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 11th 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 11th 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 6th 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 7th 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 18th 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 4th at 288, followed by Noll at 289 and Chesley Gunn of Chula at 290. .
Tying for 8th at 292 were soon-to-be Vanderbilt freshman Jordan Janico of Duluth; Georgia State golfer Brent Paul of Midland; and Carter Collins of Statesboro.
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