Sports
Golf: Georgia Amateur Championship Continues in Huntcliff Community
Defending champion, Lee Knox cards 3-under 67 in opening round
From Staff Reports
Defending champion Lee Knox of Augusta carded a 3-under-par 67 to take the first-round lead at the 90th annual Georgia Amateur Championship, going on through Sunday at Cherokee Town and Country Club in the Huntcliff community. He holds a one-stroke lead over Ridge Purcell of LaGrange, a recent Armstrong Atlantic State University golfer and graduate.
Four players are tied for third at 1-under 69, including Armstrong Atlantic State golfer Gus Wagoner of Duluth, Matt Russell of Dunwoody, Georgia Tech golfer Anders Albertson of Woodstock and Bill Jones III of Albany. A group of six players are tied for seventh at even-par 70.
Knox, who is a rising junior on the golf team at the University of Alabama, made the turn at even par with two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. He then posted three birdies over his last five holes go under 3-under for the day.
“I was hitting it solid,” Knox said. “I started making some good putts on the back nine. I had a good one on 18 for birdie and now I’m just looking forward to tomorrow.”
With just a few groups remaining on the course, play was suspended at 6:37 p.m., Thursday, due to a thunderstorm. After 45 minutes of torrential downpour, play resumed at 7:37 p.m., a delay of one hour.
Knox, son of two-time Georgia Mid-Amateur champion Jeff Knox (who shot a 75 in today’s round), is looking to become the second-straight golfer to win back-to-back Georgia Amateur titles.
Former University of Georgia golfer Russell Henley of Macon won consecutive championships in 2008-2009. Only eight golfers in the 90-year history of the Championship have won back-to-back titles.
The Georgia Amateur Championship is conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association and brings together 144 of the state's best male amateur golfers for the prestigious state title first won by Bobby Jones in 1916.
The Championship format is 72 holes of stroke play over four days. After 36 holes of play, the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader.
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An online leader board, featuring all competitors’ complete scorecards, is currently available at www.gsga.org. During Friday’s second round, scores will be updated after nine holes and as each golfer finishes his round. The weekend rounds will feature live, hole-by-hole scoring for several of the leading groups as well as nine-hole updates for all the other groups.
Founded in 1916, the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) received its official charter on June 24, 1924. Since that date, the GSGA has grown to one of the largest state amateur golf associations in the country, with over 350 member clubs and 85,000 individual members.
With a mission to promote and preserve amateur golf in the state of Georgia, GSGA offers a computerized handicapping service, course rating and measuring, and annually conducts a full schedule of statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups.
Find out what's happening in Sandy Springswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Other services include a summer-long junior sectional program, award-winning Golf Georgia magazine, membership recognition and rewards programs, management of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and a charitable foundation administering two college scholarship programs.
Georgia State Golf Association
90th Annual Georgia Amateur Championship
Cherokee Town and Country Club
First Round Results
Par 70
Place Name Score To Par
1 Lee Knox, Augusta 67 -3
2 Ridge Purcell, LaGrange 68 -2
T3 Anders Albertson, Woodstock 69 -1
T3 Bill Jones III, Albany 69 -1
T3 Gus Wagoner, Duluth 69 -1
T3 Matt Russell, Dunwoody 69 -1
T7 Doug Hanzel, Savannah 70 Even
T7 Jordan Janico, Duluth 70 Even
T7 John Stembridge, Norcross 70 Even
T7 Kris Mikkelsen, Atlanta 70 Even
T7 David Yowell, Marietta 70 Even
T7 Brent Cooper, Atlanta 70 Even
T13 Carter Collins, Statesboro 71 1
T13 David Noll Jr., Dalton 71 1
T13 Mark Sweeney, Monroe 71 1
T13 Michael Standard, McDonough 71 1
T13 Jay Degenhart, Savannah 71 1
T13 Franco Castro, Alpharetta 71 1
T13 Patrick Garrett, Powder Springs 71 1
T13 Ben Greene, Duluth 71 1
T13 Chad Wilson, Calhoun 71 1
T13 Blaine Woodruff, Acworth 71 1
T13 Justin Cho, Norcross 71 1
T13 Patrick Kenney, Acworth 71 1
T13 Ryan Parnell, Atlanta 71 1
T13 Zachary Healy, Norcross 71 1
T27 William Mitchell, Roswell 72 2
T27 Taylor Smith, Covington 72 2
T27 William Anderson, Atlanta 72 2
T27 Chris Chuck, Roswell 72 2
T27 Zach Estep, Lawrenceville 72 2
T27 Rich Grote, Kennesaw 72 2
T27 Seth Reeves, Duluth 72 2
T27 Chris Waters, Athens 72 2
T35 Cameron Simmons, Acworth 73 3
T35 Mark Strickland, Woodstock 73 3
T35 Grant Leroux, Atlanta 73 3
T35 Coleman Tidwell Jr., Macon 73 3
T35 Bryn Powers, Carrollton 73 3
T35 Nate Gahman, Leesburg 73 3
T35 Taylor Welborn, LaGrange 73 3
T35 Joey Maziar, Atlanta 73 3
T35 Zach Lindsey, Kennesaw 73 3
T35 Christian Raynor, Kennesaw 73 3
T35 Alan Fowler, Gainesville 73 3
T35 Michael Hinnant, Suwanee 73 3
T35 Ray Perez III, Norcross 73 3
T35 Grant Cagle, Gainesville 73 3
T35 Dylan Freeman, Athens 73 3
T35 Mitch Greer, Perry 73 3
T35 Greyson Sigg, Augusta 73 3
T52 Cason Hammock, Columbus 74 4
T52 Dan Whigham Jr., Atlanta 74 4
T52 Danny Yates, Atlanta 74 4
T52 Patrick Grahek, Alpharetta 74 4
T52 David Maddox, McDonough 74 4
T52 Brendan Gillins, Savannah 74 4
T52 Michael Motz, Milton 74 4
T52 Jonathan Klotz, Columbus 74 4
T52 Greg O'Connor II, Alpharetta 74 4
T52 Mike Schilling, Roswell 74 4
T52 Jeff Amershadian, Suwanee 74 4
T52 Mookie DeMoss, Duluth 74 4
T52 William Arwood, Thomasville 74 4
T52 John Belicka, Woodstock 74 4
T66 Jack Hall, Sea Island 75 5
T66 Jeff Knox, Augusta 75 5
T66 Tevis Upton, Acworth 75 5
T66 Buster Bruton, Dallas 75 5
T66 Lee Dennis, Athens 75 5
T66 Mark Nickerson, Roswell 75 5
T66 Don Marsh, Johns Creek 75 5
T66 Harold Wyatt, Atlanta 75 5
T66 Mike Granato, White 75 5
T66 Ted Moon, Lilburn 75 5
T66 Derek Watson, Gainesville 75 5
T66 Mike Cromer, Peachtree Corners 75 5
T66 David Sullivan, Woodstock 75 5
T66 Brent Whitehead, Marietta 75 5
T66 Rob Mcrae, Augusta 75 5
T81 Stephen Amerson, Gray 76 6
T81 Bob Royak, Alpharetta 76 6
T81 Jason Cohan, Savannah 76 6
T81 John Skeadas III, Savannah 76 6
T81 Scott Weeks, Savannah 76 6
T81 Richie Wiltfang, Brunswick 76 6
T81 William Sigg, Augusta 76 6
T81 Sanders Park, Alpharetta 76 6
T81 Kevin Jordan, Smyrna 76 6
T81 Jack Walsh, Lawrenceville 76 6
T91 Gavin Shane Harper, Twin City 77 7
T91 Chad Griffith, LaGrange 77 7
T91 Tyler Young, Kennesaw 77 7
T91 Daniel Mobley, Waynesboro 77 7
T91 Austin Vick, Evans 77 7
T91 Dean Hester, Dublin 77 7
T91 Jeff Belk, Marietta 77 7
T91 Tom Price Jr., Marietta 77 7
T91 Jim Foote, Gainesville 77 7
T91 Hector Cora, Atlanta 77 7
T91 Matthew Hayes, Marietta 77 7
T91 Zachary Bryant, Buckhead 77 7
T91 Greg Kennedy, Duluth 77 7
T91 Doug Saylor, Newnan 77 7
T91 Doug Stiles, Athens 77 7
T106 Bill Bergin, Atlanta 78 8
T106 Wright Waddell, Columbus 78 8
T106 JP Griffin, Glennville 78 8
T106 Zane Goldthorp, Tucker 78 8
T106 Michael Garretson, Acworth 78 8
T106 Will Morrow, Dalton 78 8
T106 Marty Childers, Jasper 78 8
T106 Zack Sexton, Atlanta 78 8
T106 Shawn Yim, Buford 78 8
T106 Nathan Mallonee, Lexington 78 8
T106 Whit Roper, Athens 78 8
T106 Ryan Steelman, Milledgeville 78 8
T118 Dave Womack, McDonough 79 9
T118 Paul Kocsis, Fayetteville 79 9
T118 Mark Buchholz, Alpharetta 79 9
T118 Tyler Gruca, Alpharetta 79 9
T118 Matt Mierzejewski, Suwanee 79 9
T118 John Quirk, Atlanta 79 9
T118 Adam Schlappi, Cumming 79 9
T125 Spenser Ferrell, Albany 80 10
T125 Jay Childs, Kennesaw 80 10
T125 Fulton Lewis, Cumming 80 10
T128 Henry Persons, Macon 81 11
T128 Chase Hankla, Valdosta 81 11
T128 Ed Cunliffe, Atlanta 81 11
T128 Matthew Bickley, Athens 81 11
T132 Shiloh Snow, Blackshear 82 12
T132 Dan Barkley, Roswell 82 12
T132 Cory Hurley, Atlanta 82 12
T132 Tae Kim, Duluth 82 12
T132 Pierce McNamara, Roswell 82 12
T132 Joel Sawyer, Elberton 82 12
T132 John Gabianelli, Atlanta 82 12
T139 David Hobby, Valdosta 83 13
T140 Brent Paul, Midland 85 15
T140 Thomas Donegan, Kennsaw 85 15
T142 Jeff Cowart, Savannah 86 16
T142 Andrew Malott, Marietta 86 16
T142 Kevin Lee, Dacula 86 16