After a rainout in the first attempt to play Penny Branch, the Charleston and Hilton Head-Savannah Tours were able to finally get the tournament in this past weekend. The second attempt to play Penny Branch saw an opportunity for a few more players from Augusta, Charleston and Hilton Head-Savannah to be added to the tournament. A total of 54 players headed to Furman, SC for the early start, a 9:30 shotgun start. This was the first Major tournament of the season, so playing well was important since 900 points were up for grabs.
The Champ Flight saw one player take to the course. Brent Savage from the Hilton Head-Savannah Tour cruised to an uncontested victory with a round of 81 on the day. Even though Brent was the only Champ flight player on the day, he was happy to take home the 900 points for the win. The 900 points moves Brent into first place for the season long points total championship.
The A flight is where the competition really got started. Howard Tomlinson, Hilton Head Tour, and Dan Wanner, Charleston tour, both fired one over par 73's on the day. Each round included four birdies each. The winner was settled on a one hole playoff as Dan was able to secure the victory with a par on the very difficult hole one. Coming in third was Rick Hopper, Augusta tour. Rick shot an impressive 76 on the day that included three birdies. Not to be left out of the picture was Jace Gause who won the Closest to the Pin with a solid shot on Hole 15.
The B flight saw a guest from the Augusta tour take home the top spot. Jason Burton not only shot a very slick 77 but he also holed out his 4th shot from 46 yards on the 580 yard monster hole 18 for a nice birdie. This shot proved to be very profitable as Jason won a Skin as well as the only Super Skin of the day, taking home $460 for the Super Skin. Way to go Jason! Coming in second in the B flight was James Ravenel who fired a very nice round of 80 that included 3 birdies. Third place was a score card playoff between Casey Collier and Tim Sumption who both shot 81's. Darrel Bazemore won the Closest to the Pin on hole 11 for the B flight.
The C flight saw Thomas Hamilton, Hilton Head tour, fire a career Golfweek Amateur Tour round to take home the top spot. Thomas was firing away all day long. It was his consistency that paid off as Thomas hit 10 fairways and 11 greens in route to his spectacular 78 on the day. Not only did he win the flight but he took CTP honors for the C flight as well. This marks the second win in a row for Thomas. Congratulations Thomas on a super round! Todd Saylor also from Hilton Head took second with an 82 edging out Rich Cairns from Charlotte who shot an 83 on the day.
The D flight saw our second playoff of the day as Wayne Carter and Dennis Harris both from Charleston had very impressive rounds of 89. Wayne secured the victory on the second playoff hole. Coming in third was steady Cowboy who shot a very nice 92 and won in a scorecard playoff over Patrick Jones of Hilton Head. George Story of Hilton Head won the D flight CTP.
Congratulations to all the golfers today. It took us a while to get the tournament in but we did it! Check out the schedules and get signed up for the next event on your tour!