2005 Mid-Amateur Championship

Jefferson Murray's Late Birdies Secure Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship by a Stroke

Live Scoring Link

ROME, Ga. ---- Jefferson Murray of Augusta carded a 1-under 69 for a two-day total of 136 and a one-stroke victory over Jeff Knox, also of Augusta, at the Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship, which took place at Coosa Country Club. Knox turned in the low score of the day, a 3-under 67, but it wasn't enough to overcome Murray's 2-under performance on the back nine, including birdies on 16 and 17, which secured the win.

First-round co-leader Chris Hall of Marietta tied for third at 2-under 138 (66-72) with Matt Robbins of Cumming (70-68). Atlanta's Jack Larkin and Marietta's Jeff Belk, both past GSGA champions, tied for fifth at 139 along with Mark Strickland of Woodstock and Rome's Marty Ellison. Ellison shared the first-round lead with Hall with an opening 66, but fell in the standings after a 73 on Sunday.

With par rounds of 70-70, Dave Womack of McDonough rounded out the top-10 with Greg Kennedy of Cumming, the 2000 Mid-Amateur Champion (69-71).
Defending champion Doug Hanzel of Savannah carded a 1-under 69 in the final round to move into a tie for 16th at 3-over 143.

Murray, who began the day tied for third, was 1-over at the turn with two bogeys (holes 2 and 6) and a birdie on the par-5, 573-yard fourth hole. His strong performance on the back nine began with an impressive drive on No. 10, getting to within four feet of the hole on the 193-yard par 3 for birdie.

Murray returned to 1-over for the round (2-under for the tournament) with a bogey on the 13th hole, a 461-yard par-4 that was converted from a par-5 for the championship. Meanwhile, Knox, five groups ahead, became the clubhouse leader at 137 (-3) following his final-round 67, which included five birdies and two bogeys.

Murray, who thought it "would take two or three-under the final day" to win the event, made a late charge with a pair of birdies on 16 and 17. He "caught a break" on 16, after his drive went to the right and ricocheted off a tree limb, leaving him with a 145-yard approach. He stuck it to four feet and made the short downhill putt to move to 3-under, tying Knox for the lead. On the 194-yard, par-3 17th, he sunk a 15-foot, right-to-left uphill putt to take sole possession of the lead. He nearly finished his round with a third-straight birdie on No. 18, narrowly missing a 10-foot putt that would have given him a two-stroke cushion at the top of the leaderboard.

"I just had to grind it out, and work hard for every par," Murray said of his final round. "The hole locations were tough, and the wind was brisk and kept changing directions out there."

Due to inclement weather on Friday, the championship was reduced to 36 holes with no cut. Because of the format change, pairings that were set for Friday and Saturday's rounds were simply moved to Saturday and Sunday. As it turned out, all 23 players who shot par or better on Saturday played in the morning wave on Sunday. Murray, as a result, had to wait on the afternoon wave's results before he was declared champion.

A restauranteur from Augusta, Murray is the reigning club champion at West Lake Country Club and is a past club champion at Augusta Country Club. He described his Mid-Amateur victory as the "absolute biggest win" he's experienced in tournament golf.

Knox, also a member at Augusta Country Club, finishes as runner-up in the Mid-Amateur for the third-consecutive year and fourth time in the last five years. He also finished runner-up in the 1998 Georgia Amateur and 2001 Georgia Match Play Championship.

This was the 24th playing of the Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship, which features the state's top amateurs age 25 and older. This was the third year qualifying was held to determine the Mid-Amateur field, which was previously determined by handicap index. A total of 378 players competed for 113 available spots at five 18-hole qualifiers across the state, joining 31 exempt players. Murray was a qualifier for the championship, earning medalist honors at The Landings Club in Savannah.