Hays Wins Tennessee Senior Amateur Championship with even 213

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—After his marathon, rain-delayed second round of the Tennessee Senior Amateur on Wednesday, Wesley Hays got back to his hotel room so late he just decided to order a pizza and stay in for the night.

That’s when it hit him.

“I’d been leaving so many shots out there, not making putts,” said Hays, who uses a Bobby Grace belly putter. “So I started tinkering around with the putter, rolling it in the hotel room cross-handed. The ball was going where I was looking, so I thought I’d try it.”

Hays, who plays out of Chickasaw Country Club in Memphis, had never putted cross-handed in a tournament before Thursday’s final round at Chattanooga Golf and Country Club. But he resolved to stick with it, no matter what.

“It was kind of unnerving on that first hole,” Hays said. “But it worked.”

Indeed it did. Shooting par-71 on the strength of several key medium-length putts, Hays overtook second-round leader Coy Mabry of Chattanooga, who shot 74, to win in just his second year of eligibility for the tournament. Hays’ 54-hole total of 213 was two shots clear of Mabry.

Chattanooga’s Mike Jenkins, who also served as tournament chairman, closed with a 72 to finish alone in third place at 216. Cleveland’s Chuck Jabaley, who matched par on Thursday, tied for fourth with Mike Nixon of Nashville at 217.

Hays began the final round at par 142, a shot behind Mabry, but quickly gave up two more shots when he double-bogeyed No. 2. Undaunted by that miscue, Hays kept himself in the tournament with three straight pars, and then, at the par-4 6^th, he struck back. Hays hit an 8-iron to about four feet, cradled his putter with that new grip and knocked the ball in the cup for a birdie.

Coupled with a bogey by Mabry, Hays had regained those two strokes he surrendered at No. 2.

Jenkins, meanwhile, began the day three shots off Mabry’s lead, but quickly cut the margin to two with a birdie at No. 2. Three-putt bogeys at No. 3 and 5 left him with some work to do, but try as he might he couldn’t make a birdie to put any pressure on Hays. He finished his round with 13 straight pars.

Mabry’s bogey at 6 started a nasty trend. With rain and lightning circling the course for the third straight day, Mabry proceeded to bogey 7, 8 and 9 for a front-nine 40. Play was suspended after Mabry and Hays made pars at No. 10, and for three hours, the tournament sat in limbo. Tennessee Golf Association officials pondered whether to call it a day and trim the tournament to 36 holes as the weather pattern that has trapped the course in rainy conditions all week hung around.

“I was actually thinking that I wish they’d just call it,” Hays said. “I’m going out of town tomorrow, and I wanted to get on home.”

As the delay approached its third hour, the lightning danger passed, enabling the golfers to return to the course. Mabry, who had fallen two strokes behind Hays, birdied No. 11 to cut the deficit in half.

Both players parred 12, 13 and 14, and hit good drives at 15, a long par 4. Hays was left with a 9-iron approach.

“I just wanted to swing hard at it,” Hays said. “I don’t hit it well when I try to back off.”

His ball came to rest 15 feet left of the hole, along roughly the same line as Jenkins’ 25-foot birdie putt.

“I got a good read off that,” Hays said. “The putt was basically straight in.”

With a deft pass of the belly putter, Hays rolled his birdie putt in the hole, taking him to even for the tournament and two shots ahead of Mabry, who wasn’t quite finished.

On the next hole, the par-5 16^th, Mabry made birdie to trim Hays’ deficit again. But when Mabry made a bogey at the short-par 4 17^th, all Hays had to do was put his tee shot at the par-3 18^th on the green.

He did that, two-putted, and the tournament was his.

Hays wasn’t in any hurry to reach age 55, the minimum age for senior amateur events. But now that he’s there, he’s having a great time.

“Sooner or later you come to the realization that you can’t compete with the young guys anymore,” Hays said. “Senior golf is kind of fun. You get to know the players and there’s a lot of camaraderie. I’m really enjoying it.”

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