The first round of the Chattanooga TPC at Council Fire on Friday was a study in contrast.

There were matches with plenty of action—Lee University coach John Maupin made nine birdies in 20 holes and lost to one of his players, Caleb Roberson, who made six birdies and an eagle—and then there were matches like the one qualifying medalist Neil Spitalny waged against No. 16 seed Coy Mabry.

Spitalny won 1-up, but the crafty veteran Mabry wasn’t his only opponent. Spitalny might have also been battling fatigue after playing in the TGA Championship Series at Bear Trace earlier in the day.

Actually, Spitalny did more than just play in that tournament—he could have won it. Trouble was, Spitalny couldn’t hang around long enough. After making birdies on his final two holes of regulation—including a 35-foot bomb at No. 18—to shoot 3-under-69, Spitalny found himself in a playoff with Doug Harris and his 2:30 p.m. tee time at Council Fire looming large.

“I told the [TGA officials] I couldn’t stay past 2 p.m. This [the TPC] was my priority.”

True to his word, after he and Harris both parred the first playoff hole, Spitalny picked up his ball, conceded the victory to Harris and hopped in his car for a mad dash from Harrison to East Brainerd.

Mabry and the two other players in his foursome, Pat Corey and Winston Brown, were on the first tee waiting for Spitalny, who would have made his tee time with a minute to spare had he not been caught behind a funeral procession on East Brainerd Road. Arriving just before he would have forfeited the first hole, Spitalny stopped his car near the first tee, struck a perfect tee shot down the middle, parked his car in the lot and settle in for his second down-to-the-wire match of the day.

The hot putter that allowed Spitalny to get into a playoff at Bear Trace followed him to Council Fire—for a while. Birdies at No. 5 and 7, coupled with a Mabry bogey at No. 4, gave Spitalny a 3-up lead, but then he began to run out of steam and his putter let him down.

A bogey at No. 8 was followed by another at No. 9 when he missed a three-footer for par.

“After I missed that putt, I said to Pat Corey, ‘There’s no way I can win this match.’ ” Spitalny said. “As soft as this course is, it’s playing too long for me. And Coy hits it as long as the young kids. With three par 5s and two long par 4s on the back nine, I thought I was in trouble.”

Spitalny lost his lead at No. 10 with his third straight bogey, then fell one down after Mabry’s birdie at 11. They both parred No. 12, setting the stage for what Spitalny called the “turning point” of the match at the par-5 13^th. Mabry hit a solid drive and could possibly have reached the green in two, but he opted for the safe play and laid up with an iron. But his second shot found the water that runs down the left side of the fairway and he wound up with a 7. The match was all square.

Spitalny fell behind again with yet another bogey at No. 15, then three-putted No. 16 for a bogey after Mabry had already bogeyed the hole.

Though he was struggling on the greens, Spitalny still had a couple of decent strokes left in his putter. He birdied the par-3 17^th from 15 feet to square the match, then two-putted from 30 feet below the hole at the par-5 18^th to win after Mabry missed a 10-foot par putt.

Friday’s Results

No. 1 Neil Spitalny def. No. 16 Coy Mabry, 1-up.

No. 2 Brandon Cissom def. No. 15 Walt Moffit, 3 and 2.

No. 14 Randy Yoder def. No. 3 Tom Schreiner, 20 holes.

No. 4 Adam Stephens def. No. 13 Gary Baker, 2 and 1.

No. 12 Caleb Roberson def. No. 5 John Maupin, 20 holes.

No. 6 Mitch Hufstetler def. No. 11 Tom Baird, 2 and 1.

No. 7 Sam Bedwell def. No. 10 Bob Rice, 3 and 2.

No. 8 Pat Corey def. No. 9 Winston Brown, 2 and 1.

Saturday’s Matches

1:30 p.m.—Hufstetler vs. Yoder.

1:40 p.m.—Bedwell vs. Cissom.

1:50 p.m.—Roberson vs. Stephens.

2:00 p.m.—Spitalny vs. Corey.