2009 Public Links Championship

Schniederjans Holds On for Georgia Public Links Victory
Teenager cards two late birdies to withstand challenge from Nagy

LAGRANGE, Ga. --- First-round leader Ollie Schniederjans of Powder Springs birdied the 16th and 17th holes to move to 8-under-par 134 for the Championship and held off a charge from Matt Nagy of Kennesaw to win the 21st annual Georgia Public Links Championship, which took place September 12-13 at Overlook Golf Links. Schniederjans posted a final-round 68 to go with his opening 66. Nagy carded the low round of the day, 67, but missed a birdie putt on 17 and bogeyed the 18th to miss out on a playoff opportunity.

Jordan Johnstun of Evans moved up to third place at 3-under 139, while Jordan Mitchell of Atlanta finished one stroke back in fourth. Adam Cooper of Columbus placed fifth at 141, with William Mitchell of Roswell two strokes back in sixth. Brian Templeton of Newnan carded a 69 on Sunday to tie for seventh at 145 along with Troy Thompson of Dallas. Three players tied for ninth at 4-over 146, including Anders Albertson and David Sullivan, both of Woodstock, and Chris Gentile of Atlanta.

"It feels good to win a tournament versus being the runner-up," said the 16-year-old Schniederjans, who finished second at the Georgia Junior Championship earlier this summer. "I feel like I played really well out here; I hit a lot of greens and didn't have to struggle too much. I birdied 5 and 6 both days, which really got my rounds going."

Schniederjans began the final round at 5-under, and moved to 7-under with those birdies on 5 and 6. Nagy, however, playing one group ahead, was quickly catching up to him on the leader board. Starting the day three strokes back of the leader, Nagy birdied 1, 2 and 5 to move to within two strokes. After Schniederjans posted his lone bogey of the day (and just his second of the tournament) on No. 8, Nagy made the turn trailing him just by one stroke.

Schniederjans stayed steady, remaining at 6-under with pars on holes 9-15, but Nagy was still making a charge. He birdied the 431-yard 11th, then the short par-4 14th, to move to 7-under and take the outright lead. Schniederjans responded by sticking his tee shot on the 155-yard 16th to two feet for birdie. After Nagy missed a 12-footer for birdie on the par-5 17th, Schniederjans chipped to within eight feet and sank the birdie putt to regain the lead for good. The margin became two strokes when Nagy faced a difficult up-and-down on 18 and wound up with bogey.

Matt Moore of Covington held on to his first-round lead to win the first flight (153); while local Greg Shelnutt of LaGrange fired a 73 to win second-flight honors (152). Jacques Lamothe of Lilburn also maintained his opening-round lead to take the third flight title (149).

The field consisted of 110 golfers. The low 72 golfers comprised the Championship flight, and the remainder of the field was divided among three flights. Entrants must not have held privileges since January 1, 2009, at any club that does not extend playing privileges to the general public.

The par-71 layout at Overlook Golf Links played to 6,650 yards for the Championship and first flights and 6,203 yards for the second and third flights. Only the players competing in the Championship and first flights were eligible for the overall title.

Founded in 1916, the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) received its official charter on June 24, 1924. Since that date, the GSGA has grown to one of the largest state amateur golf associations in the country, with over 360 member clubs and 85,000 individual members. With a mission to promote and preserve amateur golf in the state of Georgia, GSGA offers a computerized handicapping service, course rating and measuring, and annually conducts a full schedule of statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups. Other services include a summer-long junior sectional program, award-winning Golf Georgia magazine, membership recognition and rewards programs and a charitable foundation administering two college scholarship programs.

 

Final Results

Top Ten Overall
1 Ollie Schniederjans, Powder Springs 66 68 134 -8
2 Matt Nagy, Kennesaw 69 67 136 -6
3 Jordan Johnstun, Evans 69 70 139 -3
4 Jordan Mitchell, Atlanta 70 70 140 -2
5 Adam Cooper, Columbus 68 73 141 -1
6 William Mitchell, Roswell 72 71 143 1
T7 Brian Templeton, Newnan 76 69 145 3
T7 Troy Thompson, Dallas 74 71 145 3
T9 Anders Albertson, Woodstock 72 74 146 4
T9 Chris Gentile, Atlanta 74 72 146 4
T9 David Sullivan, Woodstock 74 72 146 4