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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
October 28, 2003
With only the Chattanooga PGA’s chapter championship remaining,
the local golf season is rapidly drawing to a close. Thus, it’s an
appropriate time to single out the season’s top performances.
Without further adieu:
• Chattanooga Amateur of the Year—Tom Schriener, who elevated
his game to another level this season after winning his first
tournament on the local circuit, the Bear Trace Invitational, in
2002.
This season, Schriener proved that victory was no fluke as he
won the Men’s Metro and Brainerd Invitational back to back, then
for good measure added the Chattanooga TPC. He proved he could win
under pressure, and he proved he could win in stroke play as well
as match play.
Schriener changed jobs over the last year and didn’t have time
to play as much. But the new job didn’t affect his practice time.
"I might not have been able to play as much," Schreiner said.
"But I always had 45 minutes during lunch to chip and putt."
That improved emphasis on the short game, Schreiner said, was
the key to his stellar play.
• Chattanooga Professional of the Year—Like Schreiner, Mike
Bennett of The Golf Center owes a great year to some intense work
on his short game. He put in some time on wedge play, and it paid
dividends.
Bennett finished third in the Tennessee PGA’s Player of the
Year Standings with 937 points, just behind Bob Wolcott (1008) and
Loren Personnett (1040). Bennett also finished tied for second in
the Zero Restriction Player of the Year standings. That award goes
to the Tennessee pro who compiles the lowest stroke average on the
statewide circuit.
Personnett finished with a 70.5 stroke average, and Bennett and
Wolcott were tied for second at 71.125.
Among Bennett’s better finishes were ties for sixth at the
Tennessee Open and True Temper. He finished as third low pro at
the Open and was fourth among pros at True Temper.
• Shot of the Year. Not having seen every shot struck,
obviously, this one is a little tougher to hand out. But among the
shots I did see, I’d rate Schreiner’s wedge on the 18th
hole at Moccasin Bend in the Men’s Metro as the best.
It was the final hole in the tournament, and Schreiner’s second
shot on the converted par-4 ended up on a mound short of the
green. His ball had settled in some fairly thick rough. Schreiner
chose a sand wedge and got the ball out and running toward the
hole. It stopped about four feet short and Schreiner calmly
drained the putt for a victory that etched his name among the
great golfers in Chattanooga history.
• Most amazing accomplishment. This is a tie between the boys
and girls golf teams at Baylor. King Oehmig’s girls won their
ninth consecutive state championship, a state record for any
sport, and his boys set a state scoring record in winning their 10th
title in their long and successful history.
Beth Felts shot a 141 (68-73) at the Bear Trace at Tims Ford
State Park to win her second state championship in three years.
Her 68 tied for the second best score in state tournament history
and her two-day total of 141 tied for fourth lowest.
Felts teamed with Catherine Hicks, who finished with a two-day
total of 154 (74-80) and tied for fourth. Baylor's team score was
the third lowest 36-hole score in state tournament history.
Baylor's Seth Brandon shot a 63 (30-33) to tie the state
tournament record in the first round, then returned a 67 on the
second day for a tournament record 36-hole score of 130. Brandon
combined with teammates Harris English, John Barnett, Matt
Cunningham, and Chris Farnsworth to give Baylor a team score of
565, which smashed the old record of 573 set by Baylor in 1995.
The dual victories marked the sixth time the Baylor boys and
girls won state titles in the same year.
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