FORE Georgia 0309C

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stint outside golf, returned as SoutheasternRegion Tournament Sales Director forAmerican Golf in the late 1980s.

Couey joined Killearn, Inc., in 1996 asthe Director of Sales and Marketing forEagle’s Landing, one of the metro area’soutstanding private clubs. Killearn hasdeveloped and owns a number of greatGeorgia golf facilities, among them

Waterfall Country Club, Kingwood GolfClub & Resort, Durham Lakes CountryClub and Eagle’s Brooke Country Club.

During his years with Killearn, Coueysays he has built “a very good following. Ihave a large data base of loyal customers.”

Because of the economy, there may not

tournament, for youth baseball or a 5Krun. But for us, it’s mainly about golftournaments.”

Couey has more than 30 years experiencein the golf business, working in several dif-ferent aspects of the industry. He spentmost of the 1970s as a manager and golfprofessional at one of Atlanta’s busiest facil-ities – North Fulton Golf Club, and after a

B y M i k e B l u m

tarting a company in the currentclimate of challenging economictimes requires a significant leap offaith, but John Couey is prepared

to make that jump.Couey, who has a long history of

working behind the scenes in the Atlantagolf market, has created InnovativeSports Events, which will assist non-profits, charitable organizations andcorporate entities in conducting fund-raisers, primarily golf events.

Innovative Sports Events (ISE) willmanage the event “from beginning toend,” Couey says. “We’ll do more than justthe golf. We’re a full service managementcompany.”

There are currently existing companiesthat work in the same field, but Coueybelieves ISE has something that will sepa-rate his company from those alreadyoperating – a Barco B-10 mobile LEDdisplay, also known as an electronic leaderboard or score board.

A key for any fund-raising event is tosecure sponsorship, and Couey feels havingthe LED display on site will benefit organ-izations in that respect, as well as ensuringthat the sponsors receive sufficient bangfor their bucks.

“It’s great for sponsors and it goesbeyond golf. It can be used at a soccer

G e o r g i a G o l f B u s i n e s s

GeorgiaGolf CourseOwners

Association

w w w . g g c o a . c o m

770-235-0735Bartram Trail part ofAugusta golf scene

Harris English part ofstrong Georgia team

Tiger Woods amongMasters questions

INSIDETHISISSUE

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[ See Innovative Sports, page 6 ]

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Barco B-10 Mobile LED Message Display

New golf company debuts in AtlantaInnovative Sports Events enters tournament management field

welcome to the driving range.(golf optional)

2009 Cadillac Escalade

2009 Cadillac CTS

2 G O L F F O R E G E O R G I A . C O M M A R C H 2 0 0 9

3G O L F F O R E G E O R G I A . C O MM A R C H 2 0 0 9

4 G O L F F O R E G E O R G I A . C O M

By Tom LosingerPGA Director of InstructionBridge Mill Athletic Club

Quite often you hear or readthat if you want to hit the ballfurther you will have to giveup consistency or if you wantmore consistency you have togive up some distance. Well,

while there may be some truthto that, I would argue that ifyou master the following con-cept, you can have it all! Theconcept is to learn to swingwide to narrow.

What do I mean? The big pic-ture idea is that you want yourdownswing arc to be a smaller

half circle than your backswing arc.If you traced them, the two arcswill create kind of a crescent moonshape. Almost every singleplayer on tour achieves this action(Sergio Garcia would be thisidea on steroids) in their swingswhereas the average player rarelyachieves this.

In fact the average player, manytimes has the opposite action, withthe downswing being wider thanthe backswing. This is a major con-tributor to power loss as well asinconsistent contact with the ball.Please look at the pictures and Iwill try to give you some keys tohelp you achieve this and I will alsogive you one big warning.

Downswing Keys� Near the top of the swingwhen your weight transfers subtlyand smoothly to the front foot, theleft wrist will increase its hinge(Right wrist can bend back slightly)and the right elbow will begin toincrease its bend. (Many people

say this feels like a slight loop. Also,sensing that the right arm is now workingunder the left arm can be a pretty goodfeel. You decide.) Warning: Do notincrease the bend (Cupping) in the leftwrist. You will hate golf forever if you dothis! The ball will go high, right and short.Zero fun!

� The benefits of this move are that theshaft gets on plane easier and the rightarm and the club head get closer to thebody which is the beginning of creating“dynamic lag.”This is the narrow part. This“narrowing” will continue until the leftarm is at about 9:00. Notice how the clubhead is now pointed at about 1:00 andthe right arm has mostly disappearedbehind the left arm.

This helps create speed without eventrying as a smaller radius will move muchfaster than a long one at this point. It willnow be much easier for your power to bestored up until the moment of truth. Ifyou work on this move, then your impactshould start to look like the picture on theright. Distance and consistency!

Tom Losinger is a PGA Master Professionaland the 2001 Georgia PGA Teacher of theYear. He can be reached at 770-345-5557or at [email protected].

F A L L 2 0 0 8

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PUBLISHER

Golf Media, Inc.John Barrett

EDITORMike Blum

CONTRIBUTORS

Tom LosingerJackie Cannizzo,Women’s Golf Editor

Steve DinbergLake-Finlay Image Group

Joseph FieldGeorgia Golf Course Owners Association

Cindy Acree, Executive Director

MARKETING & ADVERTISING

J.R. Ross, Sales RepresentativeRick Holt, Corporate Sales

ART DIRECTOR

Lori [email protected]

GEORGIA SECTION, PGA OF AMERICA

PRESIDENT

Jim Arendt, ChicopeeWoods Golf Course

VICE-PRESIDENT

Patrick Richardson,Wilmington Island Club

SECRETARY

Brian Stubbs, Country Club of Columbus

HONORARY PRESIDENT

Danny Elkins, Georgia Golf Center

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bud Robison,West Point, GaMarten Olsson, The Club at River ForestSteve Godley, Jekyll Island Golf Club

Bob Elmore, Bacon Park GCTed Fort, Marietta Golf CenterRichard Hatcher, Ansley GC

Jeff Dunovant, First Tee of East LakeScott Mahr, Barnsley Gardens Resort

Clark Spratlin, Blue Ridge Golf & River ClubDan Mullins, Classic Golf ManagementMichael Raymond, Reynolds Landing

John Crumbley, Mystery Valley Golf Club

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mike PaullASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/

JUNIOR GOLF DIRECTOR Scott GordonTOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Pat DayOPERATIONS MANAGER Jeff Ashby

SECTION ASSISTANT TraciWaters

FOREGeorgia is produced by Golf Media, Inc.Copyright ©2008 with all rights reserved.Reproduction or use, without permission,of editorial or graphic content is prohibited.Georgia PGA web site: www.georgiapga.com

Forecast

INSIDETHISISSUE Questions surround Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Cink may be lone Georgia hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Golf in Augusta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Georgia PGA 2009 preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

PGA pro-file: Bill Robinson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

College golf preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Golf FORE women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Golf FORE juniors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Course reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

You Can Have MorePower and Consistency

Instruction Fore You

Backswing Keys� At the 9:00 position of the left arm,the club head should be short of 12:00.Preferably in the 10:30 to 11:00 range.

� Two things to pay attention to: The leftwrist will have minimal hinge and the rightelbow will have minimum bend to it. Also,notice how the right arm is slightly abovethe left arm at this point.

� The benefit of this is that the backswingwill have less speed and more width whichwill help immensely in the transition frombackswing (wide) to the downswing(narrow).

Attention to detail and the personaliza-tion of the tournament experience are keyelements in the success or failure of chari-table golf events, and Couey has a longtrack record of involvement with tourna-ment operations, as well as working in themanagement and marketing end ofKillearn’s two golf-connected hotels.

During his time with Killearn, Coueyworked as Director of Sales and interimGeneral Manager of the Inn at Eagle’sLanding, which housed many of the LPGAplayers who were competing in theChick-fil-A Charity Championship. Coueyworked directly with the LPGA in housingthe players, including many of the tour’smost prominent names.

After his lengthy stint with Killearn,Couey spent a year at Callaway Gardens,booking golf groups and tournaments beforereturning to Killearn to help get the newEagle’s Brooke Country Club up and

running. His variety of experiences inthe golf industry has prepared him formultiple roles required to conduct charitytournaments.

In his lengthy career with three major golfcompanies, Couey has organized and man-aged over 1,000 golf events which haveraised in excess of $3 million in charitabledonations.

Couey and his company are not alone inthe Atlanta market, but he believes the com-bination of his experience and the appeal ofthe Barco B-10 mobile LED display will setInnovative Sports Events apart from thecompetition.

“It adds so much of a different flavor,” hesays. Banners alone don’t have much impact,but the LED displays provide a forum forsome “wonderful graphics. It’s key toattracting a title sponsor.

“Innovative Sports Events has assembleda small but very effective and experiencedteam of associates who excel in hosting andorganizing golf tournaments. ISE hasexperience in the marketing of other athleticevents not related to golf. We also have aspecial events associate who can help withthe marketing of business openings, radioand television events and any other public orprivate happening.”

Couey can be contacted at 678-833-1616(office) or 770-380-0949 (cell), orat [email protected] company’s web sitewww.innovativesportsevents.com is expectedto be operational by mid-March, and Coueysays it will be “x-treme and memorable.”


CAPTION

Waterfall Country Club

Eagle's Brooke Country Club

be as many first new charity and corporateoutings as in the past, but ISE is positionedto assist those who do conduct an eventfor the first time. ISE willconcentrate on “tournaments with historyas community events. They’ll continue.The golf tourna-ment business willmaintain, at least atsome level.”

From his personalexperience and his knowledge of theindustry, Couey says “2008 was not thatbad a year,” and is hopeful that the down-turn in the economy will not have a majorimpact on the outing industry.

That’s where the Barco B-10 mobileLED display comes in.

“Every tournament tries to attract amajor title sponsor,” Couey points out.“But at a lot of tournaments, the sponsor is

not getting a bang for his buck.“Having the ability to offer such a great

marketing tool enhances the effectivenessof golf tournament groups to attract bothtitle and major sponsors by giving thesponsors what they seek most – highvisibility and a great return on their

sponsorship invest-ment. The BarcoB-10 mobile LEDdisplay works justas well for other

sports tournaments and events.”Couey recognizes that for tournaments

to be successful on an ongoing basis, theparticipating individuals must have anenjoyable experience that will encouragethem to return to the event. The use of per-sonalized gifts helps create that atmosphere,and ISE will work in concert with vendorsto provide products at substantial savingsoff retail.

InnovativeSports Events[ Continued from the cover ]

Winner Receives:Golf Trip for 2 to the 2009 British Open

Airfare, Accomodations, and Transfer

Tickets for 2 rounds each of the British Open

2 rounds each of Golf for 2 days

Presented by �e Georgia Golf Course Owners Association in partnership with VisitScotland the Official Tourism Bureau of Scotland

2009 British Open

Drawing Date Prior to Masters

A portion of proceeds may be tax-deductible.

RAFFLE

Lots of questions surround MastersB y M i k e B l u m

uestions, questions, questions.With the 2009 Masters

approaching, there is a great dealof uncertainty pertaining to thefirst of golf ’s four major cham-

pionships, most of it having to do with someof the players expecting to contend for agreen jacket, but some regarding the tourna-ment itself.

Is TigerWoods fully recovered from kneesurgery that sidelined him for the secondhalf of 2008 and the early stages of the ’09season? And if so, can he solve the mysteriesof the more Tiger-resistant AugustaNational, which has limited him to oneMasters title the last six years?

Can Phil Mickelson shake off his nonde-script performances in the majors since his

disastrous effort on the 72nd hole at WingedFoot in the 2006 U.S. Open? Mickelson,who would have won a third straight majorwith a par on that hole, has not seriouslycontended for a fourth major title since, andgot off to a rare stumbling start this year onthe West Coast before winning in LA. Doeshe still have what it takes to play at the levelrequired for a major triumph?

Is Vijay Singh capable of becoming thesecond 46-year-old to win in Augusta? Singhclosed out the ‘08 season with four victoriesagainst star-studded fields, but had to take afew weeks off early this season for minor sur-gery and has been hobbling since his return.

Can Padraig Harrington translate hissuccess last year in the British Open andPGA Championship into a third straightmajor victory in Augusta? Harrington hasback-to-back top 10 finishes in the Masters,and has more than proven his ability to raisethe level of his game in the most

pressure-filled situations. But can he do it atAugusta National?

Are any of the game’s rising young stars –Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim, CamiloVillegas, Adam Scott – ready to claim a firstmajor championship?

Since Augusta National was significantlylengthened in 2002, three players notknown for their power games have won theMasters, including each of the last two years.Who is the next player in the MikeWeir/Zach Johnson/Trevor Immelmanmold capable of scoring a victory on acourse that is supposed to favor those whobomb it off the tee?

And for those who have access to Masterstickets or just watch on television, can thetournament produce the Sunday heroicsthat has been noticeably absent in recentyears? The past three Masters, all conductedafter Augusta National was extended to itscurrent length of almost 7,450 yards, havebeen devoid of serious suspense as theleaders made their way down the stretch, asituation totally out of character with thetournament’s dramatic history.

From 1990-2002, the winning score ofAugusta never ventured above 280, and onlyonce in that span was it higher than 279.Since 2003, only three golfers have finishedwith scores in the 270s —Mickelson in2004 and Woods and Chris DiMarco in’05, with the latter two producing the lastpulsating Masters finish.

There has been considerable carping bymany of the game’s top players regarding therecent changes to Augusta National’s storiedlayout. There has been a general agreementthat Masters officials needed to do some-thing to counter the improvements inequipment that have rendered many classiccourses too short for modern tour players,but the question often posed is whether therenovations have gone too far.

Along with adding more than 500 yardsin length in the past decade, AugustaNational officials have tightened the coursewith the addition of trees on several holes,have introduced a “second cut” (thin layer ofrough) to increase the difficulty of holdingthe already demanding greens, and havecontinued to keep the putting surfaces asslick as agronomy will allow, while placingpin positions in treacherous locations.

In addition to the absence of major dramaon Sunday the last three years, there hasbeen a noticeable paucity of the low scoresthat helped fuel the traditionally thrillingMasters finishes that produced so manyroars over the years on Augusta National’smemorable back nine.

Art Wall’s 66 in 1959. Bob Goalby’s 66in 1968. Gary Player’s 64 in 1978. JackNicklaus’ 65 in 1986. Nick Faldo’s 65 in

1989 and his relentlessly efficient 67 in1996. All relics of a Masters past that maynever be re-visited.

Mickelson shot 69 on Sunday both timeshe won, including his back nine surge thatcould be the last of its kind in 2006.Johnson also closed with a 69 when he wonthe next year with a 289 total, the highestwinning score in Augusta in a half-century.

Last year’s Masters ranks with the leastexciting in tournament history, asImmelman went wire to wire for his victory.There were fewer than 25 scores in the 60sin last year’s tournament (only one below68) and Immelman recorded three of themthe first three days.

With his three closest pursuers after 54holes shooting 77, 78 and 79 the finalround, Immelman’s 75 was sufficient toproduce a victory that was never in doubt onSunday, something that had not happenedin the tournament since Woods annihilatedthe field in his 12-stroke runaway in 1997.

Shortly after Woods broke the 72-holetournament record with an 18-under 270total, the first wave of changes to AugustaNational began, with several holes length-ened a modest amount.

The changes had little effect on scoring,with Woods challenging his tournamentrecord in 2002. David Duval was twostrokes back of Woods at 274, the lowestrunner-up score in Masters history and thefifth lowest total ever at Augusta National.

When the Masters participants arrived forthe 2003 tournament, the course had beenlengthened by some 300 yards. Pre-tournament speculation ventured that thepower players like Woods, Singh, Mickelsonand Ernie Els would benefit the most fromthe added yardage, but that proved not to bethe case.

MikeWeir and LenMattiace tied at 281,the highest winning score since 1989, withneither player remotely fitting into thebomber mold. The unlikely duo producedsome Sunday drama down the stretch –Mattiace shot 65 —before Weir emerged thechampion after a sloppily-played playoff.

The next two Masters featured a pair ofmemorable late Sunday afternoon duels,with Mickelson blistering the back nine toovertake Els in 2004 and Woods holding offthe outgunned but not outmatchedDiMarco the next year.

However, the birdie by Woods on the firstplayoff hole was about the last moment ofreal Masters-style drama. Mickelson did notneed a Sunday charge to score his secondMasters victory the next year, turning inperhaps the most controlled effort of hiscareer to win by a deceptively narrow two-stroke margin.

Braving cold and windy conditions that

sent scores soaring most of the week,Johnson put together an efficient final round69 to win by two in ’07 over a stuck-in-neu-tral Woods and South Africans RetiefGoosen and Rory Sabbatini. That made itsix runner-up finishes for South Africangolfers since 2000 in the Masters, withImmelman following countryman GaryPlayer into the winner’s circle last year.

After three straight years of victories byMickelson and Woods, Johnson andImmelman re-established the parity that hasexisted between power players and thosewho rely more on finesse to take home acoveted green jacket.

Despite the long-held belief that AugustaNational is a layout that strongly favors thepowerful, history sheds some doubt on thatproposition. Woods, Mickelson and Singhhave won seven of the last 12 Masters, butthe other five champions during that stretchare all at the opposite end of the power hitterspectrum.

Prior to Woods’ emergence as thedominant player in the game, the Masterswent through a lengthy stretch when short-to-medium hitters ruled the lush fairwaysand treacherous greens at Augusta National.

Between 1984 and 1996, Nick Faldowonthree Masters, Ben Crenshaw andBernhard Langer won two each and JoseMaria Olazabal scored the first of his twoMasters titles. Augusta native Larry Mize,who likewise relies more on precise iron playand a deft touch with the putter than lengthoff the tee, also won during that stretch.

With only six Masters having been playedsince Augusta National was significantlylengthened after 2001, the jury is still out onhow the changes have impacted the tourna-ment. But after three straight years of littledrama, tournament officials may bereconsidering how they set the course up,particularly on Sunday if the conditions areexpected to be on the difficult side.

Among the attributes that set the Mastersapart from the other three majors was thepossibility that players could do deep intored figures if they got on a roll, and thelikelihood that heroics were going to berequired on the back nine the final day totake home the green jacket.

The past few years, the Masters hasbecome more like the other majors, with itsmost recent champions grinding their wayto victory. That may be the way you win aU.S. Open (2008 being an exception), buttraditionally that’s not how it has beendone in Augusta.

We’ll find out pretty soon whether tour-nament officials want to continue downthat path, or if they miss the Sunday roarsthat have been such a huge part of theMasters for decades.


QCan event regain drama after 3 years of no roars?

Phil Mickelson

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Cink may be lone Georgia Masters hope

B y M i k e B l u m

n recent years, the Masters field hastypically included a healthy numberof players with strong ties to the tour-nament’s home state, including

multiple natives of Augusta.With a little over one month remaining

before the 2009 Masters, only twoGeorgians were among the 90-plus playersto have qualified for the tournament, withformer Masters champion Larry Mize –now a Champions Tour member – one ofthe two.

Duluth resident and former GeorgiaTech standout Stewart Cink is the loneGeorgian among the PGA Tour playerswho is currently eligible tee it up inAugusta. Sea Island’s Davis Love is in posi-tion to move into the top 50 in the WorldRankings, which would earn him a spot inthe field. But the remaining Georgianshave just a handful of events left in whichto score a victory and claim a late invitation

into the first of golf ’s four majorchampionships.

With a late 2008 victory in the DisneyClassic and a tie for second in the season-opening Mercedes Championship, Lovehas moved into the top 60 in the rankings.One or two more strong showings willenable him to return to Augusta aftermissing the tournament last year for thefirst time since 1990.

Love’s Masters resume includes a pair ofrunner-up finishes in 1995 and ’99 and sixtop 10s in 18 starts. In 1995, Love was onthe verge of missing the Masters when he

won in New Orleans the day beforeMasters week began in Augusta. It took acourageous effort by Ben Crenshaw tohold off a determined charge by Love, whoclosed with a 66 to finish one stroke off thelead. Love’s 72-hole total of 275 was thelowest score ever at the time for a Mastersrunner-up, and now ranks second behindDavid Duval’s 274 in 2001.

The two players with the perhaps the

strongest desire to qualify for the Mastersare Augusta natives Charles Howell andVaughn Taylor, both of whom will need atournament victory a la Love in ’95 to earnan invitation. Howell has fallen well out-side the top 100 in the World Rankingsand Taylor is no longer in the top 200, asboth are coming off disappointing seasonsin 2008.

Howell has played in each of the lastseven Masters, but his streak may be aboutto end. He squandered an opportunity topick up a win in the 2008 Fall Series at theTurning Stone Resort and opened ’09 witha strong showing in Hawaii, but did notplay well in California, where he has a his-tory of success. After tying for 13th in the2004 Masters, Howell missed the cut threeof the last four years.

Taylor was in danger of losing his exemptstatus on the PGA Tour before a tie forsecond in the next-to-last tournament of’08. He managed just one other top 10 theentire season as he slipped to 90th on themoney list, his poorest showing in his fiveseasons on tour. Taylor has played in thelast three Masters, tying for 10th in 2007,when he briefly held the tournament leadlate in the third round.

Cink has missed the Masters just oncesince 1997, his rookie season on the PGATour. He did not qualify in 2003, the onlytime since 1998 he has not been in the fieldfor a major championship.

To that point, Cink had never finishedhigher than 23rd in six starts in Augusta,but in his five starts since, has never fin-ished lower than 20th. Last year, Cinkposted his best ever finish in the Masters,placing third behind champion TrevorImmelman and runner-up Tiger Woods,Cink’s playing partner in the final round.

“Playing with Tiger Woods on Sunday atthe Masters is about the pinnacle ofprofessional golf,” Cink said after his thirdplace finish.

Cink began the final round in sixthplace, seven strokes behind Immelman.With birdies on the first two holes, Cinkquickly cut his deficit to four, but consecu-tive bogeys at holes 9, 10 and 11 ended hisfaint hopes of a victory.

“It was exciting out there and I gotstarted really well. Starting off like that –birdie, birdie – when everyone in the crowdwas thinking that the guy I was playingwith was going to go birdie, birdie; that waskind of fun.”

Prior to the three straight bogeys thatknocked him out of contention, Cink wasunable to cash in on birdie opportunities at7 and 8, which stalled what littlemomentum he still had entering one of thetoughest stretch of holes on the course.

“I let the last three par-fives go, and threebogeys in a row on the three toughest holes.So I played basically the way a lot of guysplayed today. I made some bogeys, I madesome birdies. I had fun, but it wasn’tquite enough.”

Actually, Cink played better than justabout everyone else who teed it up on adifficult day to play golf on one of theworld’s most demanding courses. Of the 22players who began the final round at evenpar or better, Cink’s 72 matched the lowestscore. The only other players in that groupto shoot 72 the final day were Woods,Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson.

With three of the four players whostarted the day between Cink and theleader shooting scores of 77 or higher, Cinkfound himself in a battle for second placeafter a pair of birdies at 14 and 16.

Cink, Woods and Brandt Snedeker,who was playing in the final group withImmelman, were tied for second comingdown the stretch, with Woods takingsecond outright with a birdie on the72nd hole.

“He clipped me on the last hole,” Cinksaid of his playing partner. “I had a couplechoice words for him walking off the green,but what can you say. He’s Tiger Woods.”

Cink has gradually played better over theyears at Augusta National, which he feelsis simply a matter of feeling morecomfortable on a course with many subtlechallenges.

“I don’t find as many surprises here as Iused to. I always used to be surprised onceor twice a day by pin placements and by theway shots played. Now, I’ve got memoriesor notes written in my yardage book. SoI’ve got something to remind me of what acertain shot may play like. And I guess thatall falls under the category of experience.”

Cink may also have benefited from achange in the PGA Tour schedule, whichmoved the now-defunct Atlanta tourna-ment from the week before the Masters tomid-May each of the last two years. Cink’shome is located in the Sugarloaf subdivi-sion, which made that week a particularlyhectic one for him every year.

Over the years, Cink’s play in theBellSouth Classic began to slip, and hisefforts in Augusta did not improveappreciably, at least until last year. Withthe chance to focus more on the Mastersprior to the tournament, Cink producedhis best showing ever in Augusta last year,and will be looking to match or surpass itnext month.


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Stewart Cink

Coming off best ever showing in Augusta

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Golf in Augusta offers varied options

B y M i k e B l u m

hanks to the Masters, Augustaadopted the title of “GolfCapitol of the World.” But thatdesignation only applies one

week out of the year.The other 51 weeks, Augusta is a mostly

unnoticed city on Georgia’s eastern border,known mostly for its medical facilities andmilitary base.

But during that one week in early Aprileach year, the eyes of the sports world focuson Augusta and the first of golf ’s four majorchampionships. In addition to the 90-plusplayers who comprise the Masters field,golfers from all over bring their clubs withthem that week to tee it up at one of thelocal courses, enabling them to tell theirbuddies back home that they playedAugusta.

Just not Augusta National.For a city with perhaps the most famous

dateline in all of golf, Augusta is not exactlya hotbed of golf the other 51 weeks of theyear. Most of the prominent local courses

other then Augusta National are locatedoutside Augusta/Richmond County, eitherin suburban Columbia County to thewest or just across the Savannah River inSouth Carolina.

Three of the area’s top daily fee courses –Jones Creek and Bartram Trail in ColumbiaCounty and the River Club in NorthAugusta, S.C. – are just outside thecity/county line, as are a number of out-standing private clubs – West Lake andChampions Retreat in Columbia Countyand Mt. Vintage Plantation and Sage Creekin South Carolina.

Other than Augusta National, the onlycourses in the city are Augusta CountryClub, a venerable private club that bordersits more famous neighbor behind theNational’s 12th green, and a handful ofdaily fee facilities, one of which is locatedon a military base (Fort Gordon).

Augusta’s most prominent daily fee clubis Jones Creek, which is currently focusingmore on rebuilding its membership basethan attracting outside play. The semi-private facility opened in the mid-1980s

and was the first solo design project byacclaimed golf course architect Rees Jones.

After a successful early run, during whichthe course achieved the reputation as one ofthe strongest layouts in the state at a dailyfee facility, Jones Creek has undergone asuccession of ownership changes, most ofwhich did not advance the club’s standing.

The club went private for a while, wasrenovated by Tom Fazio and spent sometime in bankruptcy before recently beingacquired by a local ownership group, whichhas given the club local ownership andmanagement for the first time.

Gregg Hemann and Ray Mundy, whohave both served as head professionals at thecourse and have 25 years combined at JonesCreek, are part of the local operation, andare helping restore the club’s slightlytarnished image.

“We’re working hard to upgrade thefacility in every way,” says Hemann. “Whenwe got here, this was a somewhat fracturedfacility.”

The course was renovated in 2003, withthe greens changing from bent grass to amore heat tolerant Bermuda. There were

also some changes made to the greens com-plexes to make them a little friendlier forplayers of modest ability, along with somealterations to a few holes.

The new ownership is working mostly onrestoring some aspects of the course lost toneglect, including the planting of trees forboth strategic and ornamental purposes toreplace some lost over the years.

“We’ve provided some stability that willhelp long term and we see this as an oppor-tunity to prove to people what Jones Creekcan be,” Hemann says.

Jones Creek is not a particularly lengthylayout (around 6,900 yards from the tipsand 6,400 from the member tees) but theslope rating 139/133 is more indicative ofthe challenge it poses. Relatively tight treelines, several meandering creeks and thestill-challenging greens complexes make thecourse a worthy test, with an interesting mixof holes displaying the architectural acumenof Rees Jones, even at the early stages of hisdesign career.

Bartram Trail, also located in Evans, isthe newest of the Augusta area courses,opening in 2005. The course is a public

facility and a member of theAudubon Wildlife Society, andhas been a strong supporter ofjunior golf, hosting a GeorgiaPGA Junior Tour eventamong others.

The course, designed byNorth Carolina-based archi-tect Rick Robbins, is a par 72layout with five par 5s and fivepar 3s, and is the only areadaily fee facility with bentgrass greens. The layoutincludes several elevationchanges and includes anumber of marshes and wet-lands that require some forced

carries, but is not an especially demandingcourse, with mostly generous landing areasand fairly tame greens complexes.

Apart from the par 3s, most of the troubleis off the tee, and the five par 5s providesome scoring opportunities, provided youkeep it in play. The course measures just6,700 yards from the back tees and a littleover 6,200 from the blues, but the numberof hazards in play account for therespectable slope numbers (137/129)despite the absence of serious length.

Augusta’s two long time daily fee coursesare Forest Hills and Augusta Golf Course,the city’s municipal course known to thelocals as the “Cabbage Patch.”

Forest Hills is owned and operated byAugusta State University, and is a DonaldRoss design from the 1920s with a long andvaried history. The course was requisitionedby the military for World War II, with thecollege assuming operations in the 1970s.The course has undergone two renovationssince, once to replace holes converted to use


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Quality public,private coursesnot seen on TV

Jones Creek Golf Club

Bartram Trail


for college dorms and once to add a consid-erable amount of length from the back tees.

The course can now be stretched to over7,200 yards, but with five sets of tees, itremains playable for its members and dailyfee visitors. From the white tees (6,335) itremains an enjoyable test, although theonce traditional Ross design has beenobscured over the years.

Augusta GC has also undergone somechanges over the years to accommodate anew practice facility and clubhouse, both ofwhich resulted in significant alterations to afew of the holes. The course is short (around6,000 yards from the back tees) and quitenarrow in spots, with some tiny greens thatrequire precision on approach shots and acreative short game.

Goshen Plantation, Pointe South andGordon Lakes, a military course open to thepublic, are located on Augusta’s south side.

Goshen Plantation began as a private cluband was designed by the same architectresponsible for West Lake (Ellis Maples), buthas been semi-private for most of its exis-tence. With the addition of a number of newback tees several years ago, Goshen is nowlisted at more than 7,400 yards, with shorterwell-spaced tees providing friendlier options.

Apart from the additional length, Goshenremains a first rate, parkland style designthat places demands on both accuracy andpower (for those tackling it from the tips)and includes an excellent group of par 3s,

including one of the best and potentiallymost fearsome in the state, depending onwhich tees you play from.

Pointe South is a much shorter (6,500yards) and less demanding layout, althoughthe tight tree lines and some sharp doglegsrequire well-positioned tee shots to takeadvantage of the absence of length. Thelayout features more undulation from tee togreen than most of its area counterparts, butoverall it’s a player friendly track with equallyfriendly rates.

Gordon Lakes is a well-regarded layoutdesigned by Robert Trent Jones Sr., openingfor play in the mid-1970s. The Ault-Clarkdesign group added a new nine in 2001 andthe original nines have both been renovated.The facility will host an annual HootersTour event that has been played at threeother area courses over the years.

One of the best daily fee courses in theAugusta area is located in South Carolina,although it’s the closest to the city’s down-town district, just across the Savannah Riveron a site that was swampland not thatlong ago.

The River Club is an interesting JimFazio design and is unlike anything else inthe area, bearing more resemblance tocourses in Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach.The layout is as flat as any Florida course,with plenty of water in play but not manytrees, and offers some nice views from the13th Street Bridge above it and of the

modest downtown Augusta skyline.Augusta’s two established private clubs

other than Augusta National – AugustaCountry Club and West Lake – have bothhosted the Georgia Amateur, along withother state and regional events.

The Country Club had its originalDonald Ross design extensively renovatedseveral years ago, and borders AugustaNational behind the National’s 12thgreen/13th tee. The club produced PGATour star Charles Howell (Vaughn Taylorgrew up at Goshen) among several futuretour players.

West Lake has been around for fourdecades, and its classic Ellis Maples designincludes one of the state’s most interestingset of greens complexes, which keeps bothits members and tournament visitors ontheir toes. Like the Country Club, WestLake is a hotbed of activity Masters week,

drawing a host of celebrities.In recent years, the Augusta area has

added some high profile private clubs,among them Champions Retreat inColumbia County and Mt. VintagePlantation and Sage Valley in SouthCarolina.

Champions Retreat, with 27 holesdesigned by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmerand Gary Player, hosted the 2007 GeorgiaOpen and received very positive reviewsfor everything except the August weatherin Augusta.

Mt. Vintage Plantation enjoyed a shortrun as the host of a recent LPGAtournament, and is a first class layout andfacility, with Sage Creek an exclusive anddecidedly upscale addition to the Augustagolf scene, modeling itself after the city’smost famous club.

New golf facility in DuluthA unique, family oriented golf facility is about to open in Duluth. The Georgia Trail atSugarloaf, will feature a 9-hole, par-31 course, 18 holes of mini-golf, and a drivingrange with a short game practice area and an expansize putting green, as well as aclubhouse with a pro shop, restaurant and meeting facilities.

PGA instructor Ernie Boshers is part of the ownership group for the facility, which islocated on Satellite Boulevard. Information: 770-497-4653; www.gatrail.com.

Georgia PGA schedule includes familiar sitesB y M i k e B l u m

he 2009 Georgia PGA scheduleincludes a number of familiarsites for the Section’s tourna-ments, with one new venue for a

prominent event and a change of datesfor another.

The new course is Heron Bay, which willhost the Yamaha Atlanta Open June 8-9. Itwill be the second straight year the tourna-ment has ventured from its traditional homein the metro area’s northern suburbs, fol-lowing 2008 host Newnan Country Club.

Heron Bay is among the newestCanongate courses, opening in 2004. TheJeff Burton designed layout has amplelength from the back tees, plenty of hazardsin play and large greens that are well pro-tected by both water and sand. It is likely thestrongest of the 20 Canongate courses inmetro Atlanta and should prove to be aworthy test for the state’s top clubprofessionals and amateurs.

The past few years, the Atlanta Open hasbeen the first significant Section event onthe schedule, with most of the tournamentsin a five-month span from June to October.The Yamaha Match Play Championship,which has been a late-season tournament for

most of the last three decades, will nowbe the season opener, scheduled for March23-25.

The tournament returns to CallawayGardens, the former host of the PGA TourSouthern Open from 1991-2002, for thethird straight year. Country Club of theSouth instructor Shawn Koch will belooking to become the first player to win thetournament back-to-back since ClarkSpratlin won the second of his three MatchPlay titles in 2002.

Also moving to an earlier date is theGriffin Classic, which was played in earlyOctober last year. The tournament, a fixtureon the Georgia PGA schedule since 1992,has typically been played in mid-July, andreturns to its Summer dates this year (July13-14). Koch scored his second Section winin a two-week stretch last Fall in Griffin.

For the second straight year, BarnsleyGardens will be the site of the YourCommunity PhoneBook Georgia OpenAug. 6-9. Bryant Odom, a mini-tour playerwith experience on the NationwideTour anda former assistant at Sea Island GC, won lastyear’s tournament by five strokes.

The E-Z-GO Georgia PGAChampionship remains at Sea Island GC,with this year’s event scheduled for

Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at the Retreat Course,which will be the tournament site for thethird time in six years. Spratlin, the headpro at the yet-to-open Blue Ridge River &Golf Club, won last year on the Seasidelayout, one of three Sea Island GC coursesthat have hosted the championship.

The Georgia PGA ProfessionalChampionship, the Section’s qualifier forthe PGA Professional NationalChampionship, continues its journeyaround the state, moving this year toAchasta GC in Dahlonega. The tourna-ment will be played Sept. 21-22. Jeff Hull,an instructor at the University Course inAthens, won last year at Crystal Lake inHampton.

Hull will lead a group of 10 GeorgiaPGA members into the 2009 PGA PNC,which will be played June 28-July 1 in NewMexico. The top 20 finishers from thatevent qualify for the PGA Championship,with Georgia PGA members SonnySkinner and TimWeinhart both making itinto the field last year for one of golf ’s fourmajor championships.

The newest event on the Georgia PGAschedule is the Chicopee Woods PlayersChampionship, which will be played forthird time June 23-24. The tournament isplayed over all three nines at the Gainesvillecourse, with 27 holes played both days ofcompetition. Hull won last year in suddendeath against Cherokee CC instructor RussDavis.

One day events include the Pro-ProScramble at Berkeley Hills March 9; theSection qualifier for the Nationwide Tourevent in Athens at Jennings Mill March 31;and the Pro-Assistant at ChampionsRetreat May 26. The Section qualifier forthe Nationwide Tour event in Valdosta willbe played April 7 at Orchard Hills.

The biennial Billy Peters Cup matchagainst the GSGA is back at Capital CityClub’s Crabapple Course Oct. 18-19, with

the Georgia PGA’s season concluding Dec.7-8 with the Pro-Pro Championship atJekyll Island GC.

Callaway Gardens will again be the siteof two Georgia PGA events this year, as thenationally known resort will also host theYamaha Georgia Senior Open May 18-19. The tournament was also played atCallaway Gardens last year, with DavidNell becoming the second straight amateurto win the tournament.

The E-Z-GO Georgia PGA SeniorChampionship will be played Oct. 5-6 atCartersville CC, with the event doubling asthe Section’s qualifier for the PGA SeniorPNC later this year in south Florida. Daviswas the 2008 winner.

The state’s senior club professionals havea busy late-season schedule, with theJunior-Senior Championship Nov. 16-17at Ocmulgee State Park’s Wallace Adamscourse, the annual Senior Challenge Cupagainst top Georgia amateurs Nov. 30-Dec.1 at Barnsley Gardens and the Senior Pro-Pro Championship, held concurrentlywith the Pro-Pro at Jekyll Island GC.

The Section’s Senior Division has beenconducting tournaments since 2001, withGeorgia PGA members competing againstthe state’s top amateurs in those events. Atotal of 13 tournaments are on the 2009Senior Division schedule, played at coursesin every corner of the state, as well as six inthe metro Atlanta area.

The Yamaha Georgia Women’s Openwill again be played at SummerGrove inNewnan, the third time in the last five yearsthe course has hosted the tournament. Thisyear’s dates are July 8-9 with amateurMargaret Shirley looking to win for thethird time in four years. Shirley won atCanongate-on-White Oak in 2006, andclaimed her second title last year atSummerGrove.


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Matt Peterson

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B y M i k e B l u m

he club professional businesscan frequently be a transitoryone, but it is not unusual tofind PGA members who spend

lengthy stints at one club.Bill Robinson was one of those.

For 19 years, Robinson wasthe head professional atHighland Country Club inLaGrange. Last year, however,Robinson felt it was time for aschange and moved across thestate, taking the vacant GeneralManager/head professional posi-

tion at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta.“It’s a big change,” says Robinson, who

started at Forest Hills last summer. “I lovedHighland. The members were like family.But I needed something different. I thinkmaybe I got a little stale there.”In moving from Highland to Forest Hills,Robinson went from one side of the stateto the other, and from a private club to a

semi-private facility which is owned andoperated by Augusta State University.Robinson’s job responsibilities have also

changed. At Forest Hills, he ismore of a General Manager,making decisions that impactthe club as opposed to prima-rily relating to the operation ofthe golf shop.

Things are also moving ata faster pace than Robinsonhad become accustomed to inLaGrange. Highland did onlyaround 15,000 rounds of golf

Robinson makes big move to Augusta club

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Ex-Highland pronow at Forest Hills

GEORGIA

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per year, while the numbers at Forest Hillsare more than double that.

“We do a lot of public play here and a lotmore outings.”

Forest Hills also serves as the host of anannual college tournament played the weekbefore the Masters. After a few years atChampions Retreat, a private club in neigh-boring Columbia County, the tournament isreturning to Forest Hills in early April, whichwill represent Robinson’s first experience atlife in Augusta during Masters week.

“I’ve enjoyed being over here in Augusta.It’s the mecca of the world as far as golf andI’ve got some great people working for me.”

Robinson is not entirely unfamiliar withthe experience of being around a majorchampionship. He was an assistant at AtlantaAthletic Club when it hosted the 1981 PGAChampionship, and spent some time as aclub professional in Austin, Tex., Asheville,N.C., and St. Augustine, Fla., beforedeciding to come back to his roots.

A native of Cedartown, Robinson returnedto the state as head professional at Highland,and spent almost two decades there beforetaking the job at Forest Hills.

During his time in LaGrange, Robinsonwas a big part of life at Highland CountryClub, taking part in the addition of a new

clubhouse in the late 1990s and helping get apro-am for a local hospice up and running.The pro-am drew some top players toHighland, with the event raising around$750,000 in 11 years.

Before arthritis in his hands and tendonitisin his elbow made golf a much less enjoyableexperience, Robinson was among the betterplayers in the Georgia PGA Section.

Robinson won the Section Championshipin 1991, and was part of winning teams inthe Pro-Pro Championship and Senior-Junior Championship. He qualified forseveral tour events in the state, competing inPGA Tour events at Atlanta Country Cluband Callaway Gardens, as well as a NikeTourevent in Macon. He also made three starts inthe PGA Club Professional Championship,making a strong run one year at earning aspot in the field for the PGA Championship.

“I had an opportunity to get there and Iknow it would have been a really great expe-rience but it didn’t quite happen.”

At one point, Robinson thought he mightspend the rest of his professional life atHighland, but that also didn’t quite happen.After his early experiences at Forest Hills, henow hopes this will be his last stop.

“I enjoy doing what I’m doing and that’sa big part of it. That makes it easy.”

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By Mike Blum

he Georgia men’s golf team hasclaimed two NCAAChampionships over the pastdecade, and given the talent on

the current squad, a third title is adefinitely possibility.

On paper, the 2008-09 Georgia team isstronger top to bottom than the 1998-99squad, and has more depth than the2004-05 team. All five starters return fromthe 2007-08 team that finished third orbetter in 8 of its 10 tournaments before adisappointing eighth place finish in theNCAA Championship.

The Bulldogs won their last two eventsof the Fall season and begin the Spring asthe No. 1 ranked team in the country.When asked if his team is as good asthe two that brought NCAA titles backto Athens, Georgia coach ChrisHaack responded, “They’ve got the poten-tial to be.

“They are all veteran players. It boilsdown to how they play. They have the

chance to be one of the best teams I’veever had.”

Like the previous two championshipteams, the ’09 Bulldogs have a pair oftalented sophomores to go along with astrong group of juniors and seniors. The’99 squad was led by sophomore RyujiImada, a top 15 player on the 2008 PGATour, while the sophomore duo of ChrisKirk and Brendon Todd keyed the ’05title team.

Harris English and Russell Henleybroke in with outstanding freshmanseasons, with English winning individualtitles in two of his first three starts for theBulldogs and Henley earning second teamAll-America honors. Henley finishedstrong with a win in the NCAA EastRegional and added a second title in theIsleworth Invitational last Fall.

Senior Brian Harman slipped a bit lastseason after making second team All-America as both a freshman andsophomore. Harman posted several strongshowings in tournaments in the state, butdid not play nearly as well outside Georgia.

Junior Adam Mitchell and seniorHudson Swafford joined Henley as

second team All-Americans last year,but Mitchell struggled in the Fall.

Fortunately for Haack, he has some talentbehind his five starters, with Georgia’sdepth providing plenty of competition todetermine who makes the traveling team.

Freshman Patrick Reed, who reachedthe semifinals of last year’s U.S. Amateur(as did Mitchell) to almost qualify for the’09 Masters, made three starts in Georgia’sfour Fall tournaments. Senior MichaelGreen has also worked his way into thelineup during his previous three seasons onthe squad, but his playing time hasdecreased each year.

“We’ve got two or three guys who canconsistently push our starting group,”Haack says. “They can’t just sit around.They’ve got to get after it and we saw thatthis Fall. We finally got our main grouptogether at Isleworth, and they playedpretty well.”

Georgia won the event for the fourthtime in five years, dominating a strong fieldto finish 17 strokes ahead of its closestcompetitor. Off the strength of that victoryand one in the Bulldogs’ previous tourna-ment in Macon, they ended the Fall as thetop-ranked team in the country.

“That gives us a little more incentive,”Haack says. “But we were in the same posi-tion last year going into the season andfinished eighth at nationals.”

Haack has enjoyed considerable successas Georgia’s head coach since taking overthe program in 1996, keeping the Bulldogsa consistent championship contenderwithout having to recruit very much out-side the region.

Georgia’s 1999 championship consistedof three players from metro Atlanta andtwo from Florida. The ’05 squad had twoGeorgians, two from the Carolinas and aCanadian, one of a very few Bulldogs inrecent memory not from Georgia or aneighboring state.

This year’s starting five consists of threeGeorgians – Harman (Savannah), Henley(Macon) and English (Thomasville) — andtwo from just across the state border.Mitchell came to Athens fromChattanooga, with Swafford a Tallahasseeresident. Reed and Green are both Augustaresidents, with Reed moving to the stateafter graduating from high school inLouisiana.

“I’m very proud of the fact that we’vebeen able to do this with kids from ourregion,” Haack says. “There are enoughgood players here in the Southeast that Ihaven’t had to recruit much nationally orgo the overseas route.”

The Bulldogs’ three home grown startershave one strong connection, having wonthree of the last four GSGAChampionships. Harman (2005) andEnglish (2007) both won the Georgia

Bulldogs shooting for third national titleAmateur just prior to beginning theirfreshman seasons in Athens, with Henleytaking the title last year in between hisfreshman and sophomore seasons.

Both Henley and English were majorcontributors last season as freshman, andmuch will be expected of them thisseason and for the remainder of theircollege careers.

Harman made an immediate splash as aBulldog, winning the individual title of theNCAA Preview in his first college start. Heentered Georgia as one of its highest profilerecruits ever, compiling an exceptionaljunior resume and competing on the 2005Walker Cup just before arriving on campus.

While Harman has enjoyed a successfulcareer thus far with the Bulldogs, the levelof his play has not quite reached the heightssome would have anticipated.

“I’d love nothing more than to see himgo out on a high note.” Haack says ofHarman. “He’s been a steady player. He’snever missed a tournament. If he can catcha little of that swagger and confidence, hecan be as good as anyone in the country.”

After opening its schedule in lateFebruary in Puerto Rico, Georgia begins abusy stretch of tournaments March 15 inLas Vegas. The Bulldogs will host theannual Linger Longer Invitational atReynolds Landing on Lake Oconee March22-24, and plays at Golf Club of Georgia inAlpharetta April 5-7. Georgia will again bethe host team for the SEC Championshipat Sea Island GC April 17-19.

Georgia won in Puerto Rico by 12strokes with a 38-under 826 total. Swaffordshared medalist honors at 204, with Henleyand Harman tying for third at 206 andEnglish 12th at 211.

Georgia TechThe Yellow Jackets missed the NCAAChampionship last year for the first time inmore than a decade, and followed an unex-ceptional Spring season with anup-and-down showing in the Fall. Tech wasrunner-up to Georgia in the BrickyardCollegiate in Macon and was also second inthe Match Play Championship, but theJackets did not finish better than sixth intheir other three starts.

Senior Cameron Tringale wraps up anoutstanding career this Spring, and iscoming off a Fall season that included histhird career win in the Brickyard Collegiateand a team-low score in each event. Otherthan poor showings in the first and laststarts of his junior season, Tringale has beena consistently successful performer since hisfirst event as a freshman and has played inevery tournament the past 3 ½ seasons.

After playing sparingly his first two sea-sons, David Dragoo broke into lineup fulltime last season, and notched his first careertop 10 in the Fall in Tech’s Carpet CapitalCollegiate at The Farm.


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Fellow senior Taylor Hall of LaGrangeled Tech with a fifth place finish in lastyear’s ACC Championship and wasunbeaten in the Match Play event, butmade only one other start in the Falland was not among the six players whocompeted in Tech’s Spring season openerin Hawaii.

Junior Chessonn Hedley has been amajor contributor since his freshmanseason, but did not play especially well inthe Fall and struggled in Hawaii lastmonth. In one stretch spanning hisfreshman and sophomore seasons, Hadleynotched eight straight top-10 finishes forTech, including a tie for fourth in theNCAA Championship as a freshman and awin in the Carpet Capital Collegiate in theFall of ’07, but has been outside the top 10in his last nine starts

Sophomore John-Tyler Griffin made hisfirst impact for the Jackets in the Fall witha tie for third in the Brickyard Collegiate,and was in the starting lineup when Techopened its Spring schedule. Tech was ninthout of 17 teams in Hawaii, with Tringaletying for 10th and Dragoo one shot backin 12th.

Freshman James White of Acworth wasalso a starter in Hawaii after making thelineup twice in the Fall, and will be one ofseveral Tech golfers who will battle for aspot in the lineup throughout the Spring.Eight different Tech players cracked the

starting five in the Fall, Chinese freshmanMinghao Wang among them.

Since 1998, the Jackets have finishedeighth or better seven times in the NCAAChampionship, including three runner-upshowings, but the chances of a seventhtop-5 finish in that span this year appearsto be a long shot.

Augusta State (43), Georgia State (47)and Georgia Southern (50) all begin theSpring ranked just inside the top 50 in theGolfweek/Sagarin rankings.

Only three of Augusta’s top 10 playersare American, with three of Georgianscompeting for playing time against theJaguars’ international recruits. Redshirtfreshman Brendan Gillins of Savannahtied for eighth in Chattanooga, whereAugusta scored one of its two runner-upfinishes in the Fall. Sophomore CarterNewman of Evans and freshman TaylorFloyd of Macon are also battling for spotsin the lineup, with both seeing actionduring the Fall.

The Jaguars have six tournaments ontheir Spring schedule, including theAdministaff ASU Invitational April 4-5 atForest Hills GC.

Georgia State’s top three players areEuropean, but the other six players on theroster are from Georgia and all are vying forthe 4 and 5 slots in the starting lineup.

Sophomore Alan Fowler of Gainesvillefinished the Fall schedule with three

straight solid showings, including a tie forninth in the Rees Jones Intercollegiate atDaufuskie Island, S.C., where the Panthersplaced second.

Sophomore Alex Castro of Alpharettamade two starts in the Fall, with sopho-more Brent Paul of Columbus, redshirtfreshman Jared Cagle of Gainesville andsenior Tim Freund of Greensboro makingone appearance each for the Panthers, whoalso took third in a rain-shortened event inHartford, Conn.

Georgia State, which is coached by formerPGA and Champions Tour player JoeInman, has three home state tournamentson its Spring schedule, playing in Augusta,the Schenkel E-Z-GO in Statesboro, andwill host its conference tournament April17-19 at Callaway Gardens.

Georgia Southern won twice in the Fallin Florence, S.C., and the MizunoIntercollegiate at Savannah Quarters CC.Senior Jordan Johnstun, who played hishigh school golf in LaGrange and now livesin Evans, was third for the Eagles in theirwin in Florence and turned in a strong finalround showing in Savannah to finish tied for20th and help lift the Eagles to victory.Sophomore Logan Blondell was the indi-vidual medalist in Savannah.

The Eagles will host the annual SchenkelE-Z-GO Invitational at Forest Heights CCMarch 20-22 and will also appear in theAugusta State tournament.

Georgia WomenThe Georgia women’s team is still lookingto get back to its former national statusafter a coaching change and a revolvingroster the past few seasons.

Georgia opened its Spring season with asolid showing in Puerto Rico, tying forthird after being in second place after 36holes. The Georgia women are competingwith only five scholarship players,including freshman Tess Fordham ofMetter and Athens’ Leigh Crosby, whotransferred from Central Florida.

Senior Mallory Hetzel and juniorCarolina Andrade are the team’s only twoveteran players, and begin the ’09 season byplacing 12th and 16th respectively inPuerto Rico. Talented freshman MartaSilva Zamora, who like Andrade came toAthens from Spain, was fourth in Georgia’sseason opener, just two strokes behind theindividual champion.

Georgia tied for 10th in last year’sNCAA Championship, but lost one starterto graduation and two of the team’sinternational contingent have since leftthe squad.

The team’s Spring schedule includes theannual Liz Murphey Classic, which will beplayed at the University Course in AthensMarch 27-29.

By Jackie CannizzoWomen’s EditorPGA ProfessionalCountry Club of Roswell

The world of women’s golf isgrowing in Georgia as well asall across the United States.Although the economy istough for the world of golf andit remains to be seen if we willsee the game of golf grow,shrink or stay the same,women’s golf is still on the rise.According to the National

Golf Foundation, womengolfers were the only category that actuallyhad double digit growth in 2008, about 19%. The PGA, USGA and LPGA are firmlybehind the push to keep women happyand wanting to learn the game. In Georgia,there are several associations dedicatedsolely to women.Also there are many opportunities for

women to participate and learn the gamethroughout the year in Georgia and we willtry to list them and feature them as we go.If you have awomen’s event of any sort thatyou wish to be listed please email me [email protected] addition to the growth in the women’s

game at the amateur level, the hottestrookies and players this year on the LPGAare American born and will be takingcenter stage when the tour cranks up thisyear.MichelleWie, Stacey Lewis and VickiHurst are the star rookies on tour, and inthe opening event we sawWie contend forher first title and Lewis andHurst finished inthe top 20. Although the best player tohave played the game (AnnikaSorenstam) has retired, other young starslike Lorena Ochoa and Paula Creamer are

poised to lead women’s golf to what maybe one of its best seasons.Creamer has made it her personal mis-

sion to promote the game and carryAmerican golf on her shoulders. Creamer

has spearheaded a programcalled “adopt a player.” Thisprogram is in conjunctionwith the 2009 Women’s Openat Saucon Valley CC inPennsylvania in July. Playerswho volunteer are adopted byarea 3rd and 4th graders andwill communicate throughoutthe year by email.This program is designed to

promote golf to kids, but also keeping inmind the value of their school curriculum.At the Women’s Open, the school childrenwill wear color coded t-shirts to correspondwith their adopted player.

“This is an opportunity for us LPGAplayers to give back and also to connectwith fans in a whole new way. I am veryexcited that so many of my fellow profes-sionals are with me on this” says Creamer.

Hottest Equipmentfor WomenEquipment companies are also takingnotice that women need to be catered toand that their equipment needs are dif-ferent than men. Women need equipmentthat is tailored to their game. For example,there are fewwomen on the LPGA tour thathit 3 or 4 irons, so women need hybrids orlofted fairwaywoods. Because of that,manymanufacturers are selling iron sets that startat 5 or 6 irons, or sometimes it’s a comboclub in that position. Then adding a hybridand spacing out the lofts to accommodate

the needs of women.It is important that women have equip-

ment that really enhances their game, nothinders it. So ladies, if you are still using yourhusband’s old clubs, or an old set from the1970’s or 1980’s, it’s time to upgrade. If youare taking instruction, hopefully yourinstructor is paying attention. If you go toone of the off course retailers, ask them toshow you someof the following brands andsets that will probably be much better thanwhat you are using now:Cleveland Hi Bore Bloom starts with a

high lofted driver, 5 wood, hybrid and 5irons. You can also get a putter just right foryou as well. Clubs may be bought sepa-rately or as a set. They also have severaloptions on the driver loft depending you’reswing speed and ability.Ping Rhapsody is the women’s version of

the rapture series by Ping. This is a set withlightweight options, combo irons, lofteddrivers, hybrids and fairway woods. Pingdoesn’t sell sets. They promote fitting morethan any company and they allow you toreally get the clubs you need.Cobra Transitions combine 4 and 5 utility

woodswith 6 and 7 hybirdswithwide soledirons 8 – pw. The clubs come with a highlaunch lightweight shaft to allowwomen tohit the ball high and far. There is also a LDMhigh lofted driver designed for maximumdistance.Taylor Made Burner products have been

one of the hottest selling in the past twoyears, with a whole line dedicated just towomen. The lightweight heads and shaftsare designed for women to be able to max-imize power. There are drives with differentlofts, fairwaywoods, hybrids and irons for alltypes of players.CallawayGems is designed for beginning

golfers with draw bias irons, high lofted

woods and of course the famous two ballputter. It is purchased as a set and is a greatway for women to get started.

EWGA kicks off seasonThe Atlanta Chapter of the EWGA will kickoff its 2009 season at River Pines inAlpharetta with a unique event that willfeature a “Big Break” type format. The eventisMarch 7 at 10 a.m. on the Par 3 course andeach hole will have a special skill on it thatthe foursome will be challenged to. AdamsGolf will also be on site presenting a demoday on the range for all EWGA membersand guests. For more information go to:www.EWGAtlanta.com.GeorgiaWomen’s Golf Association is a 36

hole tournament consisting of two GWGAmembers with a USGA handicap of 23 orless. This year’s event will again be held atJekyll Island Club on April 28th & 29th. Goto www.gwga.org.


Golf FORE Women

Women the ones to watch in 2009

March 24AtlantaWomen’s Golf Association:Opening Day and Luncheon at

Dunwoody CC

March 31The LandingsWomen’s Golf

Association: Cancer Tournament

April 15–17GSGAWomen’s Match Play:Sunset Hills CC in Carrollton

April 28-29GWGA Four Ball:

Jekyll Island Golf Club

UPCOMINGWomen’s Events


Watson, Bruckner,Kim among winnersThe Georgia PGA Junior Tour began its2009 schedule last month in Statesboro,with the lowest scores in both the boysand girls divisions turned inby golfers from the youngestage groups.Elizabeth Kim of Martinez,

competing in the 11-14 agedivision, was the overall girlswinner with a 171 total, threestrokes ahead of 15-18 champion DonaKioseff of Valdosta. Diane Lim of Norcrosswas second in the 11-14 division at 175,with Katarina Hodge of Dublin the 15-18runner-up at 177.WillWatson of Evanswas the boys 11-13

winner with scores of 77-78--155, sevenstrokes ahead of age group runner-upJames Clark of Columbus. Because theplayers in the youngest age group playfrom shorter tees, they are not eligible forthe overall boys title.Paul Bruckner of Alpharetta and

Walker Hill of Statesboro tied for first inthe 16-18 division at 156, with Brucknertaking the age group and overall title in a

playoff. Parker Brown of Marietta wasthird in the age division at 161, followed byAden Faddis of Cartersville at 162.AaronGeorge of Dahlonega shot 158 to

take first in the 14-15 age group, withSanders Park of Alpharettasecond at 164.The Georgia PGA Junior Tour’snext tournament is March14-15 at the Brickyard atRiverside in Macon. Cateecheein Hartwell will host a Georgia

PGA Junior Tour event March 28-29.

Pisciotta, Collurawin SJGT eventCaitlin Pisciotta of Alpharetta and DavidCollura of Athens were the girls and boyswinners in a recent Southeastern JuniorTour event at Daniel Island, S.C.Pisciotta shot 76-76—152 to finish five

strokes ahead of her closest competitor,and Collura came from six strokes backafter the first round to win with a 147 total.Will Evans of McDonough was second at148 after opening with a 69.Russell Sabol of Martinez won the boys

12-13 division at 160, with Jack Gibbs ofEvans second in the 14-15 age group at154. Emily Kurey of Alpharetta was secondin girls 12-14 at 169.TwoGeorgia teamswon SJGT 4-Ball titles

at the Robert Trent Jones Trail GrandNational Lake course in Opelika, Ala.Emilie Burger of Hoschton andWilliam

Meason of Alpharetta won the mixedteam division by a whopping 13 shots with

a 133 total. Blaine Woodruff of Acworthand Ollie Schniederjans of Power Springsshot 132 and won the boys division in aplayoff.The SJGT tournament at Callaway

Gardens was postponed due to inclementweather and has been re-scheduled forNov. 7-8. Upcoming SJGT events will beplayed at Dublin CCMarch 27-28 and JekyllIsland April 4-5.

Paul Bruckner Elizabeth Kim

GSG

A

Golf FORE Juniors

Highland Golf Club (Semi-Private)2271 Flat Shoals Rd., Conyers770-483-4235; www.highlandgolf.com

STAFF: Jody Stephens is the PGA golf professional; Leroy Reed is the SuperintendentPAR/YARDAGE: Highland GC is a par 72 with 4 sets of tees: Gold (6,817 yards); Blue (6,362);White (5,915) and Red (5,383).COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 72.9/129 (Gold); 71.0/125 (Blue); 68.6/121 (White); 71.0/123 (Red).

ABOUT THE COURSE: Among the metro Atlanta area’s most time-tested layouts, openingfor play in 1961. A long time area favorite, Highland offers a quality layout with excellentcourse conditions considering the affordable fees. Its mostly level, compact nature makesit an easy course to walk, and you will not find many facilities in all of Atlanta that providemore value for the cost. With only a handful of holes where length is much of a factor,Highland is a comfortable layout for players of modest ability, but it is far from a pushover.The tree-lined, straightforward front nine offers little in the way of serious trouble, at leastuntil you reach the short but potentially perilous par-5 ninth, which includes one of onlytwo hazards in play on the outgoing nine. The par-3 10th comes back to the clubhouse,with the nature of the course changing markedly once you tee it up on 11. The back nineincludes a number of challenging and distinctive holes, with the 11th one of the metroarea’s stouter par 4s, owing to a pond that protects the front left of a sizeable green withmultiple levels and some devilish pin positions. Coming in, youwill encounter awell-placedtree in the fairway (13), one of Atlanta’s finest and most appealing over-water par 3s (15), alengthier par 5 with water in play (17) and a true road hole (16), where the tee shots haveto take into account traffic coming to and from the clubhouse parking lot. The excellentputting surfaces are on the small side and mostly open in nature, and require someprecision from the fairway and a deft short game touch to produce a score you wouldexpect from a coursewith neither significant length nor an abundance of trouble. An enjoy-able, modestly challenging layout that is well worth the trip out 1-20 for those who don’tlive in Conyers.

Golf Club of Georgia, Lakeside (Private)One Golf Club Drive, Alpahretta770-664-8644; www.golfclubofgeorgia.com

STAFF: Jeff Paton is the PGA Director of Golf; RandyWaldron is the SuperintendentPAR/YARDAGE: Golf Club of Georgia’s Lakeside Course is a par 72 with four sets of tees:Gold (7,017) yards; Blue (6,657); White (6,043) and Red (5,109).COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 74.6/144 (Gold); 72.7/138 (Blue); 69/8/131 (White); 70.3/130 (Red).

ABOUT THE COURSE: One of the state’s premier golf facilities, Golf Club of Georgia is anabsolutely first rate operation with two disparate Arthur Hills designs – themore traditionalLakeside layout and the more modern, target-oriented Creekside course. Lakeside is thebetter known of two, serving as host for a former Senior PGA Tour event, as well as theGeorgia Amateur, Atlanta Open and the club’s two upcoming events – the Georgia Cup andU.S. Collegiate Championship. Lakeside features a wonderful collection of holes in immac-ulate shape, and is highlighted by some superbly-crafted greens complexes that are asdemanding as almost any youwill encounter. Slopes, ridges andmultiple tiers are found ona majority of the holes, and when the greens are rolling at their quickest, there are somespots you simply do not want to be putting from. With an exception or two, Hills has pro-vided ample room to drive the ball, and length is only a serious concern on a handful ofholes, with just one par 4 longer than 432 yards from the back tees. Lakeside features anexceptional quartet of par 3s, three of which have to carry water. The scenic but intimi-dating fifth is 200 yards from the blues with a lake lurking menacingly just off the left edgeof the green. The gorgeous 13th is all carry with a sloping green that is a 3-putt waiting tohappen if you venture too far from the hole.Water is also very much in play on three of theoutstanding group of par 5s, and a hook off the first teemakes it four with hazards. The 607-yard 11th is one of the state’s most beautiful holes, but shorter hitters may not appreciatethe view when taking a rip from long range with LakeWindward inches off the edge of thegreen and the hole cut perilously close to it. The somewhat understated group of par 4sincludes a splendid quartet that average under 340 from the blues, with the well protectedgreens necessitating strong iron play to avoid putts and short game shots that requiremoreskill than you likely possess.


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