcross tied for 4^th at 72-72—144, making a move with three birdies on the back nine the final day. Michael Pisciotta of Alpharetta tied for 7^th at 146 with scores of 72-74. Both are sophomores in high school.

Andy Shim of Duluth was T14 at 149, with Chris Guglielmo of Cumming T22 at 152. Guglielmo was in contention after an opening 72, but fell back on the back nine in the final round. Preston Rimer of Johns Creek was 25^th at 153.

Three Georgians tied for 3^rd in the girls division, including defending champion Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale. Stackhouse pulled off a huge final round comeback last year, but left herself too far behind last month after an opening 75.

Stackhouse came back with a 71 for a 2-over 146, with her hopes at a repeat victory dashed by two holes. Stackhouse was 3-over on both the 4^th and 10^th holes, neither among the toughest at Country Club of the South, playing the other 32 holes in 4-under.

Floridian Samantha Wagner, who lost in a playoff last year to Stackhouse, won in impressive fashion this time, finishing five strokes ahead of her closest pursuer with scores of 68-70—138.

Tying for 3^rd at 146 along with Stackhouse were Jessica Haigwood of Roswell and Rachel Dai of Milton.

Haigwood, who contended in the tournament last year, was one back of Wagner after an opening 69, which included six birdies. A poor front nine the next day dropped her out of contention, but she held steady on the back nine to remain among the leaders.

Dai was done in by a poor back nine in the opening round. She shot 2-under 34 on her opening nine that day and carded a 70 in the final round, but a 42 coming in the first day knocked her out of contention.

Stackhouse, a senior in high school, is headed to Stanford on a golf scholarship. Haigwood is a junior and Dai is a freshman.

Alpharetta’s Amira Alexander opened with a 73 highlighted by an eagle on the 10^th, and wound up 11^th at 148. Roswell’s Rinko Mitsunaga tied for 12^th at 150.

Stardom was predicted for Luke List from his early days in amateur golf.

He reached the semifinals of the U.S. Public Links Championship just after completing his freshman season on the Vanderbilt golf team and was the runner-up in the U.S. Amateur the next year. The two losses came against current PGA Tour standouts Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore.

List played in three U.S. Opens as an amateur along with the 2005 Masters, where he earned low amateur honors with a T33 finish after making a hole-in-one during the par-3 tournament.

After turning pro in 2007 following his graduation from Vanderbilt, List found the adjustment to the pro game a little more daunting than two players also born in 1985, who had been competing against List from their junior days in metro Atlanta and throughout their college careers.

Woodstock’s Chris Kirk quickly played his way onto the Nationwide Tour after an outstanding career at Georgia and won a tournament as a rookie on the PGA Tour in 2011.

Alpharetta’s Roberto Castro was a standout at Georgia Tech and enjoyed immediate success as a pro with a series of victories before playing his way onto the Nationwide Tour in 2010 and earning his PGA Tour status the following season.

List, who grew up in the north Georgia community of Jasper before moving with his family to the Chattanooga suburb of Ringgold in the northern-most tip of the state, took a little longer to make his mark as a pro.

After a few uneventful years at the outset of his pro career, List recorded a handful of solid efforts on the Nationwide Tour in 2009 before his first successful effort in PGA Tour qualifying earned him exempt Nationwide status in 2010.

List was back on the Nationwide Tour last year and improved his standing on the money list from 78 to 38 to secure exempt status for a second straight season. He nearly played his way onto the PGA Tour in the finals of Q-school, but came up two shots short after being outside the top 100 two days into the six-round marathon.

Just eight tournaments into the 2012 Nationwide Tour season, List is already assured a spot on the 2013 PGA Tour, and came tantalizingly close to earning the earliest performance promotion ever for a Nationwide Tour player.

A victory in the South Georgia Classic at Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta all but locked up a 2013 PGA Tour berth for List, and he sealed the deal the following week, tying for 2^nd for the second time this season, finishing just one stroke behind recent UGA grad Hudson Swafford in the Stadion Classic at UGA.

List left Athens with almost $224,000 in earnings, well above the total needed for a top 25 finish on the money list and a PGA Tour card for 2013. He was the tour’s leading money winner at that point, and with his status for next year no longer a concern, he is focused on remaining No. 1 if he is unable to score the second and third victories required for promotion to the PGA Tour.

For much of the final round in Athens, List seemed poised for a second straight win in Georgia, but was denied by Swafford’s course record 62 and an errant drive on the 18^th hole in the final round that cost him a share of the lead.

List spent much of the final round having to answer birdies by Swafford, who was playing five groups in front of him. He was 7-under for the day coming to the 18^th and had not made a bogey until his tee shot drifted into the right trees, and he clipped a branch of one in his attempt to reach the green on the demanding 488-yard, par-4 finishing hole.

“I didn’t have much of a shot,” List said of his attempted recovery attempt. “I knew what I had to do, cut a 6-iron from 194, but I had to open the face and it started too far right.”

From an even tougher spot, List missed the green left with his third shot, and managed to salvage a bogey with a lengthy putt, which wound up giving him a share of 2^nd with two-time U.S Open champion Lee Janzen, who birdied seven of the last eight holes for a course record 29 on the back nine.

“I played awesome today,” List said after a final round 65 gave him a 72-hole total of 16-under 268. “But I didn’t putt as well as I would have liked. I had so many looks.”

List began the final round three strokes off the lead in a tie for 8^th, but when he rolled in a birdie at the 9^th, his fourth on the opening nine, he had a share of the lead at 14-under. With Swafford in the midst of his second run of three consecutive birdies, List spent most of the back nine trying to match the recent Georgia Bulldog.

Thanks to a deft par save at the 10^th and three birdies, the final one coming at the par-5 17^th where he had 15 feet for eagle after a superb 3-wood, List matched Swafford shot for shot.

Until the 18^th.

List took his second close runner-up finish of the season in good cheer, with his victory the week before and the knowledge that he will be on the PGA Tour in 2013 helping ease the disappointment.

Prior to his victory in Valdosta, List had placed 2^nd twice on the Nationwide Tour. He turned in a clutch performance on the final nine at Kinderlou Forest, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 13^th.

“To prove I could win was a big step,” List said after opening the Athens tournament with a 66.

As in Athens, List was a contender in Valdosta from the opening round, posting scores of 67-68-69-68 for a 16-under 272 total on the Kinderlou Forest layout, the longest the Nationwide Tour visits. List was also 16-under at UGA, one of the most demanding courses on the tour.

Both courses are comfortable fits for List, who leads the tour in driving distance with an average of 325 yards, 7.5 yards ahead of his closest competitor.

“My length is a big advantage,” he says, “as long as I hit it relatively straight.”

List, whose build suggests a hard-hitting strong safety as much as it does golfer, is not just a bomber, possessing a skilled short game that has him ranked high in both putting and scrambling stats. His lone below-par stat is fairways hit, a common occurrence with long hitters, and he is not as wild off the tee as most who share his propensity for launching prodigious drives.

Because of his physical ability and the amateur success he enjoyed, List has been touted as a can’t miss prospect since his late teens.

When he was a little slow out of the gate as a professional, List managed to take things in stride, even though both he and the game’s closest observers were expecting more.

List said he did his best not to fall into the “expectations” trap, and proceeded at his own pace, even if it wasn’t quite as fast as anticipated.

Even while he was competing on mini-tours and in Monday qualifiers, List was collecting valuable experience and was gradually improving each year.

“The three years I’ve been on the Nationwide Tour have been invaluable,” he said. “I’ve taken a few hard knocks and maybe taken a little longer to get here, but I like to think that has paid off.”

In addition to the pressure from without, List became a professional with great expectations of his own, and says much of his recent success stems more from an attitude adjustment than any physical improvements.

“It’s all mental,” he says of his recent outstanding play. List has learned to “be easier on myself, not digging deeper holes,” when things aren’t exactly going his way.

Armed with a less self-critical approach and his considerable talent, List has put himself in position to win three times already this year, and was going forward down the stretch on each occasion.

Now, his biggest obstacle is to avoid complacency that can accompany the position he enjoys at the top of the money list.

“If you get comfortable looking forward, you’re going to get lapped. There’s no room for that. I want to try and get in contention again. My goal is to be number one at the end of the year.”

The Lake Oconee area has long been recognized for the quality of its golf courses, with just about every course bordering the lake a consistent contender for inclusion on the various lists of the state’s best.

One of the first – and still one of the best – courses in the area is the Harbor Club, which attracted plenty of attention when it opened more than two decades ago, but has adopted a lower profile in recent years.

With the recent announcement that the Harbor Club will be managed by Atlanta-based Affiniti Golf Partners, the outstanding Jay Morrish-Tom Weiskopf design is positioned to become a more visible player at the statewide level.

Harbor Club hosted the Georgia Open and PGA Tour qualifying in its early years, and has remained a fixture on the GSGA’s schedule, hosting the Four-Ball Championship last month for the third time.

The club encountered some early financial difficulties, but has operated under the same owner since the early 1990s.

“We’ve been here for 20 years and we hope to be here for another 20,” says General Manager Brandon Matney, whose father acquired the course in 1992. The Matney family has kept Harbor Club moving forward over the past two decades, and is looking to Affiniti to accelerate that process.

Harbor Club is a semi-private facility, with the addition of Affiniti expected to increase the club’s non-member play.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the quality of the course, which ranks with the most interesting and enjoyable layouts in the state.

Morrish and Weiskopf produced a number of acclaimed courses as design partners during golf’s construction boom in the 1980s and ‘90s, largely in the Southwest but nationally and internationally as well.

Harbor Club offers a wonderful variety of holes, including a staple found on Morrish-Weiskopf layouts – an entertaining short par 4. In this case, there are three of them, all different but equally intriguing.

The three short par 4s are balanced by a very strong group of lengthier two-shotters, with a mostly inviting quartet of par 5s, highlighted by a unique risk/reward hole without a drop of water.

Although the course borders Lake Oconee, the lake is in play on only a handful of holes, with water a serious factor on just four of the well-crafted 18 holes, including the 17^th and 18^th.

Harbor Club’s nines have reversed on more than one occasion, with the last change occurring six years ago. The current configuration offers a somewhat more dramatic early group of holes, along with a diverse and appealing closing stretch that concludes with the only hole on the course that has been changed significantly from its original design.

The 18^th has undergone a few tweaks over the years, with the green relocated across a tiny finger of the lake and part of the route to reach it considerably altered.

Originally, players had the option to play down either side of the water, but you had to cross the water with either the tee shot or approach. Playing down the right side of the water is no longer an option, with an angled tee shot having to carry it and the second shot back across the water to the new green.

The hole can play as long as 448 from one of the two sets of tees, but is friendlier from the peninsula tee, which offers a less perilous angle to cross the hazard, while also reducing the length of the hole from the gold and blue tees by around 30 yards.

Harbor Club measures a shade over 7,000 yards from the tips, but more often than not will be a bit short of that yardage due to more frequently used tees on holes 11 and 18. The course is rated at 73.9/137 from the golds and 71.5/131 from the blues, which are around 6,500.

The white tees are a comfortable 5,900-plus, with the combination green tees around 6,200 (70.2/127). The silver (senior) tees measure around 5,500, with the forward set 5,170 (70.0/120).

Harbor Club is a moderately tight course off the tee, with pines and hardwoods within reach on several holes, including two of the par 5s. Several holes feature strategic fairway bunkers, either at or near the corner of a dogleg or beyond the fairway on holes with hazards on the opposite side.

The relatively tame opening hole offers minimal resistance tee to green, but serves as a good example of the challenge you’ll face once you reach Harbor Club’s mostly large and sufficiently undulating putting surfaces. Most of the undulations are more subtle than severe, but there are plenty of holes with a healthy amount of movement, and the size of the greens will provide ample opportunities for three-putts.

Swafford, a rookie on Tour, put a 17-under 267 total on the board but then had to wait another 90 minutes for the rest of the field to finish.

“I did what I could”, said Swafford after he signed his card. “We’ll see if it’s good enough.”

Several players had chances down the stretch but nobody could match the magic of the red and black, ultimately turning Stafford’s good into spectacular. And legendary.

“I couldn’t see it. I heard it hit the pin and then I heard everybody just go nuts. When I went up there and saw it had disappeared I blacked out to be honest,” said Swafford. “To hole out a bunker shot to win a golf tournament is amazing.”

Swafford waited out the field and wound up one better than Luke List, last week’s winner of the South Georgia Classic, and two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, who birdied seven of his last eight holes, including the final five.

A birdie at No. 17 had given List a share of the lead but the former Vanderbilt star pushed his tee shot at No. 18 into the trees. His second shot, an uphill 6-iron from the right rough, caught the pines and dropped 40 yards in front of him. His third wound up left of the green, and he ultimately holed a 12-footer for bogey.

“This is unbelievable. My first win is huge and to be in Athens, words don’t describe it,”said Swafford, who follows in the footsteps of former teammate Rusell Henley, who won here last year as an amateur. “I couldn’t have drawn it up any better. The way it happened is a dream come true.”

Swafford collected a check for $99,000 which jumped him from No 61 to No. 7 on the money list.

“This is just a starting point. This is no time to get comfortable,” he said. “I’m still a long way from where I need to be. I’m another win away from getting anything done.”

Florida’s Billy Horschel (68) was fourth, third-round leader Tyrone Van Aswegen (70) was fifth and Jim Herman was sixth.

Swafford started the final day five shots off the pace set by Van Aswegen but figured he was still close enough. The round started on the wrong foot when Swafford three-putted the first hole for bogey.

“On any given day I know you can get after it,”he said.”I just stuck to my game plan. I gave myself a lot of chances after that.”

With the field chalking up plenty of red numbers, Swafford slowly climbed his way into contention with a trio of birdies at 5, 6 and 7. When he made the turn at 11-under, he was only three off the lead.

“Winning wasn’t crossing my mind at that point. The back nine can be penal with all the water but you can score on it,” he said. “You never know what can happen. This is the craziest game ever.”

It got absolutely nuts among the rolling hills and pine trees.

Swafford rolled in three straight birdies starting at No. 11 and put the locals on alert that something incredible might be on the horizon. Birdie putts of 10 and 8 feet at 16 and 17 got Swafford to 16-under and set up the dramatics.

“When I was standing on 18 tee I told my caddie we needed to get at least one more,” he said. “I knew Luke had some holes left.”

Swafford’s tee shot found the right rough, and he pulled his 7-iron into the bunker.

“It wasn’t that hard of a shot to be honest but it just didn’t cut,” he said. “I was actually relieved when I saw it in a flat area and not up against the lip. I thought I could get it up and down but my caddie said, “shoot, you’ve got to hole it.”

Ryan Baucom, a former walk-on football player at North Carolina, turned out to be prophetic when Swafford clanked in the winner.

“Talking about it and doing it are two different things,” he said. “The feeling, that roar. It was surreal.”

Hudson Swafford becomes the third Georgia Bulldog to win in the past year, joining former teammates Russell Henley and Harris English. Henley won this event last year with a 12-under 272 score and became only the second amateur ever to win in Nationwide Tour history. English was still an amateur when he won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, OH, last summer. Swafford is the first one of the three to actually collect the winner’s check.

“This is another big step in the right direction for our program,” said
Thompson. “We put together a really solid season and we all improved and
learned a lot throughout the year. It¹s nice to see hard work rewarded and
I¹m excited for our ladies and for the progress we¹ve made.”

Highlighted by their victory in the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic on
Feb. 28, the Lady Jags registered three top-three and six top-five finishes
during the regular season.

Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional to the NCAA
Championships, slated for May 22 – 25 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in
Franklin, Tenn.

Playing Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course, the Bulldogs fired a 13-over 293 in the final round to wind up at 10-over 850. Team honors went to Alabama, which posted a final tally of 12-under 828.

Sophomore Keith Mitchell paced the Bulldogs on Sunday with a 1-over 71. Junior T.J. Mitchell signed for a 3-over 73, followed by sophomores Brian Carter and Joey Garber at 3-over 73 and 5-over 75, respectively. Freshman Nicholas Reach had the Bulldogs’ non-counting score of 7-over 77.

Keith Mitchell came in 10th in the individual race, posting an even-par 210. Medalist honors went to Alabama’s Justin Thomas at 7-under 203. Carter placed 13th at 2-over 212, while T.J. Mitchell was 15th at 3-over 213. Reach and Garber wound up at 7-over 217 and 14-over 224, respectively.

“I thought we got off to a good start today, but we couldn’t keep the momentum going,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “Maybe youth finally caught up with us a little. But we’ll learn from it and get better. We were in the hunt and we had a chance to place with a little pressure, so now we know what it takes, that you’ve got to keep playing and you can’t expect these guys to give it to you. There were some good things, and we’ll build on them.”

The Panthers final round 5-over 289 was topped by UNCW’s tournament low 4-over, 288, as the Seahawks won the event by two strokes. GSU finished 34-over for the tournament as weather conditions settled down during the final 18 holes.

White, making his CAA debut, shot a final round 69, which tied a career-low, to finish alone in second place at 5-over, just one stroke behind Delaware’s Greg Matthias. White and sophomore Tyler Gruca each finished among the top five to earn CAA All-Tournament honors. White’s final round included four birdies, as he shot 1-under on both the front and back nines. Gruca’s final round 73 gave him a tie for fourth place at 8-over par. The sophomore made three birdies on the back nine, including an impressive 15-foot birdie at the last.

“Although I am disappointed that we were not able to earn the victory today, I am proud of the way we played,” commented head coach Joe Inman after the round. “If you had told me our worst score would be 3-over today, I would have felt really good, but it was not meant to be. We tip our caps to UNCW on a well played tournament.

“Davin played excellent golf today. He worked hard all season long and kept improving and was rewarded by a career-best finish today.”

Freshman Damon Stephenson finished tied for eighth at 9-over par following a final round 74. He made three straight birdies on the back nine before an impressive up and down par save at the 17^th which gave the Panthers a chance heading to the 18^th hole. Sophomore Grant Cagle shot a final round 73 to finish the event at 12-over and finished with a career-best tie for 13^th place. Senior Clemens Dvorak, playing in his final round for Georgia State, also shot a final round 74 and finished 16-over, tied for 23^rd.

The Seahawks, which held a one stroke lead entering the final round, earned the CAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals next month. Entering the final round of play, six teams were within five strokes of the lead, however, only UNCW and GSU had a chance at the end. Old Dominion finished third at 51-over, with VCU one-stroke back in fourth at 52-over. George Mason finished fifth at 53-over, followed by a tie for sixth between William & Mary and Delaware at 55-over.

Matthias, the second round leader, struggled with a final round 77, but with the one stroke win, will advance to the NCAA Regionals. George Mason’s Kevin Yerks finished alone in third at 7-over. Tying with Gruca for fourth were UNCW’s Thomas Bass and Patrick Sawrey, along with VCU’s Marc Dobias.