Council Fire is never an easy venue for stroke play qualifying in the Chattanooga TPC, but Thursday, it was brutal.

Torrential rain, plus heavy winds, combined to make the going tough for the field of 29 of the area’s best amateur players hoping to make it into match play. How rough? Matt Robertson, who won the qualifying medal with a 2-under-par 70, had never seen anything like it.

“The wind was as strong as I’d ever played in,” Robertson said. “It had to be 35 or 40 miles an hour. It was blowing so hard I could hardly stand over the ball.”

That kind of wind made club selection interesting. Case in point, the 535-yard par-5 11^th hole. It was playing down wind. Robertson hit a 6-iron second shot and two-putted for birdie. Then there was No. 15, a 453-yard par -4.

“I hit driver and 4 wood and was still 20 yards short,” Robertson said.

Robertson made bogey there, but by the end of the day he had gotten the better of the conditions, and the field. He played the back-nine par-5s, in 4-under, adding an eagle at No. 13 after hitting a 3-iron to 20 feet and getting up and down for a birdie at the 18^th.

“I was just trying to get it to the house,” Robertson said. “You can’t really block it out [the bad weather]. You just hope you’ve got your short game working. On a day like today, everybody’s going to miss greens. You’ve got to be able to save par.”

Robertson did that most of the day, with only a couple of holes getting the better of him. He started out fast, with birdies at No. 1 and 2, but quick surrendered those shots with a bogey at the par-4 third and a double-bogey at the par-3 fourth hole.

Robertson regrouped with birdies at No. 6 and 7 before the rain came and delayed play for 90 minutes. He had to leave with his ball in play at No. 8, and after the delay bogeyed that hole. But his mastery of the back-nine par-5s allowed him to edge out Josh Nelms (71) for medalist honors.

Nelms, who won the Tennessee Match Play Championship at the Honors in July, gets another chance to show his expertise at match play. But he and Robertson will have to wait until Friday afternoon to find out who they’ll play in the first round.

Three players, John Lambert, Matt Mathis and Pete Webster, shot 78 and will play off for the final two qualifying spots just before match play begins on Friday. It was too dark for the playoff after the last group finished on Thursday.

As usual, Chattanooga amateur player-of-the year honors will be determined this week.  UTC senior Bryce Ledford, the two-time defending champion and 2006 points leader, couldn’t play because the Mocs are competing in the Memphis Intercollegiate, which starts on Monday. Thus, he was passed on Thursday by Josh Coley, second with 201 points, because he earned 15 points for advancing to match play.

That sets up a duel between Coley and Ledford’s UTC teammate, Tripp Harris. With 167 points, Harris could win the tournament (earning 75 points) and win player-of-the-year honors. Harris can make sure Coley is out of the picture. After shooting 72 and earning the No. 3 seed in match play, he’ll play Coley, the 14^th seed, today.

Chattanooga TPC

Thursday’s Qualifying Scores

At Council Fire GC

Par 72

70—Matt Robertson.

71—Josh Nelms.

72—Tripp Harris.

73—David Burris, Jay Potter, Derek Rende.

74—David McKenna

75—Larry McGill.

76—Tom Baird, Pat Corey, Richard Keene, Chris Schmidt, Thomas Smith.

77—Josh Coley.

78—John Lambert, Matt Mathis, Pete Webster.

79—Darrell Atchley, Neil Spitalny.

80—Brian Kopet, Aon Miller, Greg Privette.

81—Mike Craig.

83—Greg Ehmig, Jay Walston, Randy Yoder.

84—Mike Jenkins.

85—Joe Brown, Jr.

DQ—Jerold Baldwin.

DNS—Philip McCutchan.

Friday’s Match Play Pairings

1:30 p.m.

No. 1 Robertson vs. No. 16 TBA

No. 8 McGill vs. No. 9 Baird

1:40

No. 4 Rende vs. No. 13 Corey

No. 5 Burris vs. No. 12 Keene

1:50

No. 2 Nelms vs. No. 15 TBA

No. 7 McKenna vs. No. 10 Smith

2:00

No. 3 Harris vs. No. 14 Coley

No. 6 Potter vs. No. 11 Schmidt