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GEORGIAPGA.COM GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM FALL 2008

Winter golf haven a short drive

Georgia coast offers diverse options
By Mike Blum

ith winter weather

W approaching, golf becomes

a less comfortable diver-
sion for most Georgia
residents, especially those in the northern
reaches of the state.
With the U.S. economy in distress, golf
travel is likely to take a significant hit in
the immediate future. But for Georgians
looking to get away to slightly warmer
climes and get in a few rounds over the
winter months without venturing great
distances, the answer can be found a rela-
tively short drive away along the state’s
southeastern coast.
St. Simons and Jekyll Islands offer
plenty of golf in mostly moderate weather
conditions over the winter months, and
can accommodate the entire spectrum of

Hampton Club on St. Simons Island

visitors from a fiscal standpoint. The
coastal destinations include some of the
best golf for the money you’ll encounter
anywhere (Jekyll Island), one of the
country’s most respected upscale resorts
(Sea Island Golf Club) and two excellent
courses that fall somewhere in between on
the economic ladder (Hampton Club and
Sea Palms).
Jekyll Island Golf Resort has long been
a favorite of Georgia golfers, with three
quality 18-hole layouts and a unique 9-
holer that provides a memorable glimpse
into golf ’s past. For those who value
affordability, you’ll have a hard time
finding a better bang for your buck, with
new internet specials helping even more in
that regard.
© 2008 PGA OF AMERICA
Since its renovation by Clyde Johnston
in 2002, Pine Lakes has become the most
popular of Jekyll’s three courses, and has
been completely over-seeded for the
winter. The original 1968 layout was
designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee, who
created the Oleander (Wilson) and Indian
Mound (Lee) layouts individually.
LAKE-FINLEY IMAGE GROUP
Johnston's renovation included some
extensive work on bunkers – both fairway
and green-side – and a re-design of the
greens, with the result making the course
the most player-friendly of the three,
although it has a bit more length. Mostly
generous fairways and gentle greens
[ See Georgia coastal golf, page 6 ]

Georgia Golf Business

Georgia
INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Association
w w w . g g c o a . c o m
Matt Peterson claims Davis Love ends year Sonny Skinner among
Player of Year honor 14 with win at Disney 16 Q-school finalists 20 770-235-0735
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 Instruction Fore You
3021 Kalah Place, Marietta, GA 30067

Ball Not the Target

770-933-04GA (Office)
770-953-6638 (Fax)
golfforegeorgia.com
usually pretty good. If you have to lift your foregeorgia@bellsouth.net
head and turn it left, odds are that you are
PUBLISHER
aimed well right.

The Inside Move

Golf Media, Inc.
target pretty well, but also aim their body
By Steve Godley John Barrett
at the same target. Herein lies a basic
PGA Golf Professional
problem in improper alignment. While this
Jekyll Island Golf Club On the backswing, the club should be kept EDITOR Mike Blum
seems to be correct to the golfer, we as
instructors are able to view the on the intended target line as long as pos-
In my 25 years of providing sible and allowed to rotate inside naturally. CONTRIBUTORS
body as being well right of the
golf instruction, many students This will help maintain the proper plane Steve Godley
intended target line.
seem to seek two elusive basics and allow you to return the club to the Jackie Cannizzo, Women’s Golf Editor
Most players understand the
from a golf lesson---distance address position. A backswing that is too Lake-Finlay Image Group
definition of parallel, but do not
and consistency. The students much inside creates a flat plane that Joseph Field
understand how it relates to the
explain that their game is “on golfers try to correct on the way down by Steve Dinberg
proper set up in golf. Set-up is
again - off again” and that they coming “over the top”. You should always Georgia Golf Course Owners Association
where we establish our target
seem to lack the distance they Cindy Acree, Executive Director
line (ball to target) and our body remember the target line. It doesn't stop at
should be achieving. Although the ball, it extends on behind.
should be aligned parallel to

The Ball is Not

each student is unique, they MARKETING & ADVERTISING
this established line, just as if we J.R. Ross, Sales Representative
are generally well grounded in fundamen-
were on a railroad track, with the ball on

Our Target
tals with one exception. There is a lack of Rick Holt, Corporate Sales
one side and our body on the other. This
target awareness and/or alignment. These
mental image will give us the greatest ART DIRECTOR
critical elements, when missing, present the
chance of swinging the club down the Everyone is fascinated with distance in this Lori Montgomery
player from swinging the club along the
target line and toward our intended target. game. After all, we see and hear about tour lorimontgomery@mindspring.com
intended target line. Consequently, in many
The “over the top” motion is caused by players hitting the ball over 300 yards, so
cases the ball becomes the target, pro-
an effort to pull the ball back to our target. why can't we? The difference is that these GEORGIA SECTION, PGA OF AMERICA
ducing a myriad of inappropriate angles
The mind knows when the target is behind players have spent a great deal of time PRESIDENT
and planes making it difficult to maintain
you. To illustrate this I have my students making sure that their fundamentals (grip, Jim Arendt, Chicopee Woods Golf Course
the desired consistent repetitive golf swing.
stand behind the ball and extend their aim and posture) are sound, so that they
Another detriment to achieving distance
arms in front of them, shoulder width can concentrate on getting the ball to the VICE-PRESIDENT
and consistency is the motion commonly
apart, parallel but not converging. If your target. Clubhead speed and solidness of Patrick Richardson, Wilmington Island Club
referred to as “Coming over the top”. More
body is aligned square to a straight line contact produces distance.
advanced players will recognize this motion
from your eyes to your target, then your Amateur golfers equate brute force with SECRETARY
and return to the fundamentals to correct
clubface is going to be aligned square to a distance, not swinging the club and get- Brian Stubbs, Country Club of Columbus
the problem, or seek help from a profes-
straight line from your ball to a spot well ting as much possible speed as can be
sional, while the average player will
right of the target. delivered to the ball. The average amateur HONORARY PRESIDENT
continue to struggle through. On a day
If the alignment at set-up has been too golfer is not physically prepared to achieve Danny Elkins, Georgia Golf Center
when his timing is very good, a player can
far to the right, making the adjustment to the extreme distances he would desire.
get away with this motion. But let timing be
parallel will initially feel strange; as though Our shoulders are very slow moving, so hit- BOARD OF DIRECTORS
off slightly and he is going to be in for a long
you are aiming well left. This change in the Bud Robison, West Point, Ga
day. This common problem is caused by ting from the top with our shoulders does
set-up may cause pulled shots because Marten Olsson, The Club at River Forest
faulty alignment; a backswing that is too not give us the desired effect. All this does
you are so used to starting your swing with Steve Godley, Jekyll Island Golf Club
much to the inside and no target is make us very tired.
your upper body and coming over the Bob Elmore, Bacon Park GC
awareness. We do not “hit” a golf ball. We “swing” a
Shawn McKinnon, Berkeley Hills CC

Alignment
shot. Remember, the ball goes where you
tell it. Alignment is the key and the club
has to be traveling down the intended
target line to bring about both distance
Many students do one thing consistently.
and consistency. If you can easily rotate
They aim to the right of their intended
your head left and see your target, you are
target. That is they aim their clubface at the
golf club on a proper target line and allow
Richard Hatcher, Ansley GC
the ball to get squarely in the way. Very
Jeff Dunovant, First Tee of East Lake
athletic people, older people who have
Scott Mahr, Barnsley Gardens Resort
lost some flexibility and muscle tone and
Clark Spratlin, Blue Ridge Golf & River Club
beginners are all guilty of “hitting at” the
Dan Mullins, Classic Golf Management
ball in an effort to gain distance.
Josh Williams, Savannah Golf Club
Rodger Hogan, Royal Lakes Golf & CC

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mike Paull

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Pat Day
INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Hull takes PNC qualifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 PGA Tour qualifying updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21

JUNIOR GOLF DIRECTOR Scott Gordon
Forecast

Keppler barely avoids DQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Golf Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 OPERATIONS MANAGER Jeff Ashby

First time PNC qualifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Peterson Player of Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Love ends winless drought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Georgians move up to PGA Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
SECTION ASSISTANT Traci Waters
Chip Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
FOREGeorgia is produced by Golf Media, Inc.
Golf FORE Juniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Copyright ©2008 with all rights reserved.
Reproduction or use, without permission,
Golf FORE Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 of editorial or graphic content is prohibited.
Georgia PGA web site: www.georgiapga.com
Course reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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Georgia coastal golf
[ Continued from the cover ]
complexes more than offset the slight dif-
ference in yardage (it’s only 6,700 yards
from the back tees and 6,340 from the next
set), and water is not as great a factor as on
its sister courses.
Pine Lakes’ name is an accurate descrip-
tion from a visual standpoint, but neither
the trees nor small bodies of water are serious
concerns. There are a few exceptions, most
notably the demanding pair of par 4s that
conclude the two nines. You have to hit it
significantly off target to find most of the
trouble, with the re-positioned fairway
bunkers more a concern for longer hitters.
The greens added a little more undula-
tion, and with some re-working of the
surrounding bunkers, more of a premium
has been placed on approach shots. The
changes also included the installation of
some kid-friendly tees that make Pine Lakes
a wonderful course for families.
Indian Mound is a typically well-crafted
Joe Lee design, with Lee’s penchant for
strategic bunkering and a decent amount of
water in play giving the layout a little bite
despite its lack of serious length.
Oleander is also on the short side, but
some uncomfortably encroaching tree lines
and the exposed nature of some of the holes
to the ever-present ocean breezes make it a
bit more of a challenge that its sister courses
across the street.
Wilson’s classic design places a premium
on precision both off the tee and an
approach shots and makes it a thoroughly
entertaining challenge, with a terrific group
of distinctive par 5s and one of state’s
strongest par 4s (No. 12). Oleander is
favored by better players and was the pri-
mary course when Jekyll Island hosted the
Georgia Open in the 1990s.
No trip to Jekyll is complete without a
visit to the 9-hole Great Dunes layout,
which has several holes unlike almost any-
thing you’ve encountered. The term quirky
does not adequately describe some of the
holes featuring very unusual design concepts
and greens complexes.
Great Dunes is a lot of fun, as well as
opening a window to golf’s past. As Jekyll
Director of Golf Harry Kicklighter says, the
typical reaction of first time visitors is
“whoa.”
Sea Palms, located in the middle of St.
Simons Island, features 27 holes, with the
West nine located across the street from the
original 18 and playing like a cross between
6 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
[ABOVE AND LEFT:] Sea Island Golf Club
a regulation and executive course, measuring
just 2,460 yards with four par 3s and some
par 4s and 5s of modest length.
The original 18, designed by George
Cobb, is a traditional, resort-style layout,
with overhanging trees on many holes a con-
stant reminder of the nearby presence of the
ocean and the necessity for hitting it straight
off the tee.
At just under 6,500 yards (6,100 from the
next set), Sea Palms is very accommodating
to players who don’t hit tour-length drives,
but the yardage is a bit deceiving. Sea Palms
lost about 225 yards five years ago when the
par-4 ninth was altered to a semi-island
green par 3, with the course now playing as
a par 71.
If you can keep the ball between the ever-
present tree lines, Sea Palms has its share of
scoring opportunities, but some of the more
inviting holes are also among the most per-
ilous. About half the holes have water in
play, but overhanging moss and tree limbs
remain the more constant concern, although
you are able to recover from errant shots,
provide they aren’t too far off target.
Cobb’s thoughtful, well-crafted layout is
understated for a resort course, but its tradi-
tional design and assortment of palms, pines
and palmettos make it a worthwhile attrac-
tion for locals and vacationers alike. The
course rating and slope suggest that Sea
Palms is not an especially difficult course,
but making it through a subtly challenging
back nine is no easy task, especially the stout
trio of finishing holes.
The Hampton Club will be undergoing
some restoration work in 2009, and will be
closed from April 1-October 1. The course
will be re-grassed tee to green, with the
bunkers renovated and a few new ones
added in an effort to make the course con-
ditions again match the quality of Joe Lee’s
wonderful layout, which will be celebrating
its 20th anniversary in ’09.
In preparation for the re-grassing,
Hampton Club has been completely over-
seeded for the winter, which will ensure
quality playing conditions until the course
closes for six months. The club recently
hosted the GSGA Senior 4-Ball
Championship shortly after having bare
fairways preceding the over-seeding.
The Hampton Club, which is owned and
managed by the King and Prince Resort, has
enjoyed the reputation as one of the state’s
most enjoyable and aesthetically appealing
layouts. The course is located along the
marshes at the northwestern tip of St.
Simons Island, with four of the holes sepa-
rated from the main body of the course by a
series of bridges.
The holes on the marsh island include
one of Georgia’s most memorable ones – the
par-5 14th – but the remainder of the
layout is not overwhelmed by their appeal.
Lee’s design includes a number of tradi-
tional, tree-lined holes, along with several
where water is a significant concern.
Like most of its fellow coastal courses, the
Hampton Club is short by modern stan-
dards, but the relatively narrow corridors
and Lee’s well-bunkered greens complexes
make it an enjoyable challenge that will be
enhanced by its restoration.
Sea Island Golf Club is the state’s pre-
mier upscale resort, featuring three
outstanding courses that are open to outside
play, along with two members-only facilities
that are geographically separate from the
resort layouts.
The three accessible courses are Seaside,
Plantation and Retreat, the latter the former
St. Simons Island Club that was extensively
renovated by Sea Island resident Davis Love
III. Retreat is located across the street from
Seaside and Plantation, and is a bit removed
from the marshes that give its sister layouts
much of their character, but the quality of
Love’s re-design has made it a big hit with
the club’s membership.
Love added a number of new back tees
that lengthened the course significantly, but
also widened some extremely narrow corri-
dors to make the layout much more
player-friendly for those playing from
shorter tees. A number of bunkers from Joe
Lee’s original design were removed to open
approach angles and allow for run up shots,
with Love adding size and undulation to the
SEA ISLAND RESORTS
greens, while softening some of the sur-
rounding areas.
Hazards are not as prevalent as on the two
marsh-side courses, but Retreat features sev-
eral outstanding holes with water playing a
major role, including one of the state’s great
short par 4s (No. 6), and a terrific but per-
ilous par-4 18th.
Plantation was renovated in the late
1990s by Rees Jones, combining the orig-
inal nine holes with Dick Wilson’s Retreat
nine from 1960. The course borders
Seaside, but other than a relative handful of
holes, has more of a parkland feel, although
water is a serious presence on about half
the holes.
With some deep greenside bunkers and
testy putting surfaces, Plantation is more a
second shot course than neighboring
Seaside, and features an interesting routing,
with two stress-free opening holes, a tough
middle stretch and several scoring opportu-
nities at the end of the round. Considerable
risks accompany the scoring chances late in
the round, with Plantation a more than
worthy complement to the more heralded
layout adjoining it.
With its marsh-side setting, ocean views
and rugged sand dunes, Seaside is visually
spectacular, but occasionally intimidating
for the same reason, As demanding as it is,
the course is surprisingly playable, although
it can be rather daunting when the wind is
whipping and the landing area or green
looms in the distance with all manner of
trouble in relatively close proximity.
Tom Fazio combined the original Seaside
nine with Joe Lee’s early ‘70s Marshside
nine and with a few tweaks here and there,
produced one of the country’s great golf
treasures. The greens complexes, which fea-
ture a number of close cut run-off areas, add
to the distinct feel of the layout, which more
than matches its heralded reputation.
The coastal golf scene extends beyond
Jekyll and St. Simons, with some quality
courses in and around Brunswick and an
off-the-beaten-path gem (Sapelo
Hammock) between Savannah and the
Golden Isles.
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GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM 7
Hull adds another Georgia PGA victory
Places first in qualifier for 2009 national event
By Mike Blum
J
eff Hull was unable to repeat his
Georgia PGA Player of the Year title
from 2007, but he closed the Section’s
2008 tournament schedule by adding
to his growing list of victories.
Hull captured the Section’s Professional
Championship, which doubles as a qualifier
for the 2009 PGA Professional National
Championship, edging Sonny Skinner by
one stroke at Crystal Lake in Hampton.
The Georgia PGA will have at least 10
representatives in next year’s PGA PNC,
with Hull among seven state club profes-
sionals to qualify at Crystal Lake. Skinner
was one of three Section members already
in next year’s championship, and had a
little more incentive to play well in the
tournament than Tim Weinhart and
Clark Spratlin, who also had secured
spots on the 2009 PNC, which will be
played next June in New Mexico.
Skinner needed a victory to overtake Matt
Peterson on the Divots Points List as the
Player of the Year, but Peterson held on to
become the fourth different Section member
to earn that honor the last four years.
Jeff Hull
8 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Hull, an instructor at the University of
Georgia golf course, posted scores of
71-70—141 over two cold and windy
days on one of the strongest new additions
to the metro Atlanta golf scene. The vic-
tory earned Hull first place money of
$4,500 and boosted him to third in the
final points standings for 2008. Skinner
was second at 142 after two rounds of
1-under 71, moving up with birdies on
the final two holes.
Greg Lee, the 2004 tournament cham-
pion, was third at 143 after holding the
lead following an opening round 69. Lee,
an assistant at Chicopee Woods, still had
the lead after 27 holes at 4-under par, but
three bogeys over a 5-hole stretch on the
back nine dropped him from the top of
the leader board.
Kevin Roman, an assistant at Cherokee
Country Club, was one of four Georgia
PGA members to qualify for the PNC for
the first time. (See story, page 12.) He
posted the low score of the tournament, a
second round 68, to take fourth at 144.
Tying for fifth at 146 were Rivermont
CC head professional Matthew Evans,
Ford Plantation head professional C.W.
Canfield and veteran PNC qualifier
Stephen Keppler, who was very nearly
disqualified from the tournament for a
second straight year. (See story, page 10.)
Because Skinner had already qualified
for the 2009 PNC thanks to his runner-
up finish earlier this year in the ’08 PNC
at Reynolds Plantation, the eighth place
finisher in the tournament also qualified
for next year’s event, with four players
tying for eighth at 148, Spratlin
among them.
The playoff, which was conducted with
little remaining daylight, involved
Country Club of the South instructor
Shawn Koch, the winner of the two pre-
vious Georgia PGA tournaments;
Savannah GC instructor Josh Williams
and Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek
head professional Randy Brooks.
Koch won on the second hole after
making consecutive pars on the par-5
18th. Brooks was eliminated when he
bogeyed the first playoff hole, with
Williams taking bogey on the second extra
hole after being penalized one stroke when
his cart ran over his ball in the rough in
fading daylight.
Both Capital City Club assistant Donn
Perno and Ansley GC Director of Golf
Phil Taylor missed the playoff by one
stroke, with Perno one of several competi-
tors to have an excellent chance at
qualifying but failing to capitalize on the
opportunity.
After a birdie at the par-5 12th, Perno
was 1-over for the day and the tourna-
ment, but three-putted for bogey from
inside 10 feet at the short, par-4 13th, and
followed with bogeys at three of the next
four holes.
Atlanta Athletic Club Director of
Instruction Chan Reeves was 1-over for
the tournament after three birdies in a 4-
hole stretch beginning at the par-5 eighth,
but an 8 on the par-4 16th killed his
hopes of qualifying.
Chris Knobloch, an instructor at
Smoke Rise CC, was 2-over for the tour-
nament after chipping in for eagle at the
eighth, but was 4-over for his last five
holes to join Reeves in missing the playoff
by two.
Like Reeves, Currahee Club head pro-
fessional John Wade was also done in by
one bad hole. After a 9 on the eighth,
Wade was 7-over for the day before
playing his final 10 holes in 1-under to
miss the playoff by three at 151.
Hull opened with a 71, and was even
par for the tournament before going 4-
under on a 5-hole stretch capped by an
eagle at the par-5 12th. A bogey on the
difficult 14th cost Hull one stroke, but he
played solidly otherwise down the stretch
to maintain his lead, holing a few clutch
par putts coming down the stretch.
“I was not ever concerned about win-
ning until I made eagle on 12,” Hull said.
“That got me to 4-under and at that
point, I knew I had a shot to win. Before
that, I was just trying to qualify. I did not
go in trying to win.”
The victory was Hull’s second of the
year, adding to his title in the inaugural
Chicopee Woods Players Championship.
It’s the third time in five years Hull has
won two tournaments in a season, taking
the Georgia PGA Championship and
Lake Oconee Classic in 2004, and the
Griffin Classic and Georgia Open in
2007.
That leaves just the Atlanta Open and
Match Play Championship missing from
Hull’s resume, and he has come very close
to an Atlanta Open victory, losing in a
playoff to Lee in 2003 and earning low
professional honors last year.
Hull recently joined the instructional
staff at the University course, and said his
early experience at his new teaching base
“has been great. I’m very fortunate to
be there.”
For the first time in years, Hull does not
have to spend a sizeable chunk of time
every day on the road. A long time Athens
area resident, Hull has spent two stints as
the head professional at Port Armor (now
Reynolds Landing) on Lake Oconee, as
well as time working as in instructor in the
Atlanta area. Most recently, he worked
with the Henry-Griffitts company, a job
that kept him on the road a great deal.
“I bought a new car in April, 2004, and
I’ve already got 120,000 miles on it,” Hull
said. “Working only five miles away from
home is kind of nice.”
This will be the third time Hull has
qualified for the PNC. He tied for 41st
this year at Reynolds Plantation, which
included one round on the former Port
Armor. Hull advanced to the South
Regional PGA Championship several
times when that was held between Section
tournaments and nationals, but only made
it past that stage once.
Weinhart, an instructor at St. Marlo,
will be playing in the PGA PNC for the
10th straight year, and has gone on to
qualify for the PGA Championship four
times since 2002, including three of the
last four years. Weinhart, a 4-time Georgia
PGA Player of the Year from 2002-05, was
fifth this year, turning in several top fin-
ishes but failing to pick up a win in a
Section event.
Lee will be competing in the PNC for
the fifth time in the last six years, missing
by just one stroke of qualifying for the
PGA Championship in his first start in the
event in 2003. He finished sixth on the
Divots point list this year, including his
third Assistants’ Championship title.
Spratlin, the head professional at Blue
Ridge River & Golf Club, which is sched-
uled to open next year, also has come
within one stroke of qualifying for the
PGA Championship, falling just short in
2007. Spratlin came close again this year,
tying for 33rd at Reynolds Plantation,
with one bad hole costing him a spot in
the field at Oakland Hills. This will be the
fourth straight appearance at nationals
for Spratlin, who earned his spot with
his victory in the ’08 Georgia
PGA Championship at Sea Island GC.
He ended ’08 seventh in the Georgia
PGA standings.
Skinner, a veteran tour pro who is a
teaching professional at River Pointe in
Albany, placed second this year at
Reynolds Plantation in the PNC to earn
his first ever spot in a major champi-
onship. Skinner was the Section’s Player of
the Year in 2006 and nearly won it this
year. He was also second in the Atlanta
Open, among five top-5 finishes on the
year, and also was second in the Georgia
PGA’s two qualifiers for Nationwide Tour
events in the state. Skinner has qualified
for the PNC all three years since transi-
tioning from a full time tour player to a
club professional who competes on the
Nationwide Tour on a limited basis.
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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Keppler avoids DQ, qualifies for PNC
Barely makes tee time after wreck stalls traffic
By Mike Blum
tephen Keppler was exactly 11 sec-
S onds from being disqualified from
the Georgia PGA Professional
Championship for the second
straight year.
Last year, Keppler fell victim to a deci-
sion by the PGA of America (since
changed) that devices used to determine
yardages were not allowed in qualifiers for
the PGA Professional National
Championship.
The devices were allowed in Georgia
PGA events, but not in the Section’s quali-
fier at Athens Country Club for the PGA
PNC. Keppler, the PGA Director of Golf
at Marietta Country Club, forgot about
that, and when he was reminded of his vio-
lation, he reported it to an official and
ruefully accepted his disqualification.
In the most recent PNC qualifier at
Crystal Lake, Keppler left his home in
north Cobb County about two hours
before his tee time for the final round at the
southside Atlanta course. An accident on I-
75 South blocked three left lanes, and with
a little more than an hour to go before he
was to tee off in the final group, Keppler
felt there was no cause for concern.
Divots 2008 Georgia
PGA points leaders
1. Matt Peterson, U. of Ga. GC . . . . 7262
2. Sonny Skinner, River Pointe. . . . 7075
3. Jeff Hull, U. of Georgia GC . . . . . 6846
4. Shawn Koch, CC of the South . . 4986
5. Tim Weinhart, St. Marlo . . . . . . . . 4978
6. Greg Lee, Chicopee Woods . . . . 4902
7. Clark Spratlin,
Blue Ridge GC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4894
8. Craig Stevens, Fox Creek. . . . . . . 4419
9. Brian Dixon, Fox Creek. . . . . . . . . 4146
10. Winston Trively, Crooked Oak . . 3403
11. Chan Reeves, Atlanta AC. . . . . . . 3155
12. Jordan Arnold, Achasta GC . . . . 2841
13. John Duta, TPC Sugarloaf . . . . . . 2797
14. Todd Peterson, Marietta CC . . . . 2782
15. Gary Cressend, Augusta CC . . . . 2735
16. Tommy Brannen, Augusta CC . . 2627
17. Wyatt Detmer, Orchard Hills . . . 2569
18. Randy Brooks,
Ansley-Settindown . . . . . . . . . . . . 2246
19. Stephen Keppler, Marietta CC. . 2232
20. Will Hutter, Sea Island GC . . . . . . 2190
10 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Unfortunately, the three blocked lanes
warning quickly changed to all lanes
blocked. Keppler was able to get off the
interstate, and got on his cell phone to the
club in search of directions. He even called
his wife at home, who called up Map Quest
on her computer to assist in the effort.
Traffic off the interstate wasn’t much
better than the stalled traffic on 75, and
Keppler called Tournament Director Pat
Day at the course and told him, “There’s
no way I’m going to make it.”
Just after making the call, Keppler
noticed that traffic had begun to move a bit
on 75, got back on it and called Day again,
letting him know he was on his way.
Keppler’s tee time was 1:40 and he
arrived at the tee at approximately 1:43.30.
That was sufficient to keep him from being
disqualified but not in time to avoid a two-
stroke penalty for missing his tee time.
“I got my shoes on, took a ball out of my
bag and made a couple of practice swings,”
Keppler said. “I put my tee in the ground
and hit the ball with 11 seconds to spare.”
Things didn’t get any better for Keppler
when he took six strokes on the par-5
opening hole at Crystal Lake. Adding the
two-shot penalty for his tardy arrival, and
Keppler had a nice, round 8 on his score-
card. That negated much of the positive
vibe from his opening round 70 which had
him in second place before his brush with
disqualification.
Keppler said he got over last year’s DQ
fairly quickly, but admitted, “It was my
fault. I was frustrated. I’ve been playing in
tournaments for a lot of years and I had
never been disqualified before. And I had
never missed my tee time before.”
A pitch shot that came up short on the
Stephen Keppler
first hole did not improve Keppler’s mental
outlook, and he needed to hole a slippery
downhill putt on the hole to save bogey. He
settled down at that point and ran off a
string of pars. He said he “felt better” after
his first birdie of the day on the seventh
hole, and followed with a nice par save at
the eighth and another birdie at the ninth.
At that point, Keppler was 1-under for
the tournament, and was well under the
score that was going to be needed to
qualify, and was only a few shots off the
lead.
“I got things turned around and got back
into it on the first nine,” said Keppler, who
admitted to feeling “snake bit” in the PNC
qualifier after what transpired in his last
two appearances.
“At 1:30 (ten minutes before his tee
time), I thought there was no way I was
going to make it. I was just about to turn
the car around.”
As Keppler stood on the 12th tee, all
those thoughts had vanished, and he
decided to play aggressively off the tee. He
attempted to carry a fairway bunker but
did not quite make it, with his ball plug-
ging in its face.
Instead of a possible birdie which would
have put him in position to challenge the
lead, Keppler wound up with a bogey that
stalled any momentum he had built. Three
consecutive bogeys at 15, 16 and 17 fol-
lowed, sending Keppler to the 18th tee
with the idea he had to make birdie on the
par 5 to qualify for the PNC.
His third shot came up well short of the
pin, leaving Keppler with a putt of some 40
feet. Because several players ahead of him
had struggled down the stretch, Keppler
only needed to two-putt for par to advance,
but he did not know that.
Keppler proceeded to bang his long
birdie try into the cup, enabling him to
qualify for the PNC with a stroke to spare.
He wound up tied for fourth at 146,
with his second round 76 in difficult con-
ditions not looking so bad after his 8 on
the first hole.
For most of his tenure as a club profes-
sional in the state, Keppler was a fixture in
the PGA PNC, but this will be his first
appearance in the event in several years.
Keppler, the Georgia PGA’s Player of the
Year from 1993-96, has competed in the
championship 12 times, including 11
straight from 1994-2004, but has not been
back since ’04. He qualified for the 2006
PNC, but did not play due to a family trip
scheduled to his native England.
In recent years, Keppler has been only an
occasional tournament participant in
Georgia PGA events, spending more of his
time watching his children play sports than
competing in tournaments.
After dominating the Georgia PGA for
much of the 1990s, Keppler has only one
win in the Section in the past decade (the
final Eddie Wiggins Classic at Landings
GC in Warner Robins in 2004), but has
notched a sizeable number of top finishes
during that span, including four straight
runner-up showings in the Section
Championship.
“I should play a little more while I’m still
competitive. I have nobody to blame but
myself,” Keppler says. “My kids are playing
sports and we’re relatively busy at the club,
and I have to do a better job of managing
my time. Maybe this will turn it around a
little bit.”
Keppler says the club’s membership at
Marietta CC “encourage me to play,” but
admits to having difficulty making himself
do the work required to keep his game at
the level its been. He is also not as moti-
vated to play as he’s been, although with his
50th birthday just a little over two years
away, he has two other majors to look for-
ward to outside the state.
The last time Keppler appeared on the
national stage was the 2001 PGA
Championship, which was played at
Atlanta Athletic Club. It was his fourth
appearance in the event, but playing in a
major in his adopted home town was not
Keppler’s career highlight.
That distinction still belongs to the 1995
BellSouth Classic, where he made the most
serious run at a PGA Tour victory of any
club professional in the past three decades,
finishing a close third behind winner Mark
Calcavecchia.
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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 Some new names
among PNC qualifiers
Roman, Evans, Canfield,
Koch to make first starts
By Mike Blum
hile the Georgia PGA’s list
W of qualifiers for the 2009
PGA Professional National
Championship contained
some of the Section’s more prominent
players, there were several new names along
side the usual suspects.
Four Georgia PGA members will be
making their first ever appearances in the
national club professional championship,
with a fifth player in line to join them if he
makes the field next June in New Mexico as
an alternate.
The first time qualifiers are head profes-
sionals Matthew Evans of Rivermont
Country Club and C.W. Canfield of the
Ford Plantation, and instructors Kevin
Roman of Cherokee CC and Shawn Koch
of Country Club of the South, who earned
his spot in a playoff. Savannah GC
instructor Josh Williams is the first alter-
nate after being eliminated on the second
extra hole, and is likely to earn a spot in
next year’s PNC.
Roman placed fourth at 144 in the
recent Georgia PGA Professional
Championship at Crystal Lake in
Hampton, with Canfield and Evans tying
for fifth at 146. The top seven finishers not
already qualified for the 2009 PNC
advanced, with Koch getting the final spot
at 148. Sonny Skinner, who placed
second, was already in next year’s field
along with Clark Spratlin, who tied for
eighth with Koch and two others, and Tim
Weinhart.
A final round 68, the low score in cold,
windy conditions, propelled Roman to
nationals for the first time. He said he
made it to regionals “three or four times”
when he was a PGA member in New York,
but never made it past that stage, with the
PGA eliminating its regional qualifiers a
few years ago.
Roman shot 76 the first day of the tour-
nament with two tee shots out of bounds,
but said he was “comfortable with where I
stood after the round. I could have been
right there to win it. I hit a lot of good
shots, and in those conditions, that’s all you
can try to do.”
While the conditions gave most of the
field a problem on an already difficult
course, Roman felt at home in the chilly,
12 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
C.W. Canfield
breezy weather.
“I like playing in the wind. The more
wind, the more I like it,” the Utica, N.Y.,
native said. Roman has been at Cherokee
for six years, moving South in part “to get
out of the snow.”
C.W.and
Canfield
Roman qualified for the 1993 U.S.
Open says he has competed in “six or
seven other Tour events, but I haven’t
played well down here.” Roman had
shoulder surgery last year, and now that he
is healthy, is looking for some more results
like his final round in the PNC qualifier.
On a day when no one else broke 70,
Roman fired a 68 that included four birdies
and no bogeys on his scorecard, He hit 14
of 18 greens, getting up and down all four
times he missed, holing some 10-footers for
par “to keep the round going.”
Evans was competing in the PNC quali-
fier for the first time, and turned in two
solid rounds of 73 to advance. He moved
close to the lead on the back nine with a
birdie at 13 to put him 2-under for the day
and 1-under for the tournament, but fell
back a bit on Crystal Lake’s difficult closing
stretch of holes.
Like Roman, Evans had to travel a long
way from his home to Georgia, leaving his
native Scotland to play college golf at Berry
in Rome. He decided to stay in the U.S.,
and spent four years as an assistant at
Rivermont before working for two years as
the Director of Golf for a cruise ship.
Evans returned to Rivermont as its head
professional three years ago, and achieved
Matthew Evans
his Class A status late last year to make him
eligible to compete in the PNC.
“I’m just getting back into tournament
golf,” says Evans, who has not competed
that much since his college days. “I wanted
get my feet wet and I was lucky to finish
the last tournament of the year on a
high note.”
Evans was a member of Berry’s national
championship team as a junior and also
won an individual conference title. He fin-
ished third in an international junior
tournament in North Carolina to attract
the attention of some American college
coaches, and with the exception of his stint
on the cruise ship, has been in Georgia
ever since.
Canfield played his college golf at West
Point, beginning his club professional
career after completing his military service
as an officer in the Transportation Corps. A
native of West Virginia, Canfield came to
Georgia five years ago from the PGA’s
South Texas Section, where he worked at
Houston Country Club.
“Golf is my passion,” Canfield says.
“Once I got out of the military, I got into
the golf business.”
Canfield was a top player in the South
Texas Section, but has not been an active
player in the Georgia Section since moving
here.
“I have three little boys ages 7, 4 and 3,”
Canfield noted. “That’s why I’m not
playing much golf.”
After an opening 74, Canfield hung right
around par for most of his second round,
with 2-over looking to be the cutoff for
advancing to nationals for most of the day.
Canfield birdied the sixth after back-to-
back bogeys at the previous two holes, and
parred the next nine holes to remain 2-over
for the tournament with three to play.
A bogey at the 16th dropped him to
3-over for the tournament, and he came to
the par-5 18th feeling that he needed a
birdie to qualify.
From 70 yards out, Canfield says he took
“about six extra practice swings” with his
lob wedge, and stuck it within a foot of the
cup for the birdie. As it turned out, a par
would have been sufficient, but that did
not diminish Canfield’s satisfaction from
hitting a quality shot with something on
the line.
“That was a great feeling,” said Canfield,
who added that it “brought back some
memories from junior and college golf.
It’s been a while since I’ve been in that
position.”
Echoing similar comments from Roman
and Evans, Canfield said it’s “a great honor
to represent the Section at the national
championship.”
The Ford Plantation is a private equity
club just outside Savannah in Richmond
Hill, with the Pete Dye design originally
known as Ogeechee GC when it opened 20
years ago.
Unlike his three fellow PNC first-timers,
Koch’s name is a familiar one in Georgia
PGA tournament competition. He came
into the event off consecutive wins in the
two previous Section events – the Match
Play Championship and the Griffin
Classic, and won the Yamaha Atlanta Open
in 2006.
After an opening round 76, Koch was
back in the pack and began his final round
off the 10th tee. With three birdies on his
first six holes, Koch moved inside the cut
line for qualifying for nationals, but five
bogeys on his next eight holes dropped him
to 2-over for the day and 6-over for the
tournament, seemingly out of contention
for one of the seven available spots.
But Koch responded with birdies on his
last two holes of the day to finish at 4-over,
and when several players struggled on the
finishing holes at Crystal Lake, Koch found
himself in a three-way playoff for one spot.
Koch, who was in the first group off the
10th tee, had to wait more than two hours
after he finished his round to start the
playoff in much colder conditions with
very little daylight. He managed a pair of
pars on the 18th, good enough to earn him
a trip to New Mexico next June.
On the strength of an eagle at eighth and
birdies at 12 and 13, Williams was 1-under
for the day and 2-over for the tournament,
but bogeyed two of his last three holes,
including one at the 18th. He bogeyed the
18th again on the second playoff hole after
his cart ran over his ball in the rough in the
long-since-faded daylight.
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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 Peterson earns Player of the Year honors
UGA head pro makes switch from life on tour to club job
By Mike Blum
fter 15 years as a tour player, 11
A of them on what is now the
Nationwide Tour, Matt Peterson
reached a decision in 2004 that
he had “had enough.”
Peterson was coming off back-to-back
sub-par seasons, had undergone shoulder
surgery and was finding it increasingly diffi-
cult to spend so much time away from his
wife and young children.
The Business/Management Science
degree he had earned from the University
of Georgia 15 years ago gave Peterson
some possible options outside the golf
business, but the computer field had
changed drastically in that time.
“When you’re out playing and you’re at
the age I was what, it’s in the back of your
mind,” Peterson said of a possible second
career. “I had done well on the Nationwide
Tour, but if your game falls off, you have to
make a decision.
“It’s something I had always thought
about; once I get out of golf, what am I
going to do? I was looking to find some-
thing with a little more stability.”
PGA Pro-file
GEORGIA
Peterson, who had settled in Athens after
graduating from Georgia in 1989, did not
have to look far. Several months after his
last Nationwide Tour start in 2004, he
accepted the position as head professional
at the University of Georgia Golf Course,
and will celebrate his fourth anniversary
there in early 2009.
Although his career as a tour player was
over, Peterson was not done as a competi-
tive golfer. He began playing in Georgia
PGA tournaments, but it took a while for
him to adjust to competing on an infre-
quent basis.
Peterson scored his first victory in a
Georgia PGA event in the Section
Championship in the summer of 2007 at Sea
Island Golf Club, shooting a final round 66 on
the Plantation Course to win by four strokes.
In his next start, Peterson reached the
finals of the Match Play Championship
before losing to Greg Lee. He came right
back after that to win the Section’s qualifier
for the 2008 PGA Professional National
Championship at Athens Country Club,
with that tournament the first one on the
Georgia PGA’s schedule for the ’08 season.
Peterson began 2008 the same way he
ended ’07, winning the Yamaha Atlanta
14 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Open at Newnan Country Club. Although
he did not win again in ’08, a string of solid
showings enabled him to hold on to his
lead in the Divots points standings, earning
him Georgia PGA Player of the Year honors.
“It definitely means a lot,” Peterson said
of his award. He edged out Sonny Skinner
and Jeff Hull, the 2006 and 2007 Players of
the Year, by a narrow margin for the title,
with the outcome still in doubt when the
Section held its final event of ’08.
“Every point counts,” Peterson offered. “It
was close at the end.”
After his stretch of three wins and a
runner-up finish in four starts spanning the
end of the 2007 schedule and the start of
the ’08 season, Peterson admitted he was
“not quite as sharp” for the latter stages of
’08. “I played well in the Section
Championship, but I really haven’t played
or practiced that much.”
Other than his tournament appearances,
Peterson’s off days are typically spent with
his family, and it was the time he spent
away from home that drove his decision to
end his tour career.
Peterson turned pro after graduating
from Georgia, and enjoyed some
immediate success on regional
mini-tours before qualifying for the
Ben Hogan (now Nationwide) Tour in
1992. He returned to the mini-tours
in ’93, and scored a dramatic
playoff victory in the Georgia
Open that year over Georgia PGA Player of
the Year Stephen Keppler to help propel
him back to the Nike Tour (same tour, new
title sponsor) in ’94.
For the next eight years, that tour was
Peterson’s home, and he was consistently
among its top players during that span. But
he never was quite able to play well
enough to earn his PGA Tour card, missing
by the slimmest of margins in 1995 when
he was 11th on the money list, one spot out
of the top 10 finish necessary to move up.
Peterson scored his lone tour victory that
year, rallying from a 6-stroke deficit after 54
holes to win what turned out to be the final
Central Georgia Open in Macon. He played
a 7-hole stretch on the back nine at River
North (now Healy Point) in 7-under to pull
away from challengers Franklin Langham,
Frank Lickliter, Jerry Kelly and Allen Doyle.
But in the Tour Championship at
Settindown Creek in Roswell, Peterson
dropped from ninth on the money list to
11th, even though he posted the lowest
final 36-hole total among the 50-player
field to finish tied for 12th.
Peterson spent the next six seasons in
golf’s version of baseball’s Class AAA before
finally getting his shot at the majors. He
Matt Peterson
placed 12th on the money list in 2001 (the
top 15 made it that year), setting a tour
record for greens in regulation.
When he moved up to the PGA Tour,
Peterson was the second leading all-time
money winner on the Nationwide Tour, but
the success he had enjoyed there did not
continue once he reached the top.
Peterson played respectably as a PGA
Tour rookie, but respectable wasn’t
enough. He earned more than $266,000 to
place 164th on the money list, not high
enough to retain his playing privileges. He
turned in several strong showings the
second half of the season, most notably in
San Antonio, where a second round 62 got
him in contention for victory through the
weekend and left him in a tie for 10th.
“Effort-wise, I have no regrets,” Peterson
said of his only season on the PGA Tour. “If I
could have gotten another year past that
first year and gotten status, I think it could
have been different, but I did not play well
that year.”
Peterson had some serious family con-
cerns off the course that year as well, and
after two unproductive seasons on the
Nationwide Tour, the desire to be at home
on a more regular basis won out over his
drive to compete.
“Looking back at the travel, I wonder
‘how did I ever do that?” That was a lot
harder than it’s given credit for.”
Although Peterson’s last two seasons on
the Nationwide Tour did not go well, he did
manage one more highlight before calling
it a career.
In an effort to prepare for the 2003
Nationwide Tour, he entered Monday qual-
ifying for the PGA Tour event at Doral and
made it into the field. Scores of 68 and 70
the first two rounds put him in solid posi-
tion after 36 holes, and he got to 7-under
par on the day in the third round to briefly
take the lead before a pair of late double
bogeys ended his torrid run.
Peterson finished the tournament tied
for 27th, but there were not many bright
spots for him after that. A year-and-a-half
later, he was done as a tour player.
“That was a bit of a surprise,” Peterson
said of his fleeting moment in the spotlight.
“It was the first thing I had played in that
year. In the Monday qualifier I played very
well, and carried that over the third day. I
started making putts; everything I looked
at was going in.”
Eventually, Peterson’s putter cooled off
and an errant shot or two ended any hopes
of being a serious contender the final round.
“I got into a situation of ‘Whoa, what’s
going on here? I got to a point where I
thought too much. If I had just rode the
wave, I would have finished better.”
After the 2004 season, Peterson thought
he was done as a tour player, but thanks to
his new job, he got another shot in ’07.
Peterson was given a sponsor’s exemption
into the Nationwide Tour event at Jennings
Mill just outside Athens, and after shooting
68 the first day, made the cut.
His victory in the Section Championship
last year earned him a berth in the ’08
Athens Regional Foundation Classic, and he
made the cut again. As the Section’s Player
of the Year for 2008, Peterson gets a spot in
one of the state’s two Nationwide Tour
events, and is expected to make a third
straight start in the tournament next year.
Peterson says his transition from tour
player to club professional has been “pretty
easy, and I have Dave to thank for that.”
Peterson was referring to Dave Cousart,
the Director of Golf at the University course,
who heads up an excellent staff that also
includes instructor Ed Katchur and recent
addition Jeff Hull, the Section’s ’07 Player of
the Year.
“I had been in Athens for 20 years and
played and practiced at the University
course,” said Peterson, citing a “comfort
level” he felt in his new position. “I knew
everybody, and it was pretty easy to jump
in in that respect. The transition has been as
good as I could have hoped for.”
Working at a University course is not that
much different from your standard daily fee
facility, Peterson says, but there are some
unique aspects of working in Athens.
Weekends in the Fall are geared around the
Bulldogs’ football schedule, which largely
determines how busy the course is
going to be.
Because of his schedule and the pres-
ence of other quality instructors on staff,
Peterson does not teach a great deal.
He describes teaching as “one of the
toughest parts of the job, but also one of
the most rewarding. It’s a big responsibility
and challenge. It’s like putting a
puzzle together.”
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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2 0 0 8 FA L L GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM 15
 Love ends season
in style with Disney win
Victory snaps long stretch
of sub-par play from veteran
By Mike Blum
W
hen the PGA Tour
wrapped up its 2008
season, a number of
prominent veterans were
among those who failed to finish in the top
125 on the money list to retain exempt
status for 2009.
Among them were the likes of David
Toms, Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Lehman,
Jesper Parnevik and Chris DiMarco.
When the Fall Series of tournaments
began in September, Sea Island resident
Davis Love III was also on that list. At the
time, Love was a distant 155th on the
PGA Tour in earnings with $377,550. In
17 starts, Love had finished in the top 20
just once all year, a tie for 19th in the
British Open.
Love was already coming off the worst
season of his professional career in 2007, a
year which ended with Love undergoing
ankle surgery after being injured during a
casual round of golf in Columbus.
As a result of the injury, Love missed the
end of the 2007 season and the first month
of the ’08 campaign, and displayed the
effects of the injury and his absence from
tournament action when he returned to
the tour.
When the FedExCup playoffs got under
way in August with the top 144 players on
the 2008 PGA Tour, Love was not among
the qualifiers, leaving him with an unsched-
uled six-week vacation from his job of two
decades.
While most of the PGA Tour’s top players
put their clubs in the closet after the Tour
Championship, Love elected to give the
2008 season one last shot. Or more pre-
cisely, six of them.
Love decided to play the last six tourna-
ments of the PGA Tour schedule in an effort
to salvage his season. He didn’t have to.
Because of his standing on the PGA Tour’s
career money list (he began 2008 fourth
with more than $35 million), Love would
have been exempt for 2009 even if he
packed it in for the season and wound up
around 165th on the final money list.
After not seriously contending in a PGA
Tour event since his last win in Greensboro
in the summer of 2006, Love tied for third
in his Fall Series opener at the Turning
16 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Davis Love III
Stone Resort and was sixth two weeks later
in Las Vegas. Those two finishes boosted
Love to 125th on the money list, and
another solid showing in Scottsdale, Ariz.,
resulted in a tie for 11th and a guaranteed
him a spot in the top 125 at the end of
the season.
Playing his sixth tournament in six
weeks, Love concluded his 2008 season at
the Disney World Resort in Orlando in
memorable fashion.
Closing with back-to-back rounds of 64,
Love claimed his first victory in more than
two years, staving off the surprising chal-
lenge of Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, who
entered the final tournament of the season
228th on the money list with earnings of
barely $65,000.
After birdies on five of the first seven
holes on the back nine, Love needed a pair
of clutch up-and-down pars at 17 and 18 to
secure his 20th career PGA Tour victory.
Gainey matched Love’s closing 64, high-
lighted by a 6-under 30 on the back nine,
but could not halt Love’s march to victory.
“I’m just thrilled to come out on top and
to accomplish what I really wanted to do
this Fall,” Love said after his victory. “I
STEVE DINBERG
wanted to get out and compete and play to
win; not try to make the top 125 and not
just try to make the cut and show up. But
to come and play to win.”
Love’s career trajectory has been on a
downward arc since 2003, when he won
four times and finished third on the money
list. He turned in two respectable but win-
less seasons in 2004 and ’05 before breaking
a three-year winless drought in Greensboro
in ’06 after what had been a mostly disap-
pointing showing that year.
After fourth place finishes in two of his
first starts of 2007, Love’s name was absent
from PGA Tour leader boards for the rest of
the year with the exception of a one-week
revival in the World Golf Championships
event at Firestone, where he finished in a
distant tie for sixth.
His freak ankle injury followed several
weeks later, not the best timing for a 40-
something veteran undergoing a lengthy
stretch of unsatisfactory results.
“It wasn’t exactly what I needed after not
playing well for a couple of years; having to
come back from surgery. But I didn’t doubt
my desire and I didn’t doubt the fact that I
could compete.
“But the little things – holing putts when
you have to and all that – that’s golf. I just
wondered how I was going to get it back.”
Love did not put the entire onus for his
sub-standard play on his injury.
“Certainly I’ve had a couple bad breaks,
but even after getting hurt, I should have
played better all year. It shouldn’t have been
this long to put four good rounds together.
It meant an awful lot to put four good
rounds together.”
Love started the tournament on a positive
note with three birdies in his first five holes
of the opening round, and closed out the
day with three more birdies in succession
for a 66 that included what would be his
only bogey in 72 holes.
Despite an off day with the putter, Love
came back with a 69, with his second round
scorecard consisting of 15 pars and birdies
on three of the four par 5s.
Love was seven shots off the lead after 36
holes and still well back midway through
the third round. But three birdies and an
eagle over a 5-hole stretch vaulted him into
contention.
A hot start and another torrid stretch on
the back nine in the final round put Love
on top, and he stayed there despite some
errant drives on the final two holes.
“The last two holes weren’t pretty,” he
observed. “I hit three bad drives on the day
and had to scramble on three of the harder
holes. But I putted extremely well the last
two days.”
After driving into trouble at the 17th,
Love assessed his situation.
“Obviously I knew I was leading. But I
didn’t know what other guys were shooting.
I was in trouble, but I was confident that I
was going to get the ball up and down.
“I wasn’t thinking about winning or
losing or screwing up. I was thinking about
chasing that ball and getting it up and
down.”
Love made par after pitching back to the
fairway following his off-target tee shot, and
saved par again at the 18th from a greenside
bunker.
“It’s a big win for me. It’s been a long
three years because everybody, like me,
expects me to play better.”
With the victory, Love moved up 70
spots on the money list, finishing the year at
48 with almost $1.7 million. He advanced a
comparable distance in the World Rankings
to 76th, putting himself in position to earn
an invitation to the 2009 Masters after
missing this year’s event for the first time
since 1990.
Love will need either a PGA Tour win
prior to the ’09 Masters or move into the
top 50 in the World Rankings to qualify for
Augusta. But his win at Disney did get him
the last spot in the season-opening
Mercedes Championship in Hawaii.
The victory also earns Love a career
exemption on the PGA Tour, a perk
limited to players with at least 20 career
victories.
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Blanks, Todd earn spots on ’09 PGA Tour
Join 3 state collegians
in Nationwide’s top 25
By Mike Blum
f the 25 players who finished in
O
the top 25 on the 2008
Nationwide Tour money list,
four played their college golf in
Georgia, and will join a Georgia native and
former Savannah club professional on the
PGA Tour in ’09.
Kris Blanks, who was born in Warner
Robins and spent several years as an assis-
tant at The Landings in Savannah, will be a
rookie on the PGA Tour next year, along
with recent college golfers Brendon Todd
(Georgia); Matt Weibring (Georgia Tech)
and Aron Price (Georgia Southern). Bryce
Molder (Georgia Tech) returns to the PGA
Tour after a strong finish that propelled him
into the top 25.
Kris Blanks
Blanks, 36, played his first full season on
the Nationwide Tour in ’08 after two years
of competing as a non-exempt player. He
won one of the tour’s top events in Chicago
and added a third place finish late in the
season in Chattanooga, ending up 13th on
the money list with just over $280,000.
Blanks won two Georgia PGA events
during his stay at The Landings and won
three times on the Hooters Tour, including
one in Savannah. He lives just outside
18 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Savannah in Bluffton, S.C., with his wife
Tami, a teaching pro at Sea Pines on Hilton
Head Island.
Todd, a 2007 Georgia graduate who has
settled in Atlanta, enjoyed an outstanding
rookie season on the Nationwide Tour, win-
ning a tournament in Utah and placing
19th in earnings with $244,225. Todd, who
began the year as a non-exempt player, con-
tended for a victory in Athens in his first
Nationwide start and was ninth a few weeks
later in Valdosta, the first of his seven top
10s on the season. He compiled some
impressive stats, placing third in scram-
bling, fourth in scoring and among the top
5 in both putting categories.
ATHENS REGIONAL FOUNDATION CLASSIC
Brendon Todd
Price, a native of Australia, recorded his
first win in three Nationwide Tour seasons,
taking a playoff early on the schedule in
northern California. He wound up 18th in
earnings with $249,150 after placing 52nd
and 42nd the previous two seasons. Price
enjoyed an outstanding career at Georgia
Southern, winning seven tournaments,
including four in his final season in 2005.
Weibring enjoyed his best year on the
Nationwide Tour in his fifth season, placing
second in scoring average and third in the
all-around category to end up 24th in earn-
ings with $228,150. Weibring, a 2002
Georgia Tech graduate, posted six top 10s
in ’08, with his best showing a third place
finish in the BMW Championship in
Greenville, S.C. He is the son of
Champions Tour player D.A. Weibring.
Molder, who played on the Georgia Tech
golf team with Weibring, closed out
the season with consecutive third place
finishes in the final two tournaments on
the schedule. His T3 at the Tour
Championship jumped him from 32nd to
23rd, the second time in three years he has
narrowly earned a promotion to the PGA
Tour. Molder competed on the PGA Tour
in his first two seasons as a professional, but
was off that tour for four years before
returning in 2007. He did not play well
enough to retain his spot there, and
returned to the Nationwide Tour this year.
A tie for second in Valdosta was his only top
15 until his torrid finish, which included
three straight top 10s.
Two other Georgians finished among the
top 40 in earnings to earn exempt status for
2009 as well as a spot in the finals of PGA
Tour qualifying.
Albany’s Josh Broadaway finished 36th
in earnings with $172,880, by far his best
showing in four years on the Nationwide
Tour. Broadaway, 30, endured a roller-
coaster season in which he made nine
straight cuts, including back-to-back ties for
fourth and six the last two weeks, then
missed the cut eight times in a row. He
ended the season with a tie for third in
Miami and a T16 in the Tour
Championship. Broadaway, who plays
cross-handed and putts left-handed,
finished fourth in putting average.
Duluth resident Scott Dunlap won the
season-opening tournament in Panama, but
did not have another top 10 the rest of the
year and slipped to 37th in earnings with
$170,080. Dunlap was 8th in driving accu-
racy and 23rd in greens in regulation, but
his struggles with the putter negated his
solid tee to green play. After seven years on
the PGA Tour, the 45-year-old Dunlap has
spent the last six on the Nationwide Tour,
picking up his second Nationwide career
win. Dunlap has played all over the world
during his pro career, collecting victories in
Canada, South America and South Africa.
Four other Georgia residents and an ex-
Bulldog finished among the top 100 on the
money list and will have non-exempt status
on the 2009 Nationwide Tour.
Woodstock’s Chris Kirk, Todd’s teammate
at Georgia, was 77th in his rookie season,
highlighted by a second place finish in
Knoxville, where he lost in a playoff. But that
was Kirk’s only top 15 finish, as he struggled
down the stretch to fall out of the top 60.
Kirk made the cut in all three of his PGA
Tour starts in ’08, including the U.S. Open,
but was just 10 of 19 on the Nationwide
Tour, making just one cut after August.
Augusta’s Scott Parel got off to a strong
start in 2008, including a fourth place
finish in Valdosta, but also had problems
late in the season, mainly due to his putting
and some disappointing showings in final
rounds. Parel, 43, has played five seasons on
the Nationwide Tour, and slipped a bit to
81st after placing 68th last year. Parel
missed advancing to the second stage of
Q-school by one stroke.
Veteran tour pro Tommy Tolles notched
a pair of top-5 finishes in ’08, but did not
play after August and ended up 83rd in
earnings in just 14 events. Tolles, 42, has
played extensively on both the PGA and
Nationwide Tours, but has not been on the
PGA Tour since 2004.
Snellville’s Jonathan Fricke had an up-
and-down rookie season on the Nationwide
Tour. Fricke, 26, who played on the Georgia
State golf team, made just 7 of 28 cuts, but
played well when he made it to the
weekend. He had a pair of top 10 finishes,
both in the midst of a stretch where he
missed 13 of 15 cuts, and was in the top 30
each of the last five times he went the entire
72 holes. Fricke was 11th on tour in driving
distance, but was well outside the top 100
in hitting both fairways and greens. He fin-
ished 93rd in earnings with $66,140.
Eatonton’s Blake Adams had no status
on the Nationwide Tour this season, but
managed to make 11 starts, including four
top-20 finishes in his first six appearances.
He was 94th with $63,070 and will have
limited status for next year even though he
failed to advance beyond the first stage of
Q-school.
Although he finished outside the top 100,
LaFayette’s John Kimbell will have non-
exempt status in 2009 from his win in
Valdosta last year. In 25 starts, Kimbell’s best
finish was a tie for 18th, as he fell from 37th
as a 38-year-old rookie to 120th this year.
Former Norcross resident Reid Edstrom
played a limited rookie schedule in ’08, get-
ting into 14 events. He made six cuts and had
several solid showings, but with just $38,090
(118th) has lost his status on the tour.
Like Kimbell, ex-Georgia Tech golfer
Tripp Isenhour will also be playing off his
past champion status in 2009. Isenhour has
four wins on the Nationwide Tour and has
spent five years on the PGA Tour, but suf-
fered through a dismal 2008 that included
his infamous bird-killing shot. Isenhour
made just 6 of 22 cuts and was 122nd in
earnings after finishing in the top 10 on the
money list the last three season he played
the Nationwide Tour full time.
Georgia PGA member Sonny Skinner, a
long-time Nationwide Tour player, made 10
starts in 2008, with his best finish a tie for
18th in Athens. Skinner would have led the
tour in driving accuracy, but did not play
enough rounds to be eligible for that honor.
Savannah’s Tim O’Neal, who has placed
among the top 60 money winners on the
Nationwide Tour three times since 2001,
managed just 13 starts and made only four
cuts, with a tie for 24th his best finish.
O’Neal, 35, was 100th in earnings in 2007,
the cutoff for having non-exempt status,
but was well outside the top 100 this year
and will be without status on the tour for
the first time since 2004.
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 Skinner among Georgians to pass Q-school
Fricke, Robinson, Manning
also advance to final stage
By Mike Blum
M
ore than two dozen golfers
with Georgia ties competed
in the second stage of PGA
Tour qualifying recently,
but only a handful managed to advance to
the finals.
Georgia PGA member Sonny Skinner, a
long time tour player and teaching profes-
sional at River Pointe in Albany, led the
small group of qualifiers into the finals,
which are scheduled for Dec. 3-8 at PGA
West in La Quinta, Calif.
Joining Skinner were Snellville’s Jonathan
Fricke, a rookie on the Nationwide Tour this
year; 2008 Tar Heel and Hooters Tour win-
ners David Robinson of Sandersville and
Major Manning of Clarkesville; and recent
U. of Tennessee golfer David Skinns, the
’08 Hooters Tour Player of the Year. Skinns,
who came to Tennessee from England, is
living in Marietta.
They will join veteran tour pro Scott
Dunlap of Duluth and Albany’s Josh
Broadaway in the finals. Dunlap and
Broadaway both finished in the top 40 on
the Nationwide Tour money list and will be
fully exempt for the ’09 Nationwide Tour if
they fail to earn their PGA Tour cards.
The top 25 and ties in the finals of Q
school will earn PGA Tour playing privileges
for ’09, with approximately 50 players
earning exempt status on the Nationwide
Tour. The remaining players who reach the
finals will have non-exempt status on the ’09
Nationwide Tour.
Fricke was 10th at Callaway Gardens with
an 11-under 277 total. He was just outside
the top 20 cut line for advancing to finals
after 36 holes, but fired a 65 in the third
round highlighted by a pair of eagles – one
on the par-5 second and the other when he
holed out from the fairway on the par-4
18th. His even par round of 72 the final day
included 16 pars, as he advanced with two
shots to spare. Fricke reached the finals of Q
school last year, missing the PGA Tour by
just three strokes.
Robinson, who led the Tar Heel Tour in
earnings, will be making his first appearance
in the finals of qualifying. He won three
tournaments this year and continued his
excellent play, breaking par in all four rounds
on the Mountain View course, including
scores of 69 each of the first three days.
Robinson shot a final round 71 with five of
his 20 birdies for the week to tie for 11th at
278. It took a 9-under 279 total to advance
20 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
GC OF GEORGIA
Jonathan Fricke
to finals.
A sizeable number of Georgians just
missed advancing to finals from the
Callaway Gardens qualifier. John Kimbell
of LaFayette, who won the 2007
Nationwide Tour event in Valdosta, came up
one shot short, as did former U. of Georgia
golfer Richard Scott.
Kimbell was tied for 11th after 54 holes
with scores of 70-67-70, and was on the cut
line of 9-under with four holes to play. But
he bogeyed two of the holes coming in for a
73, offsetting a birdie at the 18th.
Scott also shot a final round 73, missing
by one stroke after a bogey at the 18th. All
four players who tied for 17th at 9-under
birdied one of their final holes to make it on
the number. Scott and Kimbell were among
four players to tie for 21st.
Rookie Nationwide Tour player Chris
Kirk of Woodstock and fellow ex-Bulldog
Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., both missed
by two at 281. Kirk shot 71 the final day
after getting off to a strong start with birdies
on two of his first three holes. But Kirk, who
was 77th on the Nationwide money list and
will have non-exempt status in ‘09, managed
just one birdie the rest of the day.
Kisner eagled the seventh hole, his 16th of
the day, and needed a birdie on one of his
last two holes to finish at 9-under, but
bogeyed the par-3 eighth for a final round
70. A 74 the second day was his only score
higher than 70.
Tim Weinhart, a 4-time Georgia PGA
Player of the Year, broke par in all four
rounds and finished at 6-under 282 to tie
for 33rd. Weinhart, an instructor at St.
Marlo, shot 71 each of the first rounds
before a closing 69 that included a 4-under
32 on his final nine. Weinhart reached the
finals two years ago to earn limited
Nationwide Tour status for 2007.
Atlanta resident Billy Andrade had not
© 2008 PGA OF AMERICA
Sonny Skinner
been to Q-school since 1988, but had to
return to class this year after falling to 193rd
on the PGA Tour money list. Andrade
notched 10 birdies the first two rounds and
was tied for 20th at 139, but shot 70-73 the
last two days with just five birdies and
missed by three strokes. Andrade, a 4-time
winner on the PGA Tour, will be able to play
a relatively extensive schedule next year with
the help of past champion’s status and
sponsor invitations.
Former Norcross resident Reid Edstrom,
who was 118th in earnings on the
Nationwide Tour this year, missed by four
shots at 283. Edstrom shot 68 in the first
and third rounds and needed a 70 the final
day, but settled for a 74 with just one birdie,
that coming on the 17th hole.
Roswell’s Justin Bolli was tied for 18th
after 54 holes, but got off to a rocky start the
final day and shot 76 to miss by five shots at
284. Bolli, who was 155th on the money list
in his second stint on the PGA Tour, will
return to the Nationwide Tour in ’09 for his
fourth season. He won tournaments in 2004
and ’07 to finish in the top 10 in earnings
and move up to the PGA Tour the following
season.
Also missing by five at 283 was Newnan’s
Steve Gilley, who started fast (3-under after
four holes the first day) and finished strong
(a final round 66 including 5-under 31 on
his final nine), but was 4-over par in
between.
Former PGA Tour winner Michael Clark
of Dalton sandwiched a pair of 69s with a
75 the first round and a 74 the last for a 287
total. Cartersville’s Bryant Odom shot him-
self out of contention the first day with a 77,
with a 67 the next round his only score of
par or better.
Manning was the lone Georgian to
advance in Brooksville, Fla., with five others
missing by three strokes or less. Manning,
who concluded his career at Augusta State
last year, won a tournament on the Hooters
Tour in his first full season as a tour pro. He
tied for fourth in his qualifier with at 11-
under 277, shooting in the 60s each of the
first three rounds before a 71 the final day.
Augusta’s Jay Mundy shot 282 to miss by
one stroke, falling out of the top 20 the final
day despite shooting 1-under 71 the final
round. Mundy tied for 22nd as did former
Georgia golfer Erik Compton, who was
among the top 20 after each of the first three
rounds with scores of 70-70-69. But
Compton closed with a 73 to fall just short
of reaching the finals after undergoing a
second heart transplant earlier this year.
Missing by two strokes at 283 were veteran
Nationwide Tour player Tim O’Neal of
Savannah and second-year tour player Luke
List of Ringgold. O’Neal, who struggled in
limited Nationwide action this year, was tied
for 50th after 54 holes, but was 4-under after
seven holes the final day to get within range
of the top 20. However, he played his last 11
holes in even par for a 68 to fall just short.
List was 39th after 54 holes, but was 4-
under after 12 holes the final round to get to
the cutoff line of 7-under. A late bogey on a
par 5 knocked List out of chance to reach
the finals.
Others who failed to advance were former
Georgia golfer David Denham of Tifton,
who missed by three shots at 284; and
Jay McLuen and Donald Carpenter, both
of Athens.
Skinner and Skinns both advanced at the
Hombre in Panama City. Skinner, the 2006
Georgia PGA Player of the Year, competed
on a limited basis on the Nationwide Tour
this year after competing on either the PGA
Tour or its secondary circuit from 1990-
2005. Skinner tied for sixth at the Hombre at
8-under 276, posting scores of 68 the first
and fourth rounds with a pair of 70s in
between.
Skinns, who won three times on the
Hooters Tour this year, shot a final round
68 to move from 26th to 14th at 279.
Tour veteran Paul Claxton of St. Simons
Island will return to the Nationwide Tour
for his 11th season after a fourth attempt at
the PGA Tour proved unsuccessful. Claxton
was a distant 218th on the PGA Tour
money list, making just 8 of 23 cuts. He
became the first player in Nationwide Tour
history to eclipse $1 million in career earn-
ings, and will look to match his play of
2007, when he finished 10th on the money
list and captured his second career title.
Claxton, a Vidalia native and former
Georgia Bulldog, shot a final round 69 at
the Hombre for a 1-under 283 total to
finish two strokes outside the top 20. Also
failing to advance was Mark Harrell of
Hazlehurst, who was in contention after 36
holes before shooting a 79 in the third
round. Harrell turned pro this year after
completing his college golf career at
Alabama.
Former Georgia golfer David Miller
missed by two shots in Texas, shooting 69
the final day for a 2-under 286 total.
FA L L 2 0 0 8
Odom, Sims, Gilley
medalists in first
stage Q-school events
number of Georgians advanced
A past the first stage of qualifying
for the 2009 PGA Tour, com-
peting at courses in Florida, the
Carolinas, Texas and California.
Three Georgians shared medalist honors
in their qualifiers, including 2008 Georgia
Open champion Bryant Odom, a
Cartersville native now living on St. Simons
Island.
Odom, who worked as an assistant pro-
fessional for a few years at Ocean Forest and
won the Georgia PGA’s Assistants’
Championship in 2007, posted a 14-under
266 total at Florence (S.C.) CC to finish in
a 3-way tie for first. Odom shot either 66 or
67 in all four rounds.
Also advancing from Florence were
David Robinson of Sandersville, the top
player on the 2008 Tar Heel Tour, and
rookie pro Mark Harrell of Hazlehurst.
Robinson tied for sixth at 272, with Harrell
qualifying on the number at 278, tying for
22nd. The top 23 and ties advanced, with
Harrell shooting 75-72 the final two rounds
after opening with scores of 63 and 68.
Former Georgia golfer Kevin Kisner tied
for 10th at 274 to advance along with fellow
Aiken, S.C., resident and co-medalist
Stephen Poole and Scott Brown of North
Augusta, S.C., who tied for sixth with
Robinson.
D.J. Fiese of Woodstock missed by just
one stroke at 279 after being one shot under
the cut line with eight holes to play. Others
failing to advance were Brent
Delahoussaye, Emmett Turner, Nick
Cowper, Jack Croyle, Derek Oakey and
Drew Bowen.
Michael Sims, like Odom a St. Simons
Island resident, tied for first in Kingwood,
Tx., with an 11-under 277 total. Joe
Deraney and Brad Heaven failed to
advance, with Deraney missing by three
shots.
Sims tied for ninth in a late second stage
qualifier in Texas to advance to finals.
The third Georgian to share medalist
honors was Newnan mini-tour player Steve
Gilley, who shot 8-under 280 at Treyburn
CC in Durham, N.C. David Skinns of
Marietta tied for fourth at 282, with
Augusta’s Jay Mundy and Savannah’s Tim
O’Neal barely making it, tying for the 25th
and last position at 291. O’Neal birdied the
18th and needed help to qualify from sev-
eral players, including Mundy, who bogeyed
his final hole.
Among those who did not advance were
Roberto Castro, Blake Adams and Will
Claxton. Castro, an Alpharetta resident and
recent Georgia Tech standout, shot 76 the
2 0 0 8 FA L L
final day for a 293 total to miss by two. He
played his last seven holes in 3-over par.
Adams, who played well on the Nationwide
Tour this year, and Claxton, who shot 78
the fourth round, both missed by four.
Adams will have limited status on the
Nationwide Tour in ’09 after placing 94th
on the money list.
Don Carpenter of Athens and Major
Manning of Clarkesville both had top-10
finishes in St. Augustine, Fla. Carpenter was
seventh at 1-under 279 with Manning
eighth at 280. Tifton native David
Denham, a former Georgia golfer, tied for
22nd at 285 to advance on the number.
Denham shot 65 the first day, but struggled
to a 76 the final round.
Also advancing were ex-Bulldog David
Miller and Aiken’s Dane Burkhart. Tim
Arnoult of Decatur missed by one stroke at
286, with rookie pro Jamie Bowen of
Dawsonville missing by two,
At Key Biscayne, Fla., Jay McLuen of
Athens tied for 23rd to make it on the
number at 296, along with former Georgia
golfer Erik Compton, who shot 68 the final
round. Compton recently underwent his
second heart transplant, and was allowed
the use of a golf cart by the PGA Tour.
At Palm City, Fla., two Georgia
Nationwide Tour players advanced and one
just missed. Snellville’s Jonathan Fricke
shot 5-under 279 to place 11th, with former
Norcross resident Reid Edstrom 12th at
282 after a final round 66. Augusta’s
Scott Parel was one shot under the cut line
before bogeys at 15 and 16, and missed
advancing by one stroke at 285. Parel was
81st on the money list this year, and will
have partial status on the Nationwide Tour
next year.
Stuart Moore, Chris Holroyd and TPC
Sugarloaf assistant pro John Duta also
failed to advance.
Ringgold’s Luke List, who did not make
it past first stage in his first attempt last year,
advanced this time from a qualifier in
Santee, Cal. After shooting a 77 the first
day, List followed with scores of 71-69-71
to tie for 11th at 288. Atlanta native Ned
Michaels failed to advance.
Recent Georgia Tech golfer Kevin Larsen
shot 7-under 281 in Hollister, Cal., to tie
for 25th, but only the top 24 and ties
advanced.
Former Georgia Bulldog Richard Scott
tied for 12th with a 9-under 279 total to
advance in McKinney, Tex. Josh Geary of
St. Simons Island missed by one at 282.
Also failing to advance were Ian Hessels of
Duluth, rookie pro Thomas Hagler of
Ringgold, and Jeff Bors of St. Simons.
GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM 21
 Golf Talk
Savannah’s Browne
named Pro of Year
Savannah Golf Club head PGA professional
Toby Browne is the Georgia PGA’s
Professional of the Year for 2008, with Josh
Williams, Browne’s assistant at the club, the
Section’s Assistant Professional of the Year.
Browne and the other awards winners
(below) will be honored at the annual PGA
banquet Feb. 28 at Turner Field.

Teacher of the Year:
Cody Barden, White Columns.

Junior Golf Leader: William Lewis,
First Tee @ John A. White.

Bill Strausbaugh Award:
Ray Cutright, Idle Hour.

Horton Smith Award: Phil Berry,
Career Services Consultant,
PGA of America, District 13.

Growth of the Game Award:
Chris Knoblauch, Golf Experience Co.

Presidents Award: Bert Seagraves,
Rome.
Merchandisers of the Year:
 Private: Joseph Devaney, Athens CC.
 Resort: Brannen Veal,
Sea Island Golf Club.
 Public: Daryl Batey,
Charlie Yates Course.
 Salesman of the Year:
Russell Miller, Club Car.
 Distinguished Service Award:
Tom Cousins.
Unique golf gift captures memories
Celebrate those special golf memories
with the most unique golf gift available.
CASEY JONES GOLF will commemorate
any golf accomplishment with a hand-
drawn, personalized piece of artwork,
handsomely framed and ready to display
in the home or office.
Whether it's a hole-in-one, a career
best score, an age-shooter, a tournament
win, or just a memorable day on a famous
course, CASEY JONES GOLF can capture
the moment with customized scoreboard
art based on the scores and information
you provide.
For the past decade, artist and
calligrapher Casey Jones, an Atlanta
native and resident, has created score-
board graphics for over 100 professional
golf tournaments, including a dozen
major championships. Casey has drawn
several commemorative scoresheets for
today's top tour pros, and now he's doing
22 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
No Champions event
in Atlanta in 2009
After already losing its annual PGA Tour
event at TPC Sugarloaf, Atlanta will not have
a Champions Tour tournament at the
Duluth course in 2009.
The Tour had hoped to add a Champions
Tour event for next year at Sugarloaf, but
with a struggling economy, the over-50 tour
did not add a new tournament for 2009, as
no new title sponsors could be secured.
The Champions Tour will drop three tour-
naments from its 2008 schedule, with
events in Hawaii, Boston and Long Island
going out of business. The Champions Tour
has just 26 events on its ’09 schedule after
having as many as 39 in 2000.
The LPGA Tour is down from 34 tourna-
ments to 31, losing events in Hawaii, south
Florida, Tulsa and Charleston, S.C., and
adding one in Thailand. The LPGA has only
three tournaments in the entire Southeast
in 2009, one in central Florida and two in
Alabama.
The PGA Tour has yet to announce dates
for the ’09 Tour Championship at East Lake,
with the tournament set to be played either
Sept. 17-20 or 24-27. The preference is for
Sept. 24-27 to give players a week off after
three weeks of FedExCup playoffs events,
but there apparently are complications with
NBC’s broadcast schedule.
Other than the Tour Championship, all
four Tour events in Georgia next year will be
played in April, beginning with the Masters
(9-12). The Nationwide Tour plays in Athens
the same for both accomplished
amateurs and everyday golfers. He uses a
crisp and colorful style that emulates the
exact look of his pro scoreboard. Visit
his website at CASEYJONESGOLF.com to
explore your options. These scoresheets
also make a fantastic award for golf club
April 16-19 and Valdosta April 23-26, with
the Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf in
Savannah April 24-26.
Lake Arrowhead opens
after major renovations
After undergoing extensive renovations,
Lake Arrowhead’s Highlands Course in
Waleska has re-opened. All but about five
holes are completely new, with Atlanta
area-based course architect D.J. DeVictor
creating the new holes and re-working the
handful of remaining originals.
The new layout is longer and more diffi-
cult than the original design, with the back
tees listed at just over 7,200 yards and the
next set 6,764. The middle tees are just
under 6,300 yards, with the senior tees
5,660 and the forward tees 4,700.
DeVictor’s re-design features plenty of
elevation changes and a number of carries
over creeks, as well as some large
greens with plenty of movement. For
information, call 770-479-5500 or visit
www.lakearrowheadga.com.
professionals to present to their tourna-
ment champions, or for the winners of
corporate outings. Each one promises to
be quite a conversation piece, which will
undoubtedly give you the opportunity to
reminisce and elaborate! Gift certificates
are also available.
Jones Creek Golf Club
Augusta’s Jones Creek
gets new ownership
Augusta’s Jones Creek Golf Club, one of
the state’s top daily fee layouts, has a new
ownership group, the sixth since the club
opened in the mid-1980s. There is a
difference this time, as the new owners,
who include two former Jones Creek
club professionals, will also manage
the course.
Ray Mundy, an assistant when the club
opened in 1985, is part of the ownership
group, as is Augusta native Gregg
Hemann, who served two previous stints
as head professional at the club and has
resumed that position. Mundy went on to
be Director of Operations for Jones Creek
and Cedar Creek in Aiken, S.C., before
starting a golf management firm that
assumed management of Jones Creek
earlier this year.
Jones Creek was designed by Rees
Jones with Tom Fazio making some
changes to the layout in 2003. It is
believed to be the only course in the U.S.
that lists both Jones and Fazio as
designers.
Robinson to Forest Hills: Long-time
Highland Country Club head professional
Bill Robinson is the new head profes-
sional/general manager at Augusta’s
Forest Hills Golf Club, replacing Augusta
native David Usry, who stepped down
after a short stint at the club.
In other Augusta area golf news:
Former Forest Hills head pro Scott Allen
has taken over as the head pro at Pointe
South in Hephzibah… While area
courses in Harlem and Warrenton have
closed, the former Brushy Creek in Wrens
has been purchased by a couple in
Augusta, with the back nine recently
opening for play. The front nine,
which was damaged by a tornado, is
scheduled to re-open next April. Ted
Shurling, former superintendent at
Forest Hills and Belle Meade, has headed
up the effort to restore the course to
playing condition.
Todd Gilgrist was recently named the
head professional at Governor’s Towne Club,
moving over from Alpharetta Athletic Club’s
East Course (formerly Crooked Creek).
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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 Chip Shots
Georgia PGA team
wins Assistants’ Cup
The Georgia PGA won the annual
Assistants’ Cup competition against
Tennessee, dominating singles play to
score a 14-10 victory at the Capital City
Club Crabapple Course.
After winning the opening 4-ball
matches 4-2, the Georgia PGA scored only
one point in the foursomes matches and
trailed 7-5 going to singles. But the home
team went 8-2-2 to win the match,
improving its record to 8-5-1 in the compe-
tition between the two sections.
Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods and Bill
Murchison of Towne Lake Hills teamed for
the Georgia PGA’s lone victory in alternate
shot, and won their other two matches to
finish with 3-0 marks.
Chip Zimmerman of Cherokee CC, Eric
Reeves of Healy Point and Doug Wade of
the Heritage Club all went 2-1 for Georgia
with singles victories. Other singles win-
ners for Georgia were Jared Morton of
Athens CC, Seth McCain of Jennings
Mill and David Potts of Country Club of
the South.
Proceeds from the event, which was pre-
sented by Ahead, went to Atlanta’s
Lighthouse Family Retreat.
Pro-President: Teams from Berkeley
Hills and The Frog were winners in the E-Z-
GO Pro-President, played at the Brickyard
at Riverside in Macon.
Shawn McKinnon and Hector Cora of
Berkeley Hills were the gross division win-
ners with a 69, one stroke ahead of Jared
Reneau and J.D. Sessums of International
City and Brandy Jones and Rob Cason of
The Frog.
Jones and Cason won the net division
with a 64, two strokes ahead of Gregg
Wolff and Dale Fordham of Willow Lake,
and the team of Reneau and Sessums.
The tournament was presented by
Pin-Point GPS and Titleist.
PGA Assistants’ Championship: Three
Georgia PGA representatives made the cut
in the recent PGA Assistants’
Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with
Andy Blanton of Country Club of
Columbus tying for 14th at even par 288.
Seth McCain of Jennings Mill was second
after an opening round 68, and tied for
23rd at 290. Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods
finished with a 295 total, including a third
round 69.
McGladrey Team Championship:
Savannah GC placed fourth in the
McGladrey Team Championship, which
was played at the Pinehurst Resort.
After scores of 12-under each of the first
two days on the #8 and #2 courses, the
Savannah GC team was in second place,
24 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Senior-Junior champs Ray Gentry (L) and
Brian Dixon (R) with Mark McNair of Etonic
but settled for even par the final day on the
#4 course to fall from two shots back after
36 holes to 10 behind the winning team.
The Savannah team consisted of pro
Josh Williams and club members
Scott Weeks, Kevin Halligan and Toby
Browne, Jr.
Gentry, Dixon win
Senior-Junior title
Ray Gentry and Brian Dixon teamed up
to win the Junior-Senior Championship at
Little Ocmulgee’s Wallace Adams course,
shooting a final round 61 for a 126 total
and a 5-stroke victory.
Gentry, the long time head pro at
Wallace Adams, was part of the winning
team for the third time, and benefited from
an exceptional stretch of play the second
day by Dixon, an instructor at Fox Creek.
Following an eagle on the 11th hole, his
sixth of the day after a shotgun start, Dixon
ran off eight straight birdies, beginning on
the 14th and ending at the 3rd.
Tying for second at 131 were the teams
of Eddy Young-Russell Smith and Danny
Elkins-Bill Murchison.
Amateurs go 1-2-3
in Senior tournament
Rocky Costa of Alpharetta shot 69-68—
137 to win a Georgia PGA Senior Division
tournament at Summit Chase, leading an
amateur sweep of the top three spots. Jack
Kearney of Peachtree City was second at
140 and Donald Crump of Atlanta took
third at 141.
West Pines head professional Mike
Schlueter was low pro and fourth overall
at 144, followed by amateur Mel
Mendenhall of Marietta at 147. Amateurs
Don Marsh of Alpharetta and Karl Simon
of Lawrenceville tied for third at 148 along
GSGA
with Brookfield CC head professional
Carlen Webb, who shared the opening
round lead with Costa.
Clark, Marsh capture
Senior 4-Ball event
Larry Clark of Kingsland and Don Marsh
of Alpharetta won the GSGA Senior 4-Ball
title for the second time, finishing three
strokes ahead of defending champions
Spencer Sappington of Alpharetta
and Bill Ploeger of Columbus, who have
both won the event four times, three as
partners.
Clark and Marsh finished with a 19-
under 197 total at the Hampton Club on St.
Simons Island, with Sappington and
Ploeger second at 201. Clark and Marsh
shot 62 the second day to take a three-
stroke lead after 54 holes, with Sappington
and Ploeger pulling even after 11 holes the
final round.
But Clark scored a hole-in-one on
Hampton Club’s short 12th and he added
four more birdies down the stretch as he
and Marsh pulled away, shooting 66 the
final round to a 67 by Sappington
and Ploeger.
While the championship flight played at
the Hampton Club, the rest of the field was
divided into four flights and played at
Sanctuary Cove in nearby Waverly. Charlie
Busbee of McDonough and Tom Toombs
of Perry were the first flight winners by five
strokes with a 202 total.
Atlanta Athletic Club
wins GSGA team title
A team from Atlanta Athletic Club won
the GSGA Team Championship at the
Georgia Club, finishing with a 367 total to
edge teams from Rivermont and Laurel
Springs by three strokes.
The Atlanta AC team shot 142 the first
day to trail Cartersville CC by seven strokes,
with the score the total of two two-man
best ball results. Jeff Koontz and Doug
Green teamed for a 68 the first day, with
Hal Hobgood and West Strieb combining
for a 74. The team posted a 225 total in sin-
gles the next day, the low score by three
strokes, with the low three individual
scores counting. All four Atlanta AC golfers
shot between 74 and 76, with Koontz low
with a 74.
DeWitt Weaver III led Laurel Springs to
its tie for second with a 69 in a singles.
Pinetree took fourth at 371, with Mark
Strickland posting a 72 after teaming with
Glenn Kavanaugh for a 68.
Athens CC, which was second after the
first day at 137, tied for fifth at 372 with
Dalton CC and the host Georgia Club team.
David Noll of Dalton CC shot a 69 in sin-
gles after teaming for a 68 in best ball, with
Jeremy Britt and Drew Czuchry of the
Georgia Club pairing for a 68 and shooting
73 and 74 in singles.
After posting a 135 score in best ball,
Cartersville’s four players all shot between
78 and 81 individually, with the team tying
for eighth at 373.
Bulldogs end Fall
with win in Orlando
The Georgia golf team wrapped up its Fall
schedule with its second win in four tour-
naments, taking the Isleworth Invitational
for the fourth time in five years. Georgia
finished with an 867 total, 17 strokes ahead
of runner-up Alabama.
Macon’s Russell Henley was medalist at
2-under 214, the fourth time a Bulldog has
earned individual honors in the tourna-
ment. Henley’s second round 67 led
Georgia to an 11-under 277 total in
the second round, keying the Bulldog’s
easy victory.
Georgia’s Hudson Swafford was fifth at
216, with former Isleworth medalists Brian
Harman of Savannah 14th at 220 and
Thomasville’s Harris English 18th at 222.
Swafford and Harman shot 68s in Georgia’s
second round 277.
The Bulldogs won their previous tourna-
ment at Macon’s Brickyard at Riverside, and
finished the Fall ranked first in the country,
with Swafford 11th in the individual rank-
ings and Henley 16th. Harman and English
were both among the top 50.
Georgia Tech was sixth at Isleworth with
an 895 total. Cameron Tringale was the
Yellow Jackets’ top finisher for the fourth
straight Fall tournament, tying for
10th. Tringale ended up the Fall ranked
10th nationally, with Tech 10th in the
team standings.
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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Golf FORE Juniors
Garretson’s 69 earns
Wilmington Island win
Michael Garretson of Acworth fired a
2-under 69 to give him a 141 total and the
overall boys title in a Georgia PGA Junior
Tour event at Wilmington Island Club in
Savannah.
Garretson also won his age group by a
whopping 14 strokes, with Caleb Morris of
Metter second at 155 and David Sullivan
of Woodstock third at 156.
Scott Wolfes of St. Simons Island was
second overall at 142, winning the 16-18
age group by seven strokes over Joel
Sawyer of Elberton. Tyler Steptoe of
Richmond Hill and Drew Czuchry of
Auburn were third at 155.
Buster Bruton of Dallas was the boys
12-13 winner with a 151 total, two strokes
ahead of Tyler Young of Kennesaw. Young
shot a 73 in the first round to lead Bruton
by seven strokes, with Bruton coming back
with a final round 71 to win the division.
Emily Kurey of Alpharetta, competing
in the 12-14 division, was the girls overall
winner at 162. Kimberly Graff of Lilburn
was first in the 15-18 age group and
second overall at 163, followed by Lindsey
Gipson of Woodstock at 166.
Czuchry takes playoff
in Georgia Club event
Drew Czuchry was the boys 16-18 and
overall winner at the Georgia Club in
Statham, defeating Grant Cagle of
Gainesville in a playoff. Both finished with
147 totals, with Czuchry shooting a final
round 71 to make up two strokes on Cagle.
Ryan Trocchio of Norcross and Dylan
Lyons of Evans tied for third at 148.
Will McFarlin of Alpharetta was the
boys 14-15 winner at 149, six strokes ahead
of Brice Eaton of Jasper. Aaron George of
Dahlonega was third at 156.
Buster Bruton scored his second
straight Georgia PGA Junior Tour win in the
boys 12-13 division, posting scores of
71-77—148. Ben Holm of Alpharetta was
second at 155, with Tyler Young third
at 158.
Sloan Shanahan of Suwanee was the
girls 12-14 and overall winner at 162,
taking the overall title in a playoff over
Lauren Court of Lawrenceville, the 15-18
winner. Kimberly Graff was second in 15-
18 at 164 and Taylor Blair of Roswell third at
168. Dayana Marquez of Atlanta was
second in 12-14 at 166.
The Georgia PGA Junior Tour’s 2009
season opens for registration in mid-
December. The first event is Feb. 14-15
at Forest Heights in Statesboro.
26 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM
Drew Czuchry,
Georgia Club Boys Champ
Buster Bruton
Bruton, Sawyer take
first at Valdosta CC
Joel Sawyer and Buster Bruton were
among the Georgia PGA Junior Tour win-
ners at Valdosta Country, with Bruton
scoring his third straight win in boys 12-13.
Bruton shot 75-76—151 to finish four
strokes ahead of Albany’s Joshua Crews.
Sawyer was the boys 16-18 and overall
winner, shooting a second round 69 for a
147 total. Eric Quinn of Norcross was
second at 150, with Ben Collier of Marietta
and Nate Gahman of Leesburg third in the
16-18 division at 155.
David Sullivan shot 75-76—151 to win
boys 14-15 by seven strokes over Josh
Klipstein of Norcross.
Girls winners were Dona Kioseff of
Valdosta with a 165 total in the 15-18 divi-
sion, and Dayana Martinez (171) in 12-14.
Sloan Shanahan,
Georgia Club Girls Champ
Kimberly Graff
Fox, Burger capture
SJGT wins in Albany
Bryan Fox of Roswell and Emilie Burger
of Hoschton were the overall winners in a
Southeastern Junior Golf Tour event at
Doublegate CC in Albany. Fox was the
boys 16-18 winner with scores of 71-72—
143, with Tyler Erickson of Bonaire third
in the age group at 148.
Burger shot 75-74—149 to win the girls
15-19 division by two strokes over
Kathryn Fowler of Americus. Carrie
Metz of Carnesville was third at 152.
Mary Ellen Sherman of St. Simons Island
was the girls 12-14 winner.
Jimmy Beck of Columbus was the boys
14-15 winner by one stroke over Sam
Straka of Valdosta, posting scores of 72
and 75 for a 147 total. Parker Derby of
Columbus shot 77-75—152 to win boys
Recent Georgia PGA Junior Tour
winner Jimmy Beck won a
Southeastern Junior Tour event at
Albany’s Doublegate Country Club
12-13 by a 13-stroke margin.
In Montgomery, Sanders Park of
Alpharetta posted a 150 total to win the
boys 14-15 and overall title. Justin Cho of
Norcross shot a second round 72 for a 151
total to finish first in 16-19, one stroke
ahead of Max Von Dresser of Alpharetta.
Girls winners were Yugene Lee of
Athens in the 15-19 division (155) and
Amira Alexander of Alpharetta in
12-14 (166).
In Fort Payne, Al., Blaine Woodruff of
Acworth won the boys 14-15 division by
eight strokes with scores of 72-69—141,
and also was first among all boys in the
event. Joe Philaphet of Riverdale was
second in boys 12-13 at 163, and
Kimberly Graff was third in girls 15-19
at 162.
In Dothan, Al., Ian Phillips of Acworth
was second in boys 16-19 at 147, one
stroke behind the winner. Michael Motz
of Milton was third at 148. Parker Derby
was second in boys 12-13 at 166.
American Junior Golf Association: In
the PING Invitational at Stillwater, Okla.,
Stacey Kim of Columbus tied for fifth in
the girls division at 230 in the 54-hole
event. Franco Castro of Alpharetta tied
for 16th at 234 in the boys division.
The final two rounds of an AJGA event
in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., were rained
out, with several Georgians in position for
top finishes after strong first round show-
ings. Oliver Schniederjans of Powder
Springs opened with a 70 to tie for
second, two strokes behind the winner.
Billy Kennerly of Alpharetta shot 71 to
tie for sixth, and Kevin Lee of Dacula tied
for 14th with a 73. Amira Alexander tied
for ninth in the girls division with a 77.
FA L L 2 0 0 8
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Golf FORE Women

Megan Holland a Bright Star in Golf Business

By Jackie Cannizzo different or dare to fail. She wanted to get in Development and helped market and
Women’s Editor the golf business because of her love for the opened several of their top properties.
PGA Professional game, so she went to work for the Killearn Megan needed to take a break from the
Country Club of Roswell Golf Company and helped open Eagle’s rigors of work with Landmark for successful
Landing Country Club. Megan also helped surgery on her neck, but that ended her
Megan Holland believes she has a dream with a few independent projects before playing career. She started her own busi-
job in many ways. She is her being hired by White Columns ness with knowledge learned from
own boss as the President of as the General Manager. Landmark, with whom she retains a rela-
Pinnacle International From there she was tionship. She started Pinnacle in 2001 as a
Management and someone hired by the Golden Bear Club consulting company which has turned into
who calls Jack Nicklaus, Mike to open up Laurel Springs with management of events, marketing and
Ditka, and Paul Krause her the watchful eye of Jack training programs for club General
friends. She travels to the Super Nicklaus. Nicklaus was so Managers and membership directors.
Bowl every year and as busy as impressed with Megan that he Lately Megan has been focusing on the
Megan Holland
she is, gets to spend quality urged her to come on board many events that she is involved in pre-
time with her kids. with the famed Landmark senting like the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Megan is a Georgia girl who has been Development Company which is noted for golf event that coincides with the 2009
involved in the game of golf since gradu- courses like PGA West, LaQuinta and Super Bowl. When Megan was the General enjoy,” Megan says.“I am not afraid to try dif-
ating from the University of Georgia in 1985. Kiawah. She became the National Manager at White Columns, she hired a ferent angles to get the people involved to
She has never been afraid to try something Marketing Director for Landmark young assistant named Blair Krause. Blair’s feel that they got their monies worth and
father is NFL Hall of Famer, Paul Krause. It walk away happy.”
was through her relationship with Blair that Megan has a passion for golf, sports and
she met Paul who asked her to help him making people happy with enjoyable
feel
Beautiful
start the Hall of Fame event. experiences. She is all about the
When asked of Megan’s talents, the elder win/win philosophy. If you are interested in
Krause said,“Megan is that once in a lifetime contacting Megan, email her at:
business associate and friend that will never meganholland@pinnacleim.com.
for the
Hurst Captures
let you down. She in her own right deserves
holidays recognition for always making my golf tour-

Futures’ Event
naments and events extraordinary and
Get an early holiday unforgettable. For that, I and the many char-
season treat with our itable organizations I support are forever Chateau Elan hosted the year end invita-
Beautiful for grateful.” tional only event October 17-19, which
the Holidays Megan also received accolades from NFL boasted the Futures Tour’s best field and
great Mike Ditka when she assisted him in
Specials: richest purse. Vicky Hurst, the tour’s 18-
his Gridiron Great events at last’s year Super year-old phenom, posted her 5th victory of
Bowl in Arizona, “Meg was a lifesaver”
Purchase an the season here and ensured she would
area of Botox® said Ditka. receive the right to compete on the LPGA
at regular price and pay only The consensus on the events and golf tour in 2009, finishing as the leading
$150 on second area. events that Holland has hosted with NFL money winner.
(15 unit maximum) greats and around the Super Bowl is that The event saw picture perfect weather
For a youthful, relaxed, enjoying-the- they are different than the usual events.
holiday season look! and spectators were treated to some
She focuses on all parties involved exceptional golf. Former Futures Tour
having the most memorable experience
Give the Gift
player and Georgia PGA Professional Lisa
from start to finish. She figured out that the Chirichetti made the event part of her
Juvederm® NFL greats love to talk about the games GSGA/LPGA girls’ golf club schedule and
of Beautiful Skin to your
friends and loved ones this
$350 per syringe. they have played in and love to share their took several of her girls to watch.
(2 syringe minimum) stories.
holiday season! Get a $50 gift “It was awesome for my girls to be able
card free with every $250 For soft, full,
So her events are like hanging out in to see these women play up close and
KMJX GIVXM½GEXI TYVGLEWI kissing-under-the-mistletoe lips! someone’s backyard, with the food and bev- personal. The tour has changed a lot
erages spread out so people mingle instead since I played. There’s more depth to the
Celebrate a beautiful holiday season with Youthtopia MedSpa. of sitting at banquet tables. She finds the tour now. It was also cool for my girls
players will gather and give the sponsors
call 770.772.4806 today! more attention when they feel comfortable
to be able to recognize several players
from the “Big Break” show on the
in the environment they talk even more. Golf Channel.”
3665 Old Milton Parkway She gets the players to sign footballs and
Alpharetta, GA 30005
Chirichetti added that the girls will be
1-770-SPA 4 U 06 (1-770-772-7806)
gives them away to sponsors. They love it, watching when the players from the
www.youthtopiamedspa.com so of course they are eager to sign up for Futures start to play the LPGA. Amateur
another event. Anna Rogers from Hartwell had the
Medical procedures are administred under the supervision of Ajay V. Kumar, M.D., Youthtopia MedSpa Medical Director. “Every moment of the experience is what best finish of the Georgia girls with a tie
Models on this material are not actual MedSpa clients. Some procedures require multiple treatments
to acheive maximum results. Results are not permanent and may vary per client. I want the players, sponsors and guests to for 64th.

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 Course Reviews

The Georgia Club (Semi-Private)

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

Windermere (Private)
5000 Davis Love Drive, Cumming
678-513-1000; www.canongategolf.com
STAFF: Ray Garbiras is the PGA Golf Professional; Tommy Hewitt is the Superintendent.
PAR/YARDAGE: Windermere plays to a par 71 with four sets of tees:
Black (6,805 yards); Blue (6,283); White (5,532) and Red (4,635).
COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 73.3/139 (Black); 70.3/134 (Blue); 67.5/121 (White);
68.0/118 (Red).
ABOUT THE COURSE: One of the most popular Atlanta area daily fee courses from the day
it opened in 2000, the course went private several years ago as part of the expansion of the
Canongate family of courses. Among the earliest courses from Davis Love’s design group,
Windermere was carved out of some rugged terrain that resulted in several elevation
changes of significance and only a handful of holes not impacted by the rolling terrain. With
a handful of exceptions, length is not a vital necessity, and Love has provided an ample
amount of fairway width on just about every hole. Some well-placed fairway bunkers are in
play here and there, and longer hitters will want to leave the driver in the bag on several
holes with sharp doglegs and serious trouble. The high slope rating is mostly a product of
the number of hazards in play, as well as some large, undulating greens that will result in
plenty of chances for three-putts. Love deftly mixes demanding holes with a number of
scoring opportunities, tempting longer hitters to take a few risks in order to reap rewards.
The risks, however, are considerable, especially on the back nine, where the majority of the
holes can inflict damage to your scorecard if you miss a shot in the wrong place. Three of
the par 5s fall into the risk/reward category, although the risk on the downhill third comes
on the tee shot, one of the few on the opening nine that demands accuracy. Things change
on the back nine, where most of the trouble is found and the decisions regarding club
selection and positioning from the tee are crucial. The large, rolling greens, most of which
are well guarded by sand, water or both, don’t make things any easier when it comes to
chipping and putting. But if you can avoid the obvious trouble spots, Windermere will yield
decent scores, although they won’t come easily.
30 GOLFFOREGEORGIA.COM FA L L 2 0 0 8
 Pure Performance
Absolute Precision

Chronomat
The benchmark selfwinding chronograph.
W W W. B R E I T L I N G . C O M Officially chronometer-certified by the COSC.

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