CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
The 91st Georgia Amateur Championship • July 12 - 15, 2012
Settindown Course Tour • GSGA Scoring/Pairings Menu • Rob Matre's Tournament Photographs
Congratulations to Lee Knox of Augusta, you're the 2012 Georgia Amateur Champion!
Final Round Reports:
GSGA- Knox Holds Off Charge from Noll to Win Second Georgia Amateur
WRDW-TV Augusta- Lee Knox wins Georgia Amateur for second time
AJC- "Green light special" aids Georgia Amateur golf victory
View more of Rob Matre's photos from Saturday's third round
Augusta's Lee Knox stands alone at the top of the leader board at 7-under par after three rounds. He holds a two stroke lead over Matt Russell at -5. Michael Garretson is four back at -3.
• Knox's Streak...Knox went birdie, birdie, eagle on 7, 8 and 9 to make the turn at -9 and become the round's emerging leader. He got it all the way to -10 with a birdie at 11, but made three bogeys over the last six holes.
• The Ninth played as a reachable Par 4 today, measuring 286 yards. Lee Knox took advantage with the shot of the tournament, landing his drive near the hole and then making a 15-footer for eagle to take the lead.
• Settindown course architect Bob Cupp was present during Round 3 Play.
• Top Player Bios:
Third Round Leader Lee Knox1 Lee Knox
2 Matt Russell
3 Michael Garretson
T4 Scott Weeks
T4 David Noll
• Round 3 Scoring Average: 37.8-38.1-75.9
• Final Group Tees off at 10 a.m.
Lee Knox: -7...69-70-70-209
Matt Russell: -5...71-71-69-211
Michael Garretson: -3...70-68-75-213
Lee Knox on the sixth green.View more of Rob Matre's photos from Friday's second round
The second round was completed Saturday morning after being postponed by storms Friday afternoon.
• After 36 holes of play, 17 players stand at Even Par or better. Here is a look at the leaders:
1 Michael Garretson.....-6
2 Lee Knox.....-5
3 Scott Weeks.....-4
T4 Ridge Purcell.....-2
T4 Hunter Cornelius Jr......-2
T4 Matt Russell.....-2
T4 William Mitchell.....-2
T4 Chris Waters.....-2
T9 Franco Castro.....-1
T9 Jimmy Banyas.....-1
T9 William Sigg.....-1
T9 Bill Faith.....-1
T9 Travis Snyder.....-1
T9 Robert Sheats.....-1
T15 David Yowell.....E
T15 Will Snipes.....E
T15 John Hopper.....E
• The third round will begin at noon, with the leaders teeing off at 2 p.m. Here's a look at the players in the last three groups, all teeing off Hole 1:
1:40 p.m.- Chris Waters, Hunter Cornelius Jr., Bill Faith
1:50 p.m.- Matt Russell, William Mitchell, Ridge Purcell
2 p.m.- Michael Garretson, Lee Knox, Scott Weeks
• Congratulations to Ansley members Matt Hayes and Tommy Caswell Jr. for making the cut. Both players just ended their college golf careers, with Matt playing at Furman and Tommy at Georgia State. Here's how the five Ansley members fared:
Matthew Hayes +1.....73-72-145
Tommy Caswell Jr. +8.....76-76-152
Ryan Parnell +14.....79-79-158 MC
Josh Rollins +17.....86-75-161 MC
Adam Wright +18.....81-81-162 MC
• Scoring averages for the first two rounds:
Round One: 37.9-38.3-76.2
Round Two: 37.2-39.1-76.1
Rounds 1 - 2: 37.6-38.7-76.1
• Even for the state's top amateur players, the difficult challenge of Settindown leads to unusually high numbers of "others"- scores of triple bogey or higher. A total of 52 "others" were recorded in the first two rounds, with the 18th causing the most problems with a total of 11.
Friday's Highlights...
• Two weather delays postponed completion of the second round until Saturday morning. Play will resume at 7:30 a.m., with the range opening at 6:30.
• Third round tee times will begin at noon, with the final group teeing off at 1:50 p.m.
• The morning wave completed their second rounds, with Acworth's Michael Garretson, a sophomore on The University of South Alabama golf team, leading at -6. 2010 Champion Lee Knox of Augusta and a senior on The University of Alabama golf team is one shot back at -5.
• Scott Weeks of Savannah and Jimmy Banyas of Duluth, who has not completed his second round, are tied for third at -4.
• In the morning field, the average score was 75.465, with the back nine playing almost two shots harder than the front.
• The projected cut is +7.
• The low score of the day was 68 by leader Michael Garretson and Ridge Purcell of LaGrange who is T5.
• Defending Champion David Noll is T20/+1.
Three players share the lead at 3-under par after the first round of the 2012 Georgia Amateur Championship. 2010 Champion Lee Knox of Augusta and The University of Alabama, Scott Weeks of Savannah, and Robert Sheats of Atlanta, a runner-up at the 2007 Georgia Amateur at Settindown, hold a slim lead over six players at -2 and six more players at -1.
Notes:
• Heavy rains leading up to the tournament forced the lift-clean-and-place rule to be in effect.
• Ansley added over 400 yards to The Settindown Course since the 2007 Georgia Amateur with its new "Black Tees", but only one new tee was used today, the Par-5 Fourth.
• An approach shot on the 18th hole damaged the cup beyond repair, which forced the grounds crew to cut a new hole mid-round. This is a very unusual occurrence in a tournament.
• Proof that Settindown is a tough course: two players withdrew when they ran out of golf balls.
• Five Ansley members are playing. Here's how they fared:
Matthew Hayes T27/+1
Tommy Caswell Jr. T65/+4
Ryan Parnell T107/+7
Adam Wright T126/+9
Josh Rollins 140/+14
• Ansley member Rich Rescigno missed qualifying by a single stroke and was on site as an alternate but was unable to make the field. Rich's brother and Member/Guest partner Fred Rescigno is playing and shot 74.
• Defending Champion David Noll Jr. of Dalton shot a 73 and is T27.
• Two father sons duos are playing: Jack Larkin and son Jack of Atlanta, and Jeff Knox and son Lee of Augusta. Doug Roberson profiled Jeff & Lee Knox in The AJC.
07.15.2012