2006 Mid-Amateur Championship

Strickland Birdies 18 to Capture Georgia Mid-Am Championship

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CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - Mark Strickland of Woodstock, propelled by three earlier birdies on the back nine, sunk a one-foot birdie putt on the 54th hole to avoid a playoff and win the Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship by a stroke over Baxley's Adam Thomas and McDonough's Dave Womack. Cartersville Country Club hosted the 25th annual event, May 19-21.

Strickland, sitting at 3-under for the championship following a bogey on 17, stuck his approach shot on the 525-yard, par-5 18th to 25 feet, just off the green. Womack was already in the clubhouse at 3-under after firing a tournament-low 67. Strickland's first putt went slightly wide, leaving him with a short second attempt for a 3-under 69 for the round, a 4-under 212 tournament total and his first GSGA title. Thomas, playing with Strickland, also connected on a one-foot birdie putt on 18 to tie Womack for runner-up honors.

"I knew I had to two-putt for the win," Strickland said. "But that can be pretty tough sometimes. It's not always as easy as it seems, especially in that situation."

Scott Davenport of Marietta and Greg Kennedy of Cumming carded 68 and 69, respectively, in the final round to tie for fourth at 2-under 214. It marked Davenport's second top-five finish in three years, and was Kennedy's fourth top-10 finish in the last five Mid-Amateurs.

David Noll, Jr. of Dalton finished at 215 and in sole possession of sixth place - his second in three years. Chris Kuhlke placed seventh at even par. Three golfers - Danny Nelson of Savannah, William Mitchell of Roswell and Raymond Perez III of Norcross - rounded out the top 10 all tied at 1-over 217. Defending champion Jefferson Murray of Augusta, who entered the day tied for ninth at even par, carded 77 and dropped into a tie for 24th at five-over 221.

Strickland began the day at one under par, three back of the leaders. He played steady on the front, picking up a stroke with a birdie on the 535-yard sixth hole and making the turn at 2-under for the tournament. Meanwhile, his playing partner, Thomas, started off hot with birdies on his first three holes. Thomas actually owned the lead at the turn (4-under) after second round co-leaders, Jack Hall Jr. of Savannah and Bob Royak of Alpharetta, both ran into trouble.

Hall and Royak began their rounds on track - Hall was even through four while Royak was 1-under. But starting at No. 5, each went +5 over the next four holes (Hall went double-bogey-bogey-bogey; Royak bogey-triple-par-bogey) to fall out of contention. Both recorded 78 on the day, falling into a tie for 11th with seven other golfers at 2-over 218.

Meanwhile, the competition had become a three-man race on the back nine. Thomas' 2-stroke lead over Strickland evaporated, as he had bogeys on 11 and 14 and Strickland birdied 11, 12 and 14 to go up by two. Strickland missed his first green of the day on 15, resulting in a bogey, but Thomas couldn't make up the ground when his par putt on the par-3 16th lipped out. Womack, meanwhile, had finished his round (which included six birdies) and was sitting at 3-under.

 

Strickland kept things interesting, moving to 3-under himself after missing the green at 17. He needed the birdie on 18 to win outright, and stuck his approach to the edge of the fringe to set up his two-putt opportunity.

"Today was best I had played - I was striking the ball really well," Strickland said. He shot 72-71 in the first two rounds before carding 69 on Sunday. "I missed a few putts early, but I stayed patient and things came together on the back."

Strickland played collegiately at Wake Forest University and on several professional tours, then regained his amateur status in 1998 and has since posted several high finishes in statewide events, including two runner-up showings at the Atlanta Amateur (1999, 2001), two top-10 Mid-Am finishes (2002, 2005) and a tie for eighth at the 2003 Georgia Amateur at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, his home course. He also represented GSGA on the victorious 2004 Southeastern Challenge Match and 2005 GSGA-GPGA Challenge Cup teams. But the 2006 Mid-Am marks his first title in an individual statewide event.

"It feels fantastic," Strickland said. "I had my wife, kids, parents and some neighbors out here today, so it felt great to show them something good. I'm really excited."

The top 25 finishers (including ties) are exempt into next year's Mid-Amateur Championship. The top three earn exemptions from qualifying into this year's Georgia Amateur Championship, which takes place in July at Coosa Country Club in Rome.

The field of 144 was cut to the low 70 and ties following Saturday's round, with the cut line falling at 9-over 153 and 76 players advancing.

Entries were open to male amateur golfers who are GSGA members, Georgia residents and age 25 and older as of the start of the championship. Non-exempt players had to qualify into the championship through one of six 18-hole qualifiers held across the state.