Mabry Leads Tennessee Senior Amateur Championship with 1-under 141

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—Nasty weather once again plagued the Tennessee Senior Amateur at Chattanooga Golf and Country Club on Wednesday, but Coy Mabry was one of the lucky ones.

With a morning tee time, Mabry was able to slip in a tidy 1-under-par 70 and get off the course well before the second extended rain delay in as many days halted play. Coupled with his opening 71, that 70 was enough to give him the lead heading into Thursday’s final round. At 141, he’s three strokes ahead of Chattanooga’s Mike Jenkins, who also shot 70, and Stephen Lightman of Memphis and Jack Ramsey of Germantown, both of whom shot 72 for the second straight day.

On Tuesday, the delay, caused by a lightning-laced downpour and high winds, was nearly three hours. Wednesday, conditions didn’t look as bad, but with lightning circling around the area, Tennessee Golf Association officials didn’t take any chances. Play was stopped at 3:20 p.m. and didn’t resume until about 6:15. That left several players unable to finish their second rounds, including first-round leader Wesley Hays, who opened with a 70.

After two days, it would be reasonable to suggest that this could be Mabry’s week. On Tuesday, Mabry decided on the tee of the par-3 5^th hole that he wasn’t going to aim at the flag. So he pulled a 6-iron on the 172-yard hole and aimed slightly right.

“But I carried it just a little bit farther than I intended,” Mabry said.

Mabry’s ball hit the bank in back of the green, bounced left and rolled into the cup. It was his first ace since 1971. The last one came in the NCAA Tournament, when Mabry was playing for the University of Tennessee.

“I’ll never forget it,” Mabry said. “I was playing behind Ben Crenshaw. After I hit my tee shot, he started waving and yelling that my ball had gone in the hole.”

Mabry made four aces before he turned 20. It took him 36 years to get his fifth, but it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. He shot a first-round even-par 71 that left him a stroke behind Hays.

Mabry came out Wednesday morning and, starting his round at the par-four 10^th hole, promptly three-putted. He gained the stroke back with a birdie at No. 11, went under par for the day with a deuce at the par-3 13^th, then bogeyed 15. He headed to the front nine still even for the day and the tournament.

Things weren’t looking all that great for Mabry after he bogeyed No. 6 to fall to 1 over, but he saved his round with an eagle at the par-5 7^th. He hit a driver and 3-wood to the green, leaving him a 12-footer for eagle, which he drained.

Mabry parred out to finish with his 70, one of three shot in the morning round.

The weather took over at that point. Any player in the afternoon round who had a chance to catch Mabry were stuck in limbo after just a few holes. Eighteen players withdrew during the almost three-hour delay, and several of the players who stuck it out were unable to finish their rounds. They’ll come back at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. TGA officials were hoping to make the 36-hole cut and get the final field of 30 back onto the course by 9:30. But the weather reports called for more of the same kind of conditions. Another lengthy delay could force the TGA to call the tournament after 36 holes.

That would be good for Mabry, who only recently turned 55 and thus became eligible for senior amateur tournaments. That age milestone wasn’t necessarily the reason he returned to competition after a long layoff. He actually quit golf for about eight years back in the ’80s before deciding he wanted to give the game another shot.

“I had to relearn it,” he said. “It took me a couple of years to get my act together. There was so much you can forget, little things that help you score.”

The long layoff renewed Mabry’s passion for the game. He enjoys it now more than ever, even more than the days when he was good enough to finish third in the SEC Tournament—behind brother Mickey—in 1971.

“The older I get, the more I enjoy golf,” Mabry said. “I don’t pick on myself anymore. If I miss a shot, I forget about it and go on to the next shot. You can’t call it back.”

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