2009 Senior Championship

Jimmy Thomas Captures Georgia Senior Championship
Thomas Birdies 18 to Outlast Sappington

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COLUMBUS, Ga. --- With a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the 18th hole, Jimmy Thomas of Johns Creek fired a 1-over-par 72 in the final round to post a tournament-total 1-over 214 and edge four-time champion and second-round leader Spencer Sappington of Milton by two strokes at Georgia Senior Championship. The 23rd annual event took place at Green Island Country Club, August 26-28.

Local Bobby Brent of Columbus and Jerry Greenbaum of Atlanta battled for the top spot during the early part of the final round, but both wound up tied for third at 217, three strokes back of Thomas. Bill Leonard of Kennesaw, Bill Newsom of Clarkesville and past champion Larry Clark of Kingston all tied for fifth at 218.  Karl Simon of Lawrenceville and another past champion, Tommy Reid of Macon, shared eighth place at 219. Bill Blalock of Atlanta posted the low round of the day, 69, to move into a 10th-place tie with Ernie Venet of Moultrie at 220.

 

Defending champion and Green Island member Bill Ploeger of Columbus posted a final-round 74 and finished tied for 12th place.

Sappington began the day with a one-stroke lead over Clark and Thomas, but it was Greenbaum, playing one group ahead, who made the early charge with birdies on his first two holes. He added another birdie with a long putt on No. 7 to move to 1-under-par for the tournament, the only player to break into the red numbers during the round. Sappington had bogeyed his first hole to move back to even and added two more bogeys at holes four and six, which meant Greenbaum's birdie at the seventh gave him a three-stroke lead.

Despite a bogey at No. 9, Greenbaum sat at even-par and held a two-shot advantage over Sappington at the turn. But it was still a five-man race, as Thomas and Brent were both hanging in there at 1-over, and Clark dropped back to 2-over with Sappington. Thomas played a steady front nine with just one bogey (No. 5).

Things got a little more interesting on the back nine. Both Sappington (bogey on No. 10) and Clark (No. 11) dropped to 3-over, and Brent posted three bogies, one double and a birdie in a five-hole stretch from 11-15 to move to 3-over as well. Greenbaum stayed steady with pars through 14, and Thomas squared things up, moving to even-par with a birdie on 13.

Greenbaum's approach at the 15th landed in a bush off the green, and after a drop, he wound up with double bogey. Thomas held sole possession of the lead, but not for long. His tee shot on the par-3, 173-yard 16th found the water, and he had to settle for a double bogey of his own. This time, however, he wasn't tied with Greenbaum (who had bogeyed 16 himself), but Sappington, who made a 10-foot par putt on 16 to move back to 2-over and knot it up with Thomas.

 

Greenbaum sat one stroke back.

Both Sappington and Thomas parred the par-5 17th, and went to the 18th tee still tied. Thomas' approach landed just in the fringe on the high side of the green, while Sappington's came up short and rolled back into a bunker fronting the green. His bunker shot just missed the green, and he couldn't get up and down for par. Thomas, just needing par to win the Championship, sunk the 20-footer for birdie.

Playing in just his third Senior Championship, Thomas described his win as "very emotional" and said it was a "great testimony." Over the last year he had battled neck cancer, undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and didn't know if he would ever play golf again. After picking the game back up just this past April, he said his goal for this week was to "enjoy myself and have fun." The final round was delayed two and a half hours on Friday after 1.8 inches of rain fell on the golf course in the early morning hours.

The Georgia Senior Championship was conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association. Entries were open to male amateur golfers at least 55 years old as of August 26, 2009, who belong to a GSGA Member Club. The field of 144 was determined by the lowest USGA Handicap Indexes.

After the second round, the field was cut to the low 70 players and ties, with the cutline falling at 14-over 156 and 74 players advancing.