2002 Mid-Amateur Championship

Rick Cloninger Holds on to Repeat as Georgia Mid-Amateur Champion

VILLA RICA, GA - Rick Cloninger of Dacula held on to win his second straight Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship, finishing at five-under 211 with a closing 73. Finishing second at 213 was David Noll of Cohutta, who shot 70 on the day. 2000 champion Greg Kennedy of Cumming was third at 214, with Danny Nelson of Savannah finishing alone at 215 for the championship, which was held at The Frog Golf Course at the Georgian Resort, May 17-19.

Cloninger, who now has six major GSGA titles to his name, started the day with a five stroke advantage over Noll, Kennedy and Nelson and played conservatively as they failed to make a significant charge. Noll, a former professional mini-tour player who was competing in the group in front of Cloninger, picked up two birdies on the front to move to three-under but could not convert any of his several birdie opportunities on the back.

Cloninger set the tone for the day with nine straight pars on the front and a birdie on 10, where he drained a double-breaking putt of some 50 feet. Cloninger gave one back with a three-putt bogey on 12. Kennedy then birdied 13 to get within three and looked to pick up another two on 14, where Cloninger ran his first putt six feet past the hole and Kennedy had a birdie opportunity of about 10 feet. Kennedy, however, ended up with a three-putt bogey, while Cloninger saved his par. Cloninger went on to birdie 15 and finish unchallenged despite bogeying number 16 and the par-5 18th, where he took two strokes to get out of a fairway bunker.

Cloninger credited his success at the Mid-Amateur to solid ball striking and accuracy off the tee, where he rarely got into trouble with his driver on the 7,018-yard layout. Cloninger got his title defense off to an impressive start Friday with a six-under 66 and a two shot advantage. With the rest of the field struggling in Saturday's strong winds, Cloninger stretched his lead to five with a second-round 72 despite bogeys on the final three holes. (Hole-by-hole scores and statistics for the championship, provided by The Golf Experience and eGolfScore, are available through a link on the GSGA's website, www.gsga.org.).

In addition to his two Mid-Amateur victories, Cloninger won the1999 and 2001 Match Play Championship, the 2000 Public Links Championship and the 1999 Georgia Amateur. Among his other accolades, Cloninger received the 2001 Tommy Barnes Award as the GSGA's overall player of the year, and was recently profiled in GolfWeek as one of 12 Amateur Legends nationwide.

This was the 21st playing of the GSGA's Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship, which features the state's top amateurs age 25 and older. The field of 156 was reduced to the low 70 and ties after 36 holes. The cut fell at 156. The field was determined by handicap index, with the limit falling at 1.1 this year. For 2003, the GSGA will use 18-hole stroke play qualifiers to determine the field.

GSGA conducts 18 statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups, three interstate matches, one Atlanta area competition and 17 USGA qualifying events each year. Other services include computerized handicapping, course rating and measuring, a summer-long junior sectional competitions program, Golf Georgia magazine and two college scholarship programs.

 

Final Results

1 Rick Cloninger, Dacula 66 72 73 211
2 David Noll, Cohutta 70 73 70 213
3 Greg Kennedy, Cumming 70 73 71 214
4 Danny Nelson, Savannah 69 74 72 215
5 Brent Sizemore, Calhoun 74 73 71 218
5 Michael Standard, McDonough 70 76 72 218
7 Jorge Cora, Atlanta 74 71 74 219
8 Mark Lyons, Powder Springs 70 79 71 220
8 Bob Young, Dunwoody 75 72 73 220
10 Jeff Belk, Marietta 70 79 72 221
10 Mark Strickland, Woodstock 70 79 72 221
12 David Nell, Sharpsburg 74 74 74 222
12 Brandon Farley, Atlanta 72 75 75 222
12 Rocky Costa, Alpharetta 75 76 71 222
15 Jack Hall, Macon 74 76 73 223
15 Iain McGarva, Warner Robbins 72 76 75 223
15 Randall Conn, Alpharetta 71 77 75 223
18 Paul Sorel, Alpharetta 73 78 73 224
18 Brent Northrop, Albany 72 75 77 224
18 Jeff Knox, Augusta 73 73 78 224
21 Mark Burden, Atlanta 78 74 73 225
21 Doug Green, Cumming 71 80 74 225
21 Rusty Strawn, McDonough 69 81 75 225
21 Raymond Perez, Norcross 72 78 75 225
21 Wright Waddell, Columbus 75 79 71 225
26 Chris Chuck, Marietta 74 78 74 226
26 Bryan Sodel, Marietta 75 77 74 226
26 Stephen Welsh, Macon 74 77 75 226
26 Jim Stuart, Macon 76 75 75 226
26 Mark Nickerson, Roswell 77 77 72 226
26 Allen Peake, Macon 76 79 71 226
32 Gay McMichael, Macon 75 78 74 227
32 Mickey Jones, Duluth 74 80 73 227
32 Donny Phillips, Duluth 74 80 73 227
35 Stan Copelan, Columbus 74 77 77 228
35 Bill Hodges, Atlanta 73 79 76 228
35 Todd Eaker, Decatur 74 76 78 228
38 Larry Clark, Kennesaw 75 77 77 229
38 Sam Mays, Augusta 74 79 76 229
38 Danny Dantzler, Dalton 74 76 79 229
38 Greg Brewer, Atlanta 68 82 79 229
38 Jack Kearney, Peachtree City 76 72 81 229
38 Randy Donahoo, Woodstock 73 82 74 229
44 Erik Martin, Alpharetta 70 83 77 230
44 Greg Garde, Peachtree City 81 73 76 230
46 Alex Mackey, Kennesaw 74 76 81 231
46 Harold Wyatt, Atlanta 71 78 82 231
46 Cameron Whaley, Woodstock 71 78 82 231
46 Spencer Sappington, Alpharetta 77 79 75 231
46 Mike Sprouts, Greensboro 79 77 75 231
46 Bob Stonikas, Duluth 80 76 75 231
52 Robert Sheats, Atlanta 78 73 81 232
52 Danny Whigham, Atlanta 76 76 80 232
54 Robert Smith, Roswell 73 79 81 233
54 Paul Simpson, Carrollton 78 76 79 233
54 Bill Lovvorn, Oakwood 80 74 79 233
54 Edwin Wolfe, Warner Robbins 78 78 77 233
58 Tom Rajek, Suwanee 74 81 79 234
58 Steve Simmons, Warner Robbins 76 79 79 234
60 Jody Travis, Sharpsburg 73 81 81 235
60 Kevin Kester, Canton 76 80 79 235
62 Bill Leonard, Kennesaw 74 80 82 236
62 Steven Meyer, McDonough 76 79 81 236
64 Trey Venable, Athens 77 78 82 237
64 Bill Ghiradini, Atlanta 72 78 87 237
66 Tim Slough, Fayetteville 76 77 85 238
66 Hugh Darsey, Warner Robbins 76 79 83 238
66 Ricky Wilson, Cartersville 77 79 82 238
69 Frank Lightfoot, Roswell 73 80 87 240
69 Don Britt, Snellville 76 80 84 240
69 Paul Kocsis, Fayetteville 78 78 84 240