Berkeley Hills Country Club

Duluth, Georgia

August 30, 2010

Three players tied for medalist honors at 3-under-par 69, including two Georgians – Richie Taylor of Snellville and reigning GSGA Player of the Year David Noll Jr. of Dalton. They were joined by Herbie Sargent of Pelzer, S.C.

Bill Hodges of Thomasville, Ga., was the lone player at 70 to also qualify. Behind him were five players tied at 71 for the four remaining qualifying spots. Chris Hall of Kennesaw, Ga., and Kris Mikkelsen of Atlanta, Ga., both carded birdie on the first hole of the playoff (No. 18) to earn their spots. Ryan Parnell and Jordan Mitchell, both of Atlanta, parred No. 17, the second playoff hole to fill out the qualifying spots. Stephen Welsh of Macon, Ga., claimed the first alternate position.

John Smith of Johns Creek, Ga., one of five players tied at 72, posted birdie on the first playoff hole (No. 9) to secure the second alternate position.

Berkeley Hills Country Club was set to 6,694 yards and a par of 72. A field of 139 players competed in the qualifying round.

Qualifiers advance to the 30th annual U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which will be held at Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, N.Y., September 25-30, 2010, with a starting field of 264 players. Entries were open to amateur golfers who will have reached their 25th birthday on or before Sept. 25, 2010, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 3.4. The U.S. Mid-Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association.

Qualifiers:

Name Score

Richie Taylor, Snellville, GA 69

David Noll Jr., Dalton, GA 69

Bill Hodges, Thomasville, GA 70

Chris Hall, Kennesaw, GA 71 *

Kris Mikkelsen, Atlanta, GA 71 *

Ryan Parnell, Atlanta, GA 71 *

Jordan Mitchell, Atlanta, GA 71 *

Alternates:

1st Stephen Welsh, Macon, GA 71 *

2nd John Smith, Johns Creek, GA 72 *

* determined in playoff

One thing we know for certain about the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. There will not be a controversy in the final round over what is and isn’t a bunker.

What had been one of the most riveting final rounds in recent major championship history was tarnished by the rules snafu that knocked Dustin Johnson out of what would have been the second straight three-way playoff in a PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

After Johnson was penalized two strokes for grounding his club on the 72^nd hole in something approximating a bunker on Whistling Straits’ sand-laden layout, the playoff – just the second in the PGA the past decade — consisted of two players instead of three. Johnson fell into a tie for 5^th following his unfortunate brush with a local rule required to make some sense of Pete Dye’s dramatic but somewhat ostentatious design.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer edged out Bubba Watson in a back-and-forth playoff over three holes, capitalizing on an aggressive but questionable decision by Watson on the final playoff hole.

Kaymer’s victory was overshadowed somewhat by Johnson’s abrupt removal from the playoff, although he is not likely to be relegated to the status of Bob Goalby or Paul Lawrie, major champions whose triumphs are considered secondary because of the circumstances surrounding runners-up Roberto de Vicenzo and Jean van de Velde.

History will not treat Kaymer as unkindly, but the exploits of several other contenders who helped make the final day at Whistling Straits a mostly memorable one may not be long remembered.

After the swift and painful departure of 54-hole leader Nick Watney from contention in the final round, a large pack of challengers emerged, with seven players having realistic hopes of victory late into the final round.

Other than Watney’s massive collapse (43 on the front nine, 11-over after 15 holes), the biggest surprise among the early casualties was Jim Furyk, who was one off the lead before going 5-over in a 4-hole stretch midway through the round.

Australian youngster Jason Day and unheralded Auburn grad Jason Dufner were unable to muster back nine surges to threaten Kaymer’s lead, leaving six players of varying backgrounds and ages to vie for the Wanamaker Trophy.

The most unlikely member of that group was veteran Steve Elkington. a former PGA champion who hasn’t been heard from since Phil Mickelson birdied the 72^nd hole of the 2004 PGA at Baltusrol to deny him a shot at a second title. The 47-year-old Elkington played beautifully before a bad break at the 17^th knocked him out of a tie for the lead and left him in a tie for 5^th with Dufner and Johnson.

Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, made a run at a second major title, but did not have quite enough firepower to win on a course that was clearly friendlier to the game’s bombers. After shooting either 69 or 70 in each round, Johnson tied for 3^rd at 10-under 278 with Irish phenom Rory McIlroy, who notched a second straight top-3 finish in a major.

McIlroy may be the most advanced of the game’s growing list of talented 20-somethings, and will be on the short list of favorites in majors next year after his string of strong showings in many of golf’s most prominent events.

Kaymer, part of Europe’s post-Faldo/Montgomerie/Langer/Olazabal wave of standout young players, already has five European Tour wins at the age of 25, and has finished in the top 10 in four of the last five majors. He appeared as unflappable as did British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen at St. Andrews, even without the comfortable lead enjoyed by Oosthuizen.

Over the final 54 holes, Kaymer made just two bogeys, and displayed some true grit with a clutch par on the 72^nd hole and a determined birdie on the second playoff hole after Watson overpowered the first extra hole.

Unlike Watson, who went the Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy route on the 3^rd playoff hole, Kaymer channeled David Toms (circa 2001 Atlanta Athletic Club) and did what he needed to do on the final hole to pull out the victory. Watson gave him a scare when he almost holed out from a bunker on his fifth shot, but the flagstick would not cooperate.

Kaymer and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell will both be PGA Tour members in 2011, and British Open champ Oosthuizen could join them in the U.S., following the path of all the world class South African players who have preceded him.

As for the two long-ball-hitting Americans, both born and raised in states bordering Georgia, they will both get two major championship starts in the Peach State next year, and will be among the most interesting players to watch at Augusta National and Atlanta AC.

Watson, who played his college golf in Athens as a Bulldog, was winless after three years on the Nationwide Tour and 4 ½ on the PGA Tour before breaking through in June with a playoff victory in Hartford. He nearly added a second win at Whistling Straits, but his second shot on the monstrous 18^th in the playoff doomed his chances.

With three birdies on the final six holes at Whistling Straits, Watson battled his way into the playoff from a three-stroke deficit. It was his fourth top-3 finish of 2010, and is further proof that he is emerging as a consistent force on the PGA Tour, as opposed to the talented but erratic player that has been his reputation since his rookie season.

With his second place finish, Watson locked up a Ryder Cup berth, which more than made up for the disappointment of his playoff loss. Johnson also earned a Ryder Cup spot, but he was not nearly as upbeat following a ruling that may have been technically accurate, but was an affront to those who think common sense is too often overlooked when the sport’s rules are formulated.

Johnson rebounded in fine fashion from his final round debacle in the U.S. Open with a pair of solid efforts in the British Open and WGC Bridgestone Invitational, and appeared on his way to a PGA Championship when he authored a spectacular birdie at the 16^th and a merely impressive one at the 17^th to take the lead.

He was in trouble on the final hole of regulation after a pair of wild shots that missed the fairway and green by considerable margins, but a deft pitch put him within range of a par that would seemingly win the tournament.

Fortunately for everyone as it turned out, Johnson missed the putt, resulting in a playoff. Had he holed the putt to apparently win outright, the outrage from both fans and the media would have been far harsher toward the PGA, which would have deprived him of a championship instead of just denying him a spot in the playoff.

Johnson has won a tournament in each of his three seasons on the PGA Tour, including back-to-back victories in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and along with Watson is among the game’s strongest and most talented players. He demonstrated his mental strength with his play after the U.S. Open, but others have experienced that situation before and come back stronger.

With the FedExCup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup on his immediate agenda, Johnson won’t have long to get over what many observers have viewed as a major injustice. But it should enhance his status with the public after his series of brilliant shots late in the final round and stand-up response to his undeserved fate.

Golf fans will likely still be talking about the 2010 PGA when the 2011 Masters comes around next April, and those in the media who provide recaps of the previous year’s majors in advance of those about to happen will have plenty to write about the 2010 PGA Championship.

In professional golf, the difference of just one shot in a round can have a huge impact on the career of a player, even if that shot takes place outside tournament competition.

After finishing second in a recent Nationwide Tour tournament in Wichita, Alpharetta’s Roberto Castro is in position to earn an exempt spot on that tour next year, and will have the chance to play his way onto the 2011 PGA Tour if he excels the rest of this season.

Castro got into the field in Wichita thanks to a tie for 19^th the previous week in Omaha. A birdie on the 71^st hole enabled him to finish among the top 25, the cutoff for gaining entry into the next Nationwide tournament. (First example of the importance of a single shot.)

That was just the second Nationwide start of 2010 for Castro, who began the year with no status on the tour, having to play his way into tournaments in Monday qualifiers. He Monday qualified for four events in 2009, but missed the cut the first three times he made the field.

The fourth time, however, came late in the season in Chattanooga, and he went on to tie for 6^th, just three strokes behind the winner. That got him into the final regular season event in Miami, and he tied for 12^th with another strong effort.

But after failing to get past the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying, Castro was back where he started his professional career in the summer of 2007, splitting his tournament appearances between the eGolf and Hooters Tours and playing as many Monday qualifiers on the Nationwide Tour as possible.

Castro has enjoyed a considerable amount of success in golf’s minor leagues, winning five times in just 30 starts on the eGolf Tour and recording a number of top finishes on the Hooters Tour, including a 2^nd place earlier this year at Gainesville’s Chattahoochee Golf Club after a final round 63.

But Castro’s focus is on moving up golf’s slippery ladder, and to do that he has to fly around the country for Monday qualifiers on the Nationwide Tour, where any score above the mid-60s will result in a quick return to whatever city you flew out of or drove from a day or two before.

Castro had made it into only one Nationwide Tour event previously in 2010, flying all the way to San Francisco in April. A 67 got him into the field, and even though he shot par or better in each of the four rounds, he finished a distant T54, collected a $1,950 check and headed home.

It wasn’t until late July that Castro made it in to another Nationwide Tour field. A 67 in a qualifier in Wichita was good for a tie for 5^th with four other golfers, resulting in a 4-way playoff for the last there of seven qualifying spots.

Castro had to go four holes to get the second of the three spots (second example), and proceeded to shoot four straight rounds in the 60s, with a final round 69 his highest score of the tournament. Thanks to his birdie on the 71^st hole, Castro barely cracked the top 25, which earned him a spot in the field the next week in Omaha.

The former Georgia Tech All-American blistered the par-71 Crestview CC layout with scores of 64 and 63 the first two rounds to take the 36-hole lead by two strokes. He remained one in front after a third round 67, but settled for an en even par 71 the final day, with Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas firing a 64 to overtake Castro and win by one stroke. (Third example.)

Thanks to the runner-up check of $62,100, Castro has earned temporary member status on the Nationwide Tour, but that will not take effect until mid-September. Until then, Castro has to keep finishing in the top 25 to earn the right to play the following week.

The week after his near win in Wichita, Castro turned in another excellent effort in Springfield, Mo., tying for 16^th to earn a spot in the next event in Knoxville, which followed a well-deserved week off.

His three straight finishes of T19, 2^nd and T16 vaulted Castro to 53^rd on the money list with just over $81,000. The top 60 are exempt for the Nationwide Tour in 2011, with the top 25 earning PGA Tour cards for the 2011 season.

A victory in Wichita would have Castro just inside the top 25, but he has no complaints after turning in a very respectable showing the first time he found himself in the lead in the final round of a Nationwide Tour event.

“I feel really good about the way I played,” Castro said the day after his profitable three-week stretch in the Midwest came to an end.

Castro said the front nine was playing a little more difficult than it had earlier in the tournament, and went out with eight pars and a lone bogey. After birdies at 10 and 11, he was still “hanging around the lead,” but got out of position at the par-5 14^th and made bogey.

Needing a birdie on one of the final three holes to force a playoff with Vegas, Castro gave himself three opportunities, and said he hit “good putts on all three. But they didn’t go in.”

Castro admitted to being “a little disappointed” that he was unable to hang on to his lead, but said the near miss would have stung more, “if I had struggled the last round. I never got out of what I was doing. I played my game and I was playing well. A guy shot 64 and beat me by one.

“I took mostly positive things from the week. There’s nothing worse than letting the situation get you out of your game, but that did not ever happen. I feel like I played my game Sunday.”

Castro avoided a letdown, shooting four straight rounds in the 60s in Springfield, finishing with a 5-under 67, his best round of the week. Castro began the round eagle-birdie and was 4-under after five holes before closing with 12 straight pars and a birdie on the 18^th to finish in the top 25 with a shot to spare.

In that final round, Castro hit all 18 greens, continuing a stretch of accurate driving and solid iron play. He did not putt as well as he did the previous two weeks, but his excellent ball striking more than compensated.

Castro credits his two strong showings late last season for his recent success.

“That’s what gave me confidence going to this year. In those last two weeks, I proved to myself what I could do if I played well.”

Castro’s play in all three recent Nationwide events was consistently excellent (11 of 12 rounds in the 60s, no score higher than even par), with the exception of nine holes in Springfield.

“I played awful for most of the second round but I grinded it out for 68,” Castro said. “I didn’t hit a fairway until the 11^th hole, but then I hit three in row and made three straight birdies to make the cut.”

Castro will be able to play just about every Nationwide event the rest of the season, and hopes to become the rare player to finish in the top 25 and make it to the PGA Tour after beginning the year with no status on the Nationwide Tour. Fellow Georgians Jason Bohn and Vaughn Taylor also accomplished that feat, but Castro is currently the only player in the top 60 on the money list who began the season without some status.

“Anything can happen,” says Castro, who believes he “absolutely” has a chance to finish among the top 25.

“Golf is a crazy game. Sometimes it just takes one shot to control your year. I’ve been doing this over three years, and things work out. This happened at the right time.”

Castro began his year with an eGolf Tour win in Savannah by one shot (fourth example), his second straight in the city on that tour. He was scheduled to defend his Georgia Open title in Savannah, but like the subject of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” wound up in Wichita “work(ing) the straw.” Sort of.

Castro’s itinerary for the rest of 2010 will include stops ranging from Utah, Idaho and California to return visits to Chattanooga and Miami, and hopefully a season-ending stop in Charleston, S.C., for the Nationwide Tour Championship if he remains in the top 60 on the money list.

Somewhere along the way, it just might come down to a single shot.

Many of the names near the top of the leader board of the recent Georgia Open were largely unfamiliar to those who follow golf in the state.

One notable exception was Savannah native Tim O’Neal, who was looking to become just the third golfer to win both the Georgia Amateur and Georgia Open, the first in 35 years.

O’Neal wound up finishing second in his hometown, four strokes behind recent Berry College graduate Samuel Del Val. It was a rare strong showing in a Savannah tournament appearance for O’Neal, who nearly won the Georgia Amateur in 1994 at Savannah Golf Club, three years before he claimed the GSGA Championship title at Idle Hour in Macon.

Shortly after his Georgia Amateur victory, O’Neal turned pro and has been pursuing his goal of reaching the PGA Tour ever since. O’Neal’s pro career has had its ups and downs, including four full seasons on the Nationwide Tour and several wins on mini-tours, along with some mostly unproductive years and two excruciatingly close calls in the finals of Q-school.

The last few years have not been the best ones in O’Neal’s pro career, which began in 1997. But a solid recent showing on the eGolf Tour and his runner-up finish at Savannah Harbor have given O’Neal some momentum as he prepares for another shot at PGA Tour qualifying.

“I started going through some swing changes about two years ago, and now I’m hitting the ball a lot better,” O’Neal said after his second place finish in the Georgia Open. “My putting has been killing me, but I’ve started to putt a little better and hopefully my scores will show that.”

O’Neal put together rounds of 68-65-71-68-272, 16-under on the Bob Cupp-designed Savannah Harbor course, which annually hosts the Champions Tour Legends of Golf. He stayed right with Del Val for most of the tournament, but was unable to cash in on a number of birdie opportunities in the third round, enabling Del Val to build a five-stroke margin heading to the final day.

“I hit it good this week,” said O’Neal. “But it comes down to making putts.”

O’Neal’s introduction to the Georgia golf scene came in 1994 when he nearly won the GSGA Championship at Savannah GC, prior to beginning his sophomore season on the Jackson State golf team. Three years later he won at Idle Hour, and shortly after turning pro notched a pair of top 10 finishes in the Georgia Open when it was played at Jekyll Island GC.

The first time a national golf audience was introduced to O’Neal came in the finals of PGA Tour qualifying in 2000. After five solid rounds at PGA West in southern California, O’Neal needed a big final round to move up into the top 35 and earn his PGA Tour card.

But an errant drive on the final hole doomed his hopes of qualifying, although his closing 68 did earn him a spot on the Nationwide Tour in 2001. O’Neal played respectably in his rookie season, notching eight top 25-finishes including a pair of top 10s, but did not play full time on the tour again until 2005, which followed another close call at PGA West in the finals of Q-school.

O’Neal again came down to the last hole with a chance to play his way onto the PGA Tour, but just missed a birdie putt that would have earned him his spot in golf’s major leagues.

Instead, it was back to the Nationwide Tour, where O’Neal put together back-to-back excellent seasons (44 and 36 on the money list) before losing his exempt status after the 2007 season. O’Neal played a limited schedule in ’08 and has not played on the Nationwide Tour since, with most of his tournament starts coming on the eGolf Tour, where he has struggled to regain his form.

O’Neal has made a handful of appearances in PGA Tour events over the years (none since ’07), two of them coming at Hilton Head, one in Atlanta and one in Jackson, Miss., where he starred on the Jackson State golf team. He has played far more on various mini-tours, including one on which he won several tournaments before it failed financially, leaving O’Neal with little to show for his victories.

Despite the setbacks along the way, O’Neal has persevered, and at the age of 37 still holds out hope that he will finally get his shot on the PGA Tour. His immediate goal is “to get ready for Q-school.” and he will fill in his schedule for the rest of 2010 with tournaments on the eGolf and Hooters Tours, along with a few Monday qualifiers on the Nationwide Tour.

Of his two painful near misses in the finals, he says, “That’s over and done with. People talk about it with me sometimes, but I can’t think about what happened in the past.”

O’Neal believes he is a more consistent player than he was earlier in his career, and hopes his play in the Georgia Open is the first step on his most recent journey to reach the destination he’s been chasing after since the late 1990s.

Outside two Georgia college campuses, hardly anyone knew who Samuel Del Val was when he teed off in the recent Ziplocal Georgia Open at Savannah Harbor.

After 72 holes of superb golf by Del Val, everyone involved in the tournament knew something about him.

Del Val, who recently completed his senior season on the golf team at Berry College in Rome, led the tournament from wire to wire, posting scores of 65-66-68-69 for a 20-under 268 total on the standout Bob Cupp design. That gave Del Val a 4-stroke margin over Savannah native Tim O’Neal, a former Nationwide Tour player embarked on a comeback after some quiet years on the course.

It was just the second time in modern tournament history that a relatively unknown player has won the tournament, which was sponsored for the seventh straight year by Ziplocal, formerly Your Community PhoneBook.

Jared Garrity, a struggling mini-tour player from the Columbus area, won at Reynolds Landing in 2006 but soon disappeared from the golf scene. Given the promise Del Val displayed during his college career and his showing in the Georgia Open, he is unlikely to follow the same path as Garrity.

Del Val, who came to Georgia five years ago from Spain, hopes to follow in the footsteps of players like Franklin Langham, Matt Peterson, Justin Bolli and defending champion Roberto Castro, all of whom went on to enjoy success on larger stages after winning the Georgia Open early in their careers.

As a rookie mini-tour pro, Del Val had to qualify for the tournament and shot a 69 to tie for 2^nd at Barnsley Gardens, one stroke behind fellow fledgling pro Brent Witcher, who played with Del Val and O’Neal in the final group of the fourth round and tied for 3^rd at 15-under.

Teeing off in the afternoon of the opening round, Del Val birdied five of his first seven holes and went on to shoot a 65 to lead Roswell’s Danny Nungesser by one stroke. Del Val came back the next morning with a 66 to lead by two over O’Neal, who birdied nine holes – five of them in succession – en route to a second round 65.

“The first two days, the key for me was making no mistakes,” said Del Val, who hit 17 greens in regulation the first day and 16 the next day. He did not make a bogey his first 36 holes and continued that streak for seven more holes in the third round.

Del Val was not quite as sharp on the weekend, but managed to protect his lead with scores of 68 and 69 despite five bogeys over his final 29 holes. A pair of eagles on the par-5 fourth hole helped Del Val preserve his lead, and he finished the week 14-under on the par 5s, even with a bogey on the long seventh hole the final day after a rare errant drive into the hazard lining the right side of the fairway.

The eagle on the fourth hole in the third round was vital for Del Val, whose lead was only one shot at the time. He built his advantage to five later on the front nine and that was his margin over O’Neal and Witcher at the end of the day.

Del Val opened the final round with a birdie on the short par-4 first hole, but despite another eagle at the fourth, his lead was down to two after eight holes following O’Neal’s third birdie on the front nine and back-to-back bogeys by the leader.

But a pair of bogeys by O’Neal boosted Del Val’s lead back to four, and he added two more birdies with a deft pitch and run on the par-5 13^th and a lengthy putt on the par-4 16^th to lock up the victory.

“This is a great feeling,” Del Val said of his victory. “It will make me a little more confident for the future.”

It’s not as if Del Val is unaccustomed to winning. He won amateur events in his native Spain, including a national match play tournament. In his two years at Berry, he won seven times, including back-to-back conference championships, and was twice an NAIA All-American, as well as a national scholar/athlete.

Del Val graduated from Berry in May with degrees in marketing and management, and has settled in Athens, playing out of the UGA course. He has played mainly in tournaments on the Georgia-based Peach State Tour since he turned pro, notching a pair of 4^th place finishes.

Like many European junior golfers with aspirations of playing professionally, Del Val looked to the U.S. to get an education in the classroom and on the golf course, something he said is not possible in Europe.

Del Val went through an agency that places players with U.S, colleges, but because of his limited command of English, had to begin at the junior college level. Del Val wound up in Tifton at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which produced future PGA Tour players Sonny Skinner and Boo Weekley.

“I looked at many places,” Del Val said, eventually choosing ABAC. He hoped to transfer to Georgia Tech, but was a few credit hours short of qualifying. He remained intent on attending a college with solid academic credentials, and “wanted to stay in Georgia,” winding up at Berry.

“Coming to the U.S. is a great opportunity to take whatever sport you play to the next level. I had a great time in both places and decided to stay.”

As part of his academic studies, Del Val designed a business plan regarding his golf career, and is going to give himself at least three years to make it in the U.S.

He has elected to stay in the U.S. and play professionally here, with his goal “to make it at least to the Nationwide Tour.”

If Del Val can put together a few weeks at Q-school comparable to his play at Savannah Harbor, he could move up golf’s ladder at an even faster pace than he anticipated. The $10,000 he received for his victory will more than cover the cost of entry for PGA Tour qualifying.

Del Val displayed a strong all-around game, hitting it long and straight off the tee and making his share putts, in part due to a tip he got from former Berry roommate Jared Trammell just prior to the tournament.

Putting was perhaps the biggest difference between Del Val and O’Neal, who proved to be his most serious challenger for the week. O’Neal carded 21 birdies in the first, second and fourth rounds, but was unable to capitalize on a sizeable number of birdie opportunities the third round and settled for a 71, falling from two shots off the lead after 36 holes to five back after 54.

Still, it was a successful week for the Savannah native, who has not been heard of much in recent years after enjoying some success on the Nationwide Tour. O’Neal, who turned in a strong effort on the eGolf Tour just prior to the Georgia Open, took home $6,000 for his runner-up finish.

Witcher, another promising young mini-tour player from Duluth and a recent member of the golf team at Valdosta State, put together four rounds in the 60s to take 3^rd at 273 and earn $4,000.

Three of the top five finishers were Savannah residents, with pro Mark Silvers and amateur Doug Hanzel tying for 4^th at 276. Silvers, a mini-tour player who competed in the 2010 U.S. Open, shot a final round 68, as did Hanzel, who was 13-under his final 54 holes. It was the second straight strong showing in his hometown for Hanzel, who was a contender in the recent Georgia Amateur, played at The Landings, his home club.

Hanzel was the only amateur to break par for the tournament, finishing 12 strokes ahead of runner-up Michael Raines of Marietta, a member of the golf team at South Carolina. Silvers is a recent Gamecock golfer.

John L. Smith of Statesboro was 6^th at 278, with instructors Jeff Hull of the UGA course and Shawn Koch of Country Club of the South tying for 7^th and sharing low club professional honors at 279. Koch shot 64 in the third round, the low score of the tournament, and closed with a 68 to catch Hull, who settled for a final round 72.

Also tying for 7^th was recent UGA golfer Michael Green of Augusta, whose 66 was the low score the final day.

Seven golfers tied for 10^th at 281, including club professionals Brian Dixon (Griffin CC), Travis Nance (Coosa CC), Michael Parrott (Brookfield CC) and Winston Trively (Crooked Oak). Trively, Parrott and Nance all were involved in a tight battle for low club pro with Hull and Koch, while Dixon birdied three of his last five holes for a final round 67.

Also tying for 10^th were former Georgia Open champion Bryant Odom of Cartersville, young mini-tour player Blake Stark of Canton and veteran mini-tour golfer Don Wright of Douglasville, a consistent top-10 finisher in the tournament. Stark played in the last group in the third round after opening with back-to-back 67s, but struggled to a 77 before closing with a 70 that included his fourth eagle of the tournament. Wright shot 31 on his final nine after going out in 40.

Georgia PGA veterans Craig Stevens and Tim Weinhart tied for 17^th and 19^th respectively. Stevens slipped to a final round 75 for a 283 total, with Weinhart overcoming a back injury that resulted in an opening round 77, shooting 70-69-68 the last three days.

The highlight of the final round was a hole-in-one by former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who matched his jersey number by tying for 29^th at 1-under 287. After narrowly making the cut with scores of 76 and 72, Smoltz shot 69 in the third round despite bogeys on the final two holes. He carded a 70 the final day, adding an eagle on the par-5 13^th to his ace on the 172-yard eighth hole. Smoltz was under par for the tournament despite a triple bogey and double bogey on the 13^th the first two rounds, and three bogeys and a double bogey on the 18^th hole.

Smoltz, O’Neal and Silvers were all given exemptions into the tournament.

For the second time in three years, Sonny Skinner will be in the field for the PGA Championship after a runner-up finish in the PGA Professional National Championship, the top event for the nation’s club professionals.

Skinner was 2^nd in the 2008 PNC at Lake Oconee’s Reynolds Plantation, finishing one stroke behind Scott Hebert, who shot 5-under 31 on the final nine to overtake Skinner, who closed with a final round 69.

In the most recent PNC, Skinner again placed 2^nd, this time behind Mike Small, who birdied three of the last five holes to finish three ahead of Skinner, who again shot under par in the final round.

Skinner will be one of 20 club professionals, and the only one from Georgia, who will compete in this month’s PGA Championship, which will be played Aug. 12-15 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

The PGA will be part of a busy tournament schedule this Spring and Summer for Skinner, who is in a unique position as both a tour player and a teaching professional. Skinner, a Sylvester resident who works as in instructor at River Pointe in Albany when he isn’t on the road playing in tournaments, played full time on either the PGA or Nationwide Tours from 1990 until 2004.

During that stretch, Skinner played four years on the PGA Tour and 11 on the Ben Hogan/Nike/Buy.com/Nationwide Tours, winning a pair events on the Nike Tour in 1993 and ’94 in Louisiana and Virginia.  He played a limited schedule in ’05 before leaving the tour full time.

Skinner began playing in Georgia PGA events on a regular basis in 2006, and worked in a few capacities in the golf industry (merchandise rep, Allen Doyle’s caddy) before becoming a club professional, first at a small nine-hole facility in his hometown of Sylvester and later as an instructor at River Pointe.

Because of his two victories in the 1990s and his years on the Nationwide Tour, Skinner retained limited status on that tour, and made four starts in both 2006 and ’07. He also played in the PGA Tour’s now-defunct event at TPC Sugarloaf, qualifying both times through the Georgia PGA.

Skinner played his way into the 2008 Nationwide Tour event at Jennings Mill in Athens, and thanks to a tie for 18^th, elevated his status and enabled him to play in nine more tournaments. Later that year, Skinner reached the finals of Q-school for the ninth time and played well enough to get him into five events in ’09

Thanks to his victory in last year’s Georgia PGA Section Championship, Skinner earned a spot in the annual Nationwide Tour event in Valdosta, and when he made the cut, again elevated his status sufficiently to play in five more events, getting into a few of them as an alternate at the last minute.

Skinner has made the cut in four of his Nationwide Tour starts this year, and has also played a full Georgia PGA schedule, which included his recent successful trip to French Lick, Ind., for the PNC.

So far this year, Skinner has placed 4^th in the Section’s Match Play Championship, was 3^rd in the Chicopee Woods Players Championship and was a close 2^nd in his most recent start in the inaugural Championship at Berkeley Hills.

Immediately after his runner-up finish at Berkeley Hills, Skinner headed to Cincinnati for what he expected might be his last Nationwide Tour start of the year, but played well enough (a season best tie for 31^st) that he might get a few more chances.

Skinner is appreciative of the opportunities he gets to play in the PGA and Georgia PGA events, and is equally thankful that “because of my past, I have the opportunity to get in some Nationwide tournaments. It’s fun to still compete against the new generation of golfers.”

This year could be the last Skinner has to concern himself with competing against players half his age who hit it a lot longer than he does.

Skinner turns 50 this month, and has already qualified for the 2010 Senior PGA PNC, winning the Section’s qualifier for the event, which will be played in early October in southern California. He will attend Champions Tour qualifying later this year, but has some big events on his schedule before then.

At the top of the list is the PGA Championship. Skinner has some familiarity with the course, having caddied for Doyle there in the 2007 U.S. Senior Open.

“It’s an extremely difficult course,” Skinner said of Whistling Straits. “You’ve got to hit it where you look.”

Whistling Straits has links elements in its design, as well as an abundance of hazards, and like links courses, its exposed nature makes the wind a potentially very significant factor. Skinner, a short hitter by modern professional standards, says you don’t have to hit it ridiculously long there, “but you’ve got to have the experience to manage the up and downs you’re going to face, especially if the wind blows.”

Skinner made his first PGA Championship appearance two years ago at Oakland Hills outside Detroit and played respectably, but failed to make the cut. As he did then, he comes into one of the game’s major championships off an outstanding showing in the national club professional championship.

“I was real steady,” Skinner said of his play at the French Lick Resort, where he posted scores of 68-71-71-71. “I shot four rounds under par and had a chance to win.”

Just as two years ago at Reynolds Plantation, Skinner finished second not because he played poorly down the stretch, but because someone else played exceptional golf near the finish.

“I didn’t do as well as I could have done,” Skinner said of his final round play at French Lick. “But when you look back over four days, you can always find things you could have improved on.

“It’s not a sprint. You plod along for four days and try to make as few mistakes as possible, and at the end, the difference is usually only a shot or two.”

Since be began playing full time in the Section in 2006, Skinner has been a consistently successful but not dominant player in the Georgia PGA. He was the Player of the Year in 2006, and placed 8^th, 2^nd and 3^rd the last three years, with an injury limiting his effectiveness in ’07. He is currently 2^nd in the points standings behind Tim Weinhart, who split his time between the Georgia PGA and Nationwide Tour in 2007.

During his time in the Section, Skinner’s only wins have come in the Match Play Championship in 2006 and last year’s Section Championship. His Player of the Year title in ’06 came on the strength of top-4 finishes in the Atlanta Open, Georgia Open and Section Championship, and he has a string of near misses since.

One of the most difficult situations in tournament golf is holding the lead going to the final round, particularly for players who have never been in that position before.

Chris Nicol, an assistant professional at Towne Lake Hills, found himself in just that position after firing a sizzling 65 in the first round of the inaugural Championship at Berkeley Hills, a recent addition to the Georgia PGA tournament schedule.

Nicol, who has been competing in Georgia PGA Section events for only two years, has contended in both the Griffin Classic and Atlanta Open, and has enjoyed some success in team events, combining with fellow Towne Lake Hills assistant Bill Murchison to win the Pro-Pro Scramble earlier this year.

After a solid final round 71, Nicol held off a determined charge from veteran tour player Sonny Skinner of Sylvester, who pulled even with Nicol midway through the round. Skinner closed with a 67, matching the low round of the day, but it was not quite enough as he finished 2^nd at 7-under 137, one stroke behind Nicol’s winning total of 136. Nicol’s effort earned him the $2,100 winner’s check.

Two weeks prior to the event at Berkeley Hills, Nicol shot a 64 at Jennings Mill, former host of a Nationwide Tour event, to win an Assistants’ Division tournament, so his opening 65 did not come as a big shock to his fellow competitors.

Nicol entered the final round with a 4-stroke lead, as only one other player shot in the 60s the first day. Jimmy Harris, an assistant at Atlanta Athletic Club, shot a 69 highlighted by an ace on the par-3 11^th, but fell back the next day with a 79.

Even with a sizeable lead after his 65, Nicol anticipated a tough day ahead of him.

“I knew somebody was going to make a move, so I needed to get off to a solid start and not give them a chance,” Nicol said after securing his first individual victory in a Georgia PGA points event.

Nicol did just that, playing the first three holes in 1-under while most of his potential challengers were struggling early in the round.

The only two chasers not getting off to slow starts were Skinner and Russ Davis, who were playing in the pairing two groups in front of Nicol. Davis, the Director of Instruction at Cherokee CC and one of the Section’s top senior players, opened with a pair of birdies to get to 3-under for the tournament, but ran into a problem at the short but perilous par-5 third hole at Berkeley Hills, just as several other contenders did.

Davis hit his second shot in the pond guarding the green and wound up with a double bogey, but shot himself back into contention when he closed out the front nine with four consecutive birdies. That got Davis within two strokes of Nicol’s lead, but his birdie run ended at the ninth. He carded eight pars and a lone birdie on the back nine, settling for a 67 to tie Skinner for low round of the day and finish 3^rd at 6-under 138.

Skinner began to make his move when he birdied the third hole with a deft chip, and added three more birdies on the outgoing nine, capped by an excellent tee shot on the tough par-3 eighth. Like Davis, Skinner shot 4-under 32 on the opening nine, and was only one shot off Nicol’s lead as he made the turn.

A birdie from close range at the short, par-3 11^th briefly pulled Skinner even with Nicol, but Nicol moved back in front when he chipped it close at the par-5 10^th and nearly jarred his tee shot on the 11^th for a second straight birdie.

Skinner again pulled into a tie for the lead when he pitched it close at the par-5 15^th for birdie while Nicol three-putted the 13^th for his second bogey of the day. But Skinner got himself “out of position” on the slick 16^th green and three-putted for the second time on the back nine, taking his only bogey of the round. He also three-putted the 10^th for par after hitting the green in two.

Following an errant tee shot on the 18^th, Skinner had to scramble for a par to remain one shot off the lead, but Nicol parred in after the bogey at 13 to preserve his slim advantage.

“I feel good about the way I played,” Skinner said. “I just didn’t make all my putts, but I played good enough to shoot five-under. I hit the ball really good except for two holes, and I got through them with pars by getting up and down.”

Skinner, who was in the midst of a heavy tournament schedule consisting mainly of Nationwide Tour events, particularly regretted the second of his two three-putts on the back nine.

“That might have been the fastest putt on the course,” he said of the one at 16. “I didn’t handle it good.”

Just as damaging was the miss at 10, which took a hard turn after crossing the lip of the cup.

Nicol also suffered a pair of three-putts, but made no other mistakes despite the heat he felt from Skinner’s challenge. He admitted playing more conservatively with the lead, but said that wasn’t the main reason he shot 71 after the opening 65.

“I was on the wrong side of the hole today,” he said, referring to Berkeley Hills’ fast, sloping greens that provide the major defense for a course that measures under 6,700 yards from the back tees.

The key to Nicol’s 65 was his dominance of Berkeley Hills’ par 5s. He played them in 5-under in the opening round, highlighted by an eagle on the downhill third hole that propelled him to a 3-under start after three holes. He closed out the round with birdies on the three of the last four holes, beginning with one at the par-5 15^th.

Nicol was a modest 2-under on the par 5s in the second round, carding his birdies on 3 and 10, both of which he played cautiously, hitting irons off the tee. He almost flew his 4-iron approach on the third into trouble, catching the back lip of the back bunker to keep from possibly rolling into the hazard over the green. A nice bunker shot produced a birdie, and he added a second at the 10^th after again hitting 3-iron to keep his tee shot in the narrow fairway.

Playing as well as he did in the final round to preserve his will provide “a big confidence boost,” Nicol said. “Sleeping on that big a lead is nerve-wracking. I proved I was able to keep it going and not lose my focus.”

Nicol’s first start in a Section points event came in the 2008 Griffin Classic, where he tied for 8^th. He was 12^th in that tournament last year, and also had strong showings in the Atlanta Open (T3), Georgia Open (T11) and the Assistants’ Championship (2^nd). He played well in the Atlanta Open again this year, tying for 7^th, and is among a group of young assistants who have begun to make an impact in section events in the past year or two, joining Seth McCain, David Potts and Michael Parrott, as players who have either won Section events or made strong runs at victory.

Tim Weinhart remained first in the points standings, finishing 4^th at 141 with scores of 70-71. Mel Mendenhall of Columbus took low amateur honors and tied for 5^th at 143, closing with a 69 that included six birdies. Also tying for fifth were Atlanta instructors Craig Stevens and Jason Bruce.

Parrott also shot 69 in the final round and was among a group tied for 8^th at 144. Also shooting even par for the tournament were Gary Cressend, Brian Corn, Stephen Keppler, Michael Pavao and Berkeley Hills assistant Jason Smith, who shot 70 after being 4-under in the final round with four holes to play. Cressend, an assistant at Augusta CC, was also 4-under on his round after four straight birdies from holes 8 to 11.

The first-year tournament was well received by the participants, with the field including almost every top player in the Section, as well as a healthy group of amateur entrants. The condition of the course was outstanding, with the greens drawing much of the praise despite the damage they inflicted to the scorecards of some of the Georgia PGA’s better players.

Augustan paired with father in final round

Augusta’s Lee Knox captured the recent GSGA Championship, edging out fellow Augustan and SEC golfer Chase Parker by one stroke at The Landings in Savannah.

Knox, who plays on the golf team at Alabama, finished the tournament with a 5-under 283 total, one stroke ahead of Parker, who was an all-SEC freshman selection after his first season at Kentucky. Knox shot a final round 69, while Parker closed with a tournament-best 65, as both players made big Sunday moves to overtake third round leader Doug Hanzel, a member at The Landings.

Hanzel, a former GSGA Mid-Amateur champion, led by two strokes after 54 holes, and finished third at 285 after a final round 73.

It was an emotional win for Knox, who was paired the final day with his father, Jeff Knox, a two-time GSGA Mid-Amateur and a frequent contender in the state amateur.  Jeff Knox, a runner-up in the event three times, shot a final round 77 and tied for 11^th at 293.

Knox’s victory ended the recent dominance in the championship by members of the UGA golf team. Current Bulldog golfers Russell Henley and Harris English won the last three years, with former Georgia golfer Bill Brown the 2006 winner. Incoming Georgia freshman Brian Harman was the 2005 champion, winning in his hometown of Savannah at Savannah GC, with David Denham winning at Athens CC in ’04, shortly after completing his college career with the Bulldogs.

College golfers have won the championship six of the last seven years, continuing that trend despite the absence of Henley and English, as well as the three Georgians who are among the top five players on Augusta State’s NCAA championship team.

The first three rounds belonged to a trio of veteran amateurs before the two young Augustans took over the final day.

Savannah’s Jack Hall, member of the Georgia golf team in the 1970s, shot 69 to take the first round lead, but fell back with an 80 the next day. He rebounded with scores of 71-73 to tie Jeff Knox for 11^th at 283.

Dalton’s David Noll, the 2003 Georgia Amateur champion and an annual contender in the GSGA’s championship event, shot a 66 in the second round to lead by five stokes at the midway point over seven players, Hanzel and the father-son Knox duo among them.

But just like Hall, Noll did not play well as the tournament leader, following up his 66 with a birdie-less 77. Noll was still just two off the lead going to the final round, but could do no better than a closing 75 to finish 6^th at 289. Noll did not make a birdie over the final 36 holes, but did manage an eagle on the front nine in the final round that kept him close to the lead at the time.

Hanzel lost the lead with a double-bogey 7 at the 7^th hole, with Lee Knox surging to the front after three birdies on his first six holes. Back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 moved Knox clear of Hanzel, with Parker making a furious rush with birdies on seven of his last 13 holes.

Knox was playing the 18^th when play was delayed by lightning in the area, and parred the hole after play resumed about 80 minutes later. Knox shot 72-70-72 prior to his closing 69.

Parker put himself in a hole with a wildly uneven opening round of 77 that included five birdies, eight bogeys and a double bogey. He came back with a 71 in the second round, offsetting a pair of double bogeys with four birdies and an eagle on the short par-4 fifth hole on the Deer Creek course. Parker, the 2008 GSGA Junior champion, shot another 71 in the third round to begin the final day seven strokes off Hanzel’s lead.

Mid-amateurs Mark Strickland of Woodstock and Dave Womack of McDonough, who recently won the Georgia PGA’s Atlanta Open, tied for 4^th at 288, followed by Noll at 289 and Chesley Gunn of Chula at 290. .

Tying for 8^th at 292 were soon-to-be Vanderbilt freshman Jordan Janico of Duluth; Georgia State golfer Brent Paul of Midland; and Carter Collins of Statesboro.

Woodstock teen edged out on final hole

Woodstock teen-ager Anders Albertson came to the final hole of the recent Dogwood Invitational tied for the lead, but had to settle for second place in the tournament when Stanford’s Andrew Yun birdied the 72^nd hole.

Albertson, a rising senior at Etowah High School who will attend Georgia Tech on a golf scholarship, battled Yun the entire tournament, beginning with a 63 to take the lead after the opening round.

Yun matched the course record with a 62 the next day to take a one-stroke lead over Albertson, who dropped into second place despite a 66. Both players shot 71-69 over the final two rounds. Yun finished at 20-under 268 at Druid Hills Golf Club, with Albertson second at 269.

UGA golfer Bryden Macpherson made up eight strokes on the two primary contenders over the final 36 holes with scores of 64-68, and tied for third at 273, with Georgia Tech’s J.T. Griffin shooting a final round 64 to tie for fifth at 274.

Albertson got off to a shaky start early in the final round, but ran off a string of birdies to take a 2-stroke lead after 12 holes. Yun chipped in for eagle on the par-5 14^th to pull into a tie, but Albertson nearly holed his approach shot at the 15^th for a birdie to reclaim the lead.

A bogey by Albertson at the long par-3 17^th dropped him back into a tie, with Yun winning when he wedged it close with his third shot on the par-5 18^th.

Also finishing in the top 10 was Acworth’s Cameron Simmons, who played his way into the field in a qualifier. Simmons tied for eighth at 275. Powder Springs’ Ollie Schniederjans, who will join Albertson on the Georgia Tech golf team, tied for 10^th at 277.

UGA golfer Russell Henley of Macon, the pre-tournament favorite, was among the leaders after an opening 66, but his hectic June schedule eventually caught up with him. Henley followed his 66 with scores of 68-70-74 for a 10-under 278 total and a 12^th place finish.

Henley’s June itinerary began with a top 20 finish in the NCAA Championship, which he followed a few days later with a final round 64 at Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek in Roswell to earn medalist honors in a 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier.

The rising UGA junior tied for 16^th at Pebble Beach to share low amateur honors, then immediately headed to Ireland where he helped lead the U.S. to a 3-1 victory over Europe in the annual Palmer Cup, an event matching top college players from the U.S. and Europe.

Henley then flew home for the Dogwood, and was among the leaders before falling back in the final round.

Harris English, Henley’s teammate in Athens, tied for 29^th at 285 along with Georgia Tech’s James White. English, a Thomasville resident, will compete in the U.S. Public Links Championship this month, with White, an Acworth resident, coming off an appearance in the British Amateur, where he made it to match play.