Tony has been a member of the Amateur Tour for over eight years. He hails from Chattanooga, TN originally and has lived in Charleston for the past five years. Prior to that he played on the Charlotte tour for four years. He has enjoyed his time playing on the tour and has had some spectacular round such as his Blistering 76 from the Tips and the Harbor Course at Wild Dunes. This win was Tony's 12th since being a member of the Amateur Golf Tour and he stated he always recommends it to other players because it is a great way to compete against other golfers with similar talent in addition to playing some great courses. When asked about his crucial hole at the Harbor course ge stated; It had to be number four. That hole has got to be the toughest hole in Charleston, I have never made less than a seven on it and I lipped out a par putt for a five which kept my round at 2 over for the front and kept the momentum going. As Judge Smails says in Caddy Shack: "Ty, How do you measure your game against other golfers?" Ty responds, "by height". Seriously, I would recommend the Golf Week Amateur Tour because it is a good way to measure your game against others with similar talents, and you get to play a lot of great golf courses.
Whats in Tony's Bag?
Ball: Bridgestone tour
Driver: 8 deg Callaway Bertha 2 Driver with a 60g stiff graphite shaft.
3 Wood: King Cobra 3wood w/stiff 63g graphite shaft
This is Danny's second season on tour and the win at Barony was his first win. Danny grew up on Hilton Head Island and attended Hilton Head Prep. Danny shot 75 to secure his first win at Barony but not before a little trouble sneaked in to make it interesting. "I had bogied the par 4 12th to move me to +2 for the day. My goal for the remaining holes was to get back to even for the day. I proceeded to birdie both the par 4 13th and par 3 14th. Unfortunately I had a couple of slip ups on 15th and 16th holes but my performance on the 13th and 14th allowed me to not sweat it too much".
Whats In Danny's Bag?
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B330
Driver:Callaway FT Tour (10.5 Degree) with X-Stiff
3 Wood:Taylormade R9 (15 Degree) with X-Stiff Shaft
The Charleston Tour kicked off their local season with a tough course but some nice weather. As usual the Harbor course played long and strong and we saw the Champ flighters struggle a bit as their deep drives seemed to be off the mark by a hair. Anyone that has played the harbor course can tell you that is a recipe for disaster. In the end Clint Knisely took the honors over newcomer Michael Harrington.
The A flight playing from the black tees as well saw some spectacular golf turned in by Tony Capehart with a very solid 76 followed by Adam Daniel with an outstanding 78. Following those two in was long hitting Brooks Varn who posted a respectable 85.
The B flight also saw some great play as Jerry mast fired an 80 to take the flight by two over James Ravenel and newcomer Burt Lawson who fired 82's with James winning on a scorecard playoff.
Rich "Rock-Pile" Cairns turned in a blistering 37 on the back nine to secure first place in the C flight with a very nice 87 and a two shot victory over National Champion Marlon Jones.
The D flight saw a very impressive 93 from Dennis Harris to outpace Cowboy who turned in a solid 97.
The Hilton Head-Savannah GolfWeek Amateur Tour held its second event of the young season this past weekend (Jan. 29th) at Barony on Port Royal. The course was in great shape, the weather was amazing and the competitors were ready to play and continue their quest for the season long points total. A total of 36 golfers came out to play in this event and all of them seemed to have some fun.
With only four players in the Championship flight, making it the smallest group today, all the players were grouped together. So, the battle was on. Face-to-Face, shot for shot, toe to toe. When the players walked off the 18th green everyone in the group already knew who won. That player was Danny Nash who fired a 3-over round of 75 to claim the 900 points and the first place trophy. Danny also rattled off 4 birdies on the day and won one skin. Coming in second was Adam Dozier followed by Cram Cooper who finished third. A personal illness forced Laird Robinson out of the competition.
The A flight saw nine golfers take to the course on the day. With scores ranging from 78 to 86, the competition was tight all day long. In the end Lenin Lezcano used three birdies to help secure his first victory of the 2011 season. Eddie Wright was close behind Lezcano all day. Wright put together a solid round of 80 to come in second place. Finishing T3 was Mark Harrison and Chris Pronaut (81).
The biggest flight of the day was the B flight with 11 golfers. The B flight saw the first playoff on the day. This playoff came between Pat Helm and Mark Morris who both fired rounds of 85. After the first playoff hole one player had par and one had a bogey. Congratulations Pat on the win! Larry Lee used a 30-yard chip in on hole 18 to shot an 86 on the day and secure his third place finish. That chip in also won Lee a flight skin, a super skin and some bragging rights.
The C flight had six players today and half of them came off 18 with the same score. So off to hole #1 for another playoff the players went. But one playoff hole wasn’t enough for these guys; it took a second one to declare a winner. After the second playoff hole Mike Kline was able to hold off John Donat to claim his first win of the season. Gerard Mahieu rounds out the top three.
The D flight also had six players competing today. Coming off his second place finish at the Ice Breaker Open, KC Andrews was able to carry that momentum into Barony and come away with a victory. KC also had two birdies that ended up winning him one flight skin and a super skin. Rounding out the top three was Todd Champitto and Ronald Railey.
Congratulations to all the winners. It was a great way to keep the season rolling. Our next event will be Feb. 12 at The Crescent. Sign up early to secure your spot in the tournament. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Also, continue to spread the word about the tour. We have started off pretty well but let’s get our golfing friends involved in the tour. More people equals more prizes!
On January 15th over 100 golfers, representing 14 different tours, descended on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina to officially start the 2011 GolfWeek Amateur Tour at the Ice Breaker Open. Playing host to this two-day tournament was the Palmetto Dunes Golf Resort on Hilton Head Island. Day one of the event was held on the George Fazio course while day two took place at the Robert Trent Jones course. With the weather outlook calling for low to mid 50’s, mixed with wind, on the weekend, the anticipation and excitement started setting in for many of the golfers early in the week. One dedicated player, Zavier Neeley (Columbus Tour), drove all the way through the night on Friday night to Saturday morning from Columbus, Ohio just to play in the first tournament of the season. Many other golfers arrived earlier in the week to get a few practice rounds in before the tournament. Needless to say, this had the making to be a great weekend of golf and camaraderie amongst the many golfers on the GolfWeek Amateur Tour.
The Ice Breaker Open. What a perfect name for this particular event and especially for this weekend. The official start for the shotgun tournament was 10 o’clock each morning. However, each day was delayed for an hour to give the sun a chance to, break the ice. I guess we can’t complain too much about the waiting. After all, it is January and we are playing golf right? Golfers began showing up to the course two hours early to check-in, with hopes to get warmed up and ready to go. Once the delay was announced you could feel the anxiety build even more throughout the crowd. Now players would have to wait one more hour before they could get out on the course and begin their quest for that first win of the season.
With that interesting beginning to our day and the tournament, many funny stories were told after the round was over. In a scene right out of Happy Gilmore, one golfer actually landed a ball on a foot; his own foot. Standing in a greenside bunker, Thomas Lee (East Tennessee Tour) took a healthy swing to flop his ball onto the green. After his swing he stood completely still. Wondering what happened, his fellow golfers asked him what was wrong. All Lee could say in between laughs was, “What happens if the ball is on my foot?” Thoughts of Shooter McGavin from the movie Happy Gilmore raced into everyone’s head followed by some good laughs.
Another shot that drew the attention of some golfers came off the club of Ryan Thompson (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour). Positioned just 50 yards off the green, Thompson stepped behind his golf ball and surveyed his shot. Thompson had to fly his ball over a bunker and land it soft to a short-sided pin. What happened next was a something that was talked about and laughed about for the rest of the weekend. Taking a nice smooth swing, Thompson sent the ball flying with his sand wedge; only to have the ball come up just short into the bunker and disappear. Yes disappear. The golfers spent a few minutes trying to find the ball in the bunker just to discover that it had actually buried itself in the side of the bunker about three inches deep.
Along with the funny stories and great play on the weekend, one of the most exciting parts of the GolfWeek Amateur Tour is the camaraderie we all share. This weekend was not only about the golf tournament and the competition amongst everyone; it was about building friendships, meeting new people and having a good time with friends and family. Over the weekend, numerous players got together to play practice rounds with other. Every night big groups meet up at different restaurants and had dinner. Many of the players brought their spouse with them for the weekend getaway, making dinners even better. On Saturday night, players meet at the XO Lounge for the Pairings Party. Laughs, stories and ideas we all shared. Friendships were made and good times were had by all. This is one of the many things that makes the GolfWeek Amateur Tour so much fun; the camaraderie.
Even with all of the funny stories and mishaps on the course, the tournament was a huge success. As mentioned, the tournament hosted over 100 golfers from 14 different tours, a total of over $7500 was given out in prize money and everyone learned what the tour is all about. In addition to the flight skins pot and the closest to the pin pot, something new that was started up this year was the Super Skin pot. This was a pot that consisted of every golfer in the tournament playing for skins. A championship flight player could have a skin cut by a D flight player, which happened on numerous occasions. It is a great pot to get into. Why? Just ask Frank Whitaker (NE Georgia Tour). Frank put in his $20 for the Super Skin pot and walked away with $360 for winning two Super Skins. When asked what the best shot of the day for him was, he smiled and said “I guess that 3-iron out of the woods around a tree to four feet paid off.” Yes Frank it sure did.
As you can tell the tournament was a blast, but that wasn’t the end of the fireworks. The Championship flight (0-3.9 index) winners felt the need to play more than 36 holes of golf to decide a winner. Adam Dozier (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour), Richard Gaines (Jacksonville Tour) and Dennis Adkins(Myrtle Beach Tour) needed extra holes to decide who was taking home 900 points, the first place trophy and the $180 first place prize money. After a few birdies and a couple intense holes, Adam Dozier was able to hold on and claim the win. Gaines comes in second while Adkins takes home third place.
Even though the A flight (4.0-8.9 index) did not have a playoff to crown its champion, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t intense. Andre Emery (Upstate Tour) battled the solid play of Randall Webb (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour) and Mike Peters (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour) for two straight days to secure the victory. Emery fired a 76-75=151 to claim the three shot victory over Webb (76-78=154) and a seven shot win over Peters (82-76-158). Not only was this Emery’s first win, it was his first tournament with the GolfWeek Amateur Tour. Congratulations Andre on the great win, the 900 points and the $520 first place prize money!
The B flight (9.0-13.9 index) was the biggest flight over the weekend consisting of 28 players. Chris Franklin (Upstate Tour) played a solid two days of golf to claim the top spot in his flight. Franklin was the B flight season long champion last year for the Upstate tour. Obviously, he is picking up right where he left off from last year. Franklin fired rounds of 81-83 to secure the four shot win over Denny Miller (Charleston Tour) and the six shot win over Mark Morris (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour).
Andrew Dart (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour) improved his score by eight strokes to hoist the first place trophy in the C flight (14.0-18.9 index). Dart went 88-80=168 to claim the seven shot victory over fellow Hilton Head-Savannah tour member Todd Saylor (83-92=175). Coming in third in the C flight was Matthew Crates (Charlotte Tour) who went 88-89=177.
The final flight on the tour is the D flight (19.0 and above index). David Bruce (Columbia Tour) was the D flight season long champion for the Columbia Tour last year.Now he is the 2011 Ice Breaker Open Champion. Bruce put together rounds of 89-84=173 to secure the win. KC Andrews (Hilton Head-Savannah Tour), who is a new comer to the tour, comes in second with rounds of 86-97=183. Rounding out the top three was Andy Peterson (Jacksonville Tour) with rounds of 84-100=184.
Congratulations to everyone who played and won over the weekend. I cannot think of a better start to the 2011 GolfWeek Amateur Tour season. I would like to thank and welcome all the new tour members, the new tours and new tour directors that made the Ice Breaker Open their first event of the season. Let’s all continue to have a great 2011 season. As always, please remember that not only does the tour host golf tournaments and build friendships; we also raise money for cancer research. Many tours combined last year to raise over $16,000 to donate to Stand Up To Cancer. Let’s strive to better that number this year.
