"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Stan Crawley

August 24, 2004

What a difference four years has made in the CDGA Four-Ball Match Play Championship.

An event that was dominated by veterans like John Lambert, Don Gregory, Richard Keene and Jimmy Watkins was taken over this summer by the young guns of local golf.

In Sunday's final, collegians Chris Gilliland, Tyson Elliott, Bruce Ledford and Thomas Smith showed off their power and finesse games at The Honors Course. With Elliott carrying the team early and Gilliland taking over late, the Council Fire kids teamed perfectly for the championship.

The emergence of the young guns was surprising to some of the veterans, such as last year's local player-of-the-year—Tom Schreiner.

Before the tournament, Schreiner had this to say about winners Gilliland and Elliott, "Maybe the most talent, but talent doesn't win golf tournaments; patience and key putts do! I doubt they will not get past (Tom) Baird and (Mike) Jenkins, but definitely won't get past Philip (Guess) and Mike (Craig).''

On Ledford and Smith, Schreiner said, "Youth will not prevail in this format. Experience and patience will yield this year's champion.''

Schreiner was wrong, but he was close to being right as it took 19 holes for Ledford and Smith to slip past Schreiner and Greg Privette in a semifinal, 1 up.

Because the youngsters (all members at Council Fire) dominated the veteran field, the Michael C. Jenkins Trophy will reside for the next year at Council Fire, the site for next season's semifinals and final. And Jenkins, who came up with the idea for the Four-Ball Match Play Championship, says the event will be even better next year.

"The success of the tournament has been great,'' Jenkins said. "The entries were up from 14 to 22 teams this year, and the response was great. There was a lot of enthusiasm from the participants, and a lot of others have expressed they will definitely want to play next year. I'm sure we'll have a full 32-team bracket next year.''

Jenkins said there will be a few changes next year, including:

1. The event will start earlier, giving teams more than two weeks to complete the first two rounds.

2. All CDGA member courses will have the opportunity to play host to first- or second-round matches. The quarterfinals will be played at Chattanooga Golf and Country Club with the semis and final at Council Fire.

The Honors Course and Black Creek will not participate because they will be hosting the U.S. Mid-Amateur next summer.

"This was our most successful tournament,'' Jenkins said. "We're really looking forward to the future.''

FOUR RECEIVE AT-LARGE INVITATIONS TO CHATTANOOGA TPC: The Chattanooga TPC will be held at Council Fire Golf Club on Sept. 30-Oct. 3.

This year’s event is scheduled to be the largest in history, as 37 players have earned four stars or more. As a result, only four at-large invitations are being extended.

An at-large invitation is being extended to Dr. Neil Spitalny, who ended the year with three stars and won two senior events during the season, the Chattanooga Open Senior Division, and the Don Malarkey Open Senior Division.

Another at-large invitation is being extended to Aon Miller, who ended the season with only two stars, but was runner-up in the 2003 Chattanooga TPC.

The third at-large invitation is being extended to Pat Corey in honor if his being a three-time Chattanooga TPC winner.

The final at-large invitation is being extended to Luke List in honor of his recent runner-up finish in the U S Amateur. List may not be able to compete due to his schedule at Vanderbilt University, but tournament officials are hopeful he will participate.

TPC WILL DETERMINE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Once again, the year-ending Chattanooga TPC will determine player-of-the-year honors.

Ledford increased his lead over Ricky Honeycutt with his runner-up finish in the CDGA Four-Ball Match Play.

However, should Honeycutt win the TPC, and Ledford not reach the finals, then Ricky would still win player-of-the-year honors.

"Still, it will be tough to beat Bryce on his home course,'' said Honeycutt, who is in Knoxville preparing for the Tennessee golf season. "I'm planning to make it down there for the tournament this year.''

Honeycutt said he has been getting a lot of good tips from one of his Tennessee teammates, and that he has been three times to see sports psychologist Charles Plott.

"Gibby (Gilbert), Jr. told me that physically I'm about 90 percent there,'' Honeycutt said. "But it's the other 10 percent that separates the men from the boys.''

Other players will still be jockeying to finish high enough to earn a spot in this year’s Amateur Cup Team, which will compete again this year against the Chattanooga Area PGA pros at Council Fire on Sunday, Oct. 17, and Monday, Oct. 18.

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)

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