The 2011 regular tournament season has come to an end. The Robert Cupp course on Palmetto Hall Plantation hosted this final event for the Hilton Head – Savannah division of the Golfweek Amateur Tour. Though the day started off rather chilly, the sun came out and created a beautiful day for golf. With temperatures in the low to mid-70’s and the sun shining; a small number of golfers took to the course in this final event.
Being the only golfer in the Championship Flight, Chris Burnett’s goal today was to "keep it in the 70’s" on this tough course. Chris was solid all round long. Even after the first four holes, Chris did suffer a small setback with a bogey followed by a double bogey before going par bogey par to finish the front at a plus for 40. A birdie on the difficult par 5 10th got the back nine going. Coming into 18, Chris needed a birdie to secure a 79 on the day. After a good tee shot and a great approach, Chris had a nasty little 5-footer for that birdie. A few deep breaths later the 5-footer was drained and a 79 was on the scorecard. Chris later said that he didn’t want the season to end. Don’t worry Chris, the tour championship is in three weeks followed by the winter series.
The A flight had two players playing together; Mike Peters and Jeff Summers. Battling all round long took a lot out of both golfers as they walked off the 18th green. Both guys said it was a tiring round. After 9 holes Mike and Jeff were deadlocked with 44’s on the scorecard. Jeff was able to hold off Mike on the back and card a very solid 85 on the day. Mike wrapped up his 2011 season with a 92 in the last tournament. Congratulations Jeff on the victory!
The biggest flight of the day was the B flight with four players. Craig Ehde was the first player in for the B flight. Craig went 41-44 for an 85 on the day. Again, a very impressive score on the difficult Cupp course. Craig was waiting eagerly for the final B flight group to come in from the course to see if he was going to secure another victory. Unfortunatly for Craig it was Doug Hudock that took home the trophy today. Doug put together a very solid round of 83 to take home first place. Doug was very surprised that he won saying "I thought for sure it would take an 80 or 81 to win today." Congrats Doug on the win!
The C flight saw two players take to the course; Keith Weaver and Seth Stephens. It was a battle right from the start between these two players. After 5 holes, Weaver was up by 7 strokes. However after 9 the two were tied. Seth made up 7 strokes between holes 7 and 9 including a birdie on the tough par 3 eighth. Seth carried that momentum in the back nine and was firing on all cylinders through the first three holes. Just when Weaver would make a move to catch up, Stephens would put the throttle back down and pull away. Stephens secured the victory with a bogey on the 18th hole. Congratulations Seth on a nice victory today.
Alicia and I would like to thank everyone that played this year on the tour. It truly was a lot of fun and we had a blast. As we enter into the tour championship, we would like to hear from players about the tour. How can we make it better? How do we get more players involved? Any ideas that you want to share with us would be appreciated. My email is kweaver1976@gmail.com . Feel free to email me.
Our final donation total to Stand Up Too Cancer was $281! Thank you Hilton Head-Savannah Tour Members!
Remember the deadline to register for the tour championship is WEDNESDAY OCT. 5th! Sign up ASAP to secure your spot in the championship.