By Mike Blum
The GSGA made it four straight wins in the biennial Peters Cup, defeating the Georgia PGA 13 ½ – 10 ½ at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course.
The Georgia PGA had won the event, formerly known as the Challenge Cup, three of the previous four times the matches were held from 1995-2001, but the GSGA has taken control of the matches in recent years.
The most recent competition was all but decided in the team matches the first day, with the GSGA going 6-1-1 in the best ball format to build a commanding lead. The Georgia PGA came back the next day to go 8-6-2 in singles, but the deficit the club professionals had to make up was too great.
Four matches in the four-ball competition went down to the final hole, and the GSGA won all four of them. Greg Kennedy and Dave Womack won the opening match 1-up over Jeff Hull and Matt Peterson, with recently reinstated amateurs Adam Cooper and Kris Mikkelsen taking the second match 2-up against Tim Weinhart and Brian Dixon.
Trailing 4 ½ – 1 ½ late in the day with two tight matches still on the course, the Georgia PGA had a chance to keep it close going to singles, but the amateurs eked out a pair of wins to take a commanding lead.
Former PGA member Chris Dietzel teamed with John Walker to win 1-up over Stephen Keppler and Winston Trively, and David Noll and Josh Gregory closed out the big day for the GSGA with a 1-up victory over Clark Spratlin and Greg Lee.
The most impressive effort was turned in by the GSGA’s Jeff Belk and Mark Strickland, who won 7&6 against Sonny Skinner and Craig Stevens.
The Georgia PGA needed a fast start in singles to have any chance, but Cooper hit Spratlin, a three-time Georgia PGA Match Play champion, with a barrage of birdies and an eagle, and won the opening match 4&3.
On a day when close matches were the exception, the Georgia PGA scored four straight decisive victories, as Shawn Koch, Skinner, Peterson and Hull all closed out their opponents at either the 15th or 16th hole.
As has frequently been the case in recent years, the matches turned on large part on the play of the GSGA’s senior participants. The teams split the two senior four-ball matches, but the GSGA went 3-1 in senior singles, with none of the four going past the 16th hole.
Chris Hall and Doug Hanzel, who teamed up for a 5&4 victory in best ball, won by scores of 4&3 and 4&2 in singles, with Spencer Sappington defeating former Champions Tour player DeWitt Weaver 5&3.
Mike Schlueter, who teamed with Weaver for a 4&3 win in four-ball, won his singles match 5&4, and was the only member of the Georgia PGA squad to post a 2-0 record.
After the senior matches, the GSGA needed only one more point to secure a tie and retain the cup. With Walker holding a commanding lead at the turn in his match (he went on to win 7&5 over David Potts), the best the Georgia PGA team could do was a tie.
For a short while, that appeared to be within reach, as the club professionals led in the remainder of the matches still on the course. But Womack, a former USGA Mid-Amateur champion, finished strong to defeat Trively 3&2, and Bob Royak rallied from 4-down after 13 holes to earn a half against Keppler.
Only three of the singles matches made it to the 18th hole. Mikkelsen birdied the 16th to pull even in his match with Lee, with Lee holing a pair of clutch par putts on 17 and 18 to earn a half point. In perhaps the best match of the day, Weinhart dug his way out of an early 4-down hole against a fast starting Strickland, and held on to win 1-up with a gritty par at the final hole.
The GSGA had five players go 2-0 in the matches – Cooper, Walker, Womack, Hall and Hanzel. Mikkelsen was 1-0-1 and Royak halved both his matches. Koch was the only other Georgia PGA competitor to go undefeated, posting a 1-0-1 mark.
The Georgia PGA’s other two points in singles came from Dixon and Stevens, with Stevens earning a little satisfaction with a 6&5 win over Belk.
Four-Ball results:
Kennedy-Womack def. Hull-Peterson 1-up
Cooper-Mikkelsen def. Weinhart-Dixon 2-up
Royak-Billy Mitchell halved with Koch-Potts
Hanzel-Hall def. Wyatt Detmer-Steve Ridge 5&4
Schlueter-Weaver def. Sappington-Jimmy Thomas 4&3
Bell-Strickland def. Skinner-Stevens 7&6
Dietzel-Walker def. Keppler-Trively 1-up
Noll-Gregory def. Spratlin-Lee 1-up
(GSGA wins team matches, 6 ½ – 1 ½)
Singles results
Cooper def. Spratlin 4&3
Koch def. Dietzel 4&3
Skinner def. Noll 4&2
Peterson def. Gregory 4&3
Hull def. Mitchell 5&3
Mikkelsen and Lee halved
Hall def, Ridge 4&3
Hanzel def. Detmer 4&2
Sappington def. Weaver 5&3
Schlueter def. Thomas 5&4
Weinhart def. Strickland 1-up
Royak and Keppler halved
Walker def. Potts 7&5
Womack def. Trively 3&2
Dixon def. Kennedy 2&1
Stevens def. Belk 6&5
(GPGA wins singles 9-7; GSGA wins match 13 ½ – 10 ½)
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