2004 Senior Championship

Spencer Sappington Uses Late Heroics to Repeat as Georgia Senior Champion

COLUMBUS, Ga. - A hole-in-one, followed by a dramatic birdie, helped Spencer Sappington of Alpharetta break a late tie and capture his second straight Georgia Senior Championship at the Country Club of Columbus. Sappington shot a final-round 76 to win the title with a seven-over par 220, four strokes ahead of Jerry Greenbaum of Atlanta, who turned in his second-straight 73 to close out the tournament at 224.

Karl Simon of Lawrenceville, Sappington's closest competitor in the first two rounds, dropped to a third-place finish at 225 following a final-round 77. Al Everett of Cumming carded a 75 to move up two spots in the standings, placing fourth at 228. Mike Townsend of Dalton fell from to third to fifth at 230 with a final-round 80. Greg Scurlock of Augusta fired a 72 (tying the lowest round of the tournament) to move into a tie for sixth place with Dick Van Leuvan of Roswell at 231.

Sappington began the day at two-over par for the tournament, leading Simon by four, Townsend by six and Greenbaum by seven strokes. But it was Greenbaum who made the early charge, carding three birdies over his first six holes - the par-5 first and fourth holes as well as the par-4, 431-yard sixth. Sappington meanwhile, had errant tee shots to bogey Nos. 4 and 6, shrinking his lead to just two strokes over Greenbaum as Simon and Townsend fell back. A 15-foot birdie putt on No. 7 gave Sappington a three-stroke margin, but a double-bogey on nine - due a lost tee shot followed by an approach that sailed over the green - quickly dropped his advantage to just one at the turn as Greenbaum parred holes 7, 8 and 9.

Sappington's lead briefly went back to three strokes as Greenbaum (one group ahead) three-putted on both 11 and 12 for bogeys. But on No. 12, Sappington chipped from the back of the green and the ball traveled down two tiers to the front, and he recorded double-bogey, once again making it a one-stroke margin.
The next four holes provided quite a bit of drama, as a Sappington bogey on No. 14 put him in a tie with Greenbaum at eight-over. Then, as Sappington was recording another bogey at 15, Greenbaum did the same on 16, moving both to +9.

Standing on the 16th tee, Sappington said, "I gave myself a pep talk. After 15, I figured I had squandered away any lead I had, and I was pretty worried. I had come all this way and hit some really goofy shots, and I knew Jerry was playing really well. So I told myself if I could just birdie the last three holes, I'd still have a chance. I just took dead aim at the hole."

His approach worked. Using a 7-iron, Sappington aced the 155-yard 16th hole, retaking the lead by two strokes. It was his third career hole-in-one, all of which have come in tournament play.

Greenbaum, meanwhile, found trouble on No. 17 in a greenside bunker. Needing two shots to get out, he then three-putted to record double-bogey and give Sappington a four-stroke cushion. Soon after, Sappington found a fairway bunker on 17, but with "one of the top three shots I've ever hit", nearly recorded an eagle, chipping 90 yards to within one foot for birdie and a five-stroke lead.

On 18, Greenbaum settled for par after just missing a long birdie putt, and Sappington gave up a stroke after missing the green and carding bogey for the final four-stroke margin of victory.

Sappington, who encountered a similar - but not quite as dramatic - situation in the final round of last year's Championship at Savannah Golf Club (with Greenbaum factoring in as well), described this victory as "pretty special."

"It was wild out there," he said. "It just shows that 'it's never over till it's over', especially on a course like this. I felt like giving up after 15, but I've been playing too long to know better than that. Without a doubt, those (16 and 17) were the best back-to-back holes I've ever played."

Sappington's hole-in-one was the second such shot of the day, as Ken Benson of Alpharetta also aced No. 16 with an 8-iron.

For the second straight year, Sappington receives the Johnny Skeadas Memorial Trophy, which was given by his family in 1998 in honor of the first Senior Champion. Skeadas also won a second title in 1992. Skeadas son, Johnny Skeadas, Jr., was on hand in Columbus to present the trophy.

The field of 144 was cut to the low 70 after 36 holes, with the cut line falling at 27-over 169. The Country Club of Columbus played to approximately 6,394 yards and a par of 71.

Entries were open to male amateur golfers who are at least 55 years old, members of a GSGA Member Club and residents of Georgia. The field was determined by the lowest USGA Handicap Indexes.

GSGA conducts 18 statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups, three interstate matches 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.

*** Notables ***

A Sappington RepeatSpencer Sappington becomes the second golfer to win back-to-back Senior Championship titles, following Walt Fugate, who accomplished the feat in 1990 and 1991. Sappington also becomes the fifth golfer to win this event more than once, joining Fugate, Johnny Skeadas (1987, 1992), Joe Estes (1989, 1998) and three-time winner Bill Ploeger (1995, 1997, 1999). Estes and Ploeger finished tied for eighth and 22nd, respectively, in this year's event.

 

Par ImpossibleNo competitor shot par (71) during the entire Senior Championship. Only three 72s were recorded - two by Sappington in the first two rounds, and one by Greg Scurlock in the final round. Jerry Greenbaum carded the only 73s of the event in the second and final rounds.

They Have a HistorySappington and Greenbaum are quite familiar with each other, as the duo teamed up to win the 1998 Georgia Senior Four-Ball Championship. Greenbaum, a three-time Atlanta Amateur Champion, also shared the second-round lead with Sappington at last year's Senior Championship, but dropped two critical strokes on the last two holes to drop to third.

Tough, Tougher and ToughestAfter serving as the toughest hole on the course the first two rounds, the 315-yard 11th was only the second-hardest in the final round, giving up the "honor" to the 451-yard 15th hole. Both holes, however, averaged just over bogey scores on Wednesday. The sixth (par-4, 431 yards) and 13th (par-4, 408 yards) tied as the third-toughest in the final round, with an average score of 4.99.

 

Final Results

1 Spencer Sappington, Alpharetta 72 72 76 220
2 Jerry Greenbaum, Atlanta 78 73 73 224
3 Karl Simon, Lawrenceville 74 74 77 225
4 Al Everett, Cumming 77 76 75 228
5 Mike Townsend, Dalton 75 75 80 230
6 Greg Scurlock, Augusta 78 81 72 231
6 Dick Van Leuvan, Roswell 78 75 78 231
8 Dick Donegan, Kennesaw 75 83 74 232
8 Bill Evans, Columbus 79 74 79 232
8 Joseph Estes, Atlanta 77 76 79 232
11 Sherold Skinner, Fayetteville 76 81 76 233
11 Matt O'Brien, Decatur 81 75 77 233
11 Frank Perry, Fayetteville 81 74 78 233
14 Ron Savastano, Roswell 77 82 75 234 ?
14 Boyd Johnson, Statesboro 79 78 77 234
14 Steve Crane, Dalton 78 77 79 234
17 Don Marsh, Alpharetta 79 76 80 235
18 Jimmy Coppage, Columbus 78 80 78 236
18 Mark Kirk, Marietta 80 78 78 236
18 Frank Costanzo, Savannah 78 79 79 236
18 John Darnall, Duluth 77 78 81 236
22 Larry Clark, Kennesaw 86 77 74 237
22 Jim Planche, Lawrenceville 79 81 77 237
22 Ken Benson, Alpharetta 80 80 77 237
22 Bill Ploeger, Columbus 80 78 79 237
22 Gerald Carmichael, Dunwoody 77 80 80 237
22 Jules Victor III, Savannah 78 79 80 237
28 Gene Cohen, Suwanee 81 79 78 238
29 Julian Saul, Dalton 81 79 79 239
29 Roy Price Jr., Augusta 82 78 79 239
29 Christopher Demarco, Acworth 77 82 80 239
29 Bill Mullen, Woodstock 76 80 83 239
33 Marvin Davenport, Hiawassee 81 81 78 240
33 Doug Cole, Acworth 82 78 80 240
35 Charlie Busbee, McDonough 82 81 78 241
36 Jackson Moore, Marietta 79 83 80 242
36 Amos Jones, Atlanta 78 82 82 242
36 Jimmy Langham, Greensboro 83 81 78 242
36 Earl Johnson, Lawrenceville 81 85 76 242
40 Mike Keeble, Newnan 79 81 83 243
40 Bill Hubbard, Atlanta 84 80 79 243
40 Joe Jillison, Ball Ground 81 84 78 243
43 Nick Kirkland, Snellville 77 85 82 244
43 Chuck Kuhn, Atlanta 79 84 81 244
43 Tom Hall, Leesburg 83 80 81 244
43 Ken Baker, Monroe 84 82 78 244
47 Bill Shaw, Atlanta 81 81 83 245
48 Paul Cobb Jr., Norcross 80 80 87 247
48 Rick Farage, Warner Robins 81 79 87 247
48 Thomas Rood, Savannah 78 85 84 247
48 Charles Pinkard Sr., Rockmart 83 81 83 247
48 Ed Hoopes, Atlanta 82 85 80 247
48 Dave Buffolino, Suwanee 83 85 79 247
48 John McGourty, Woodstock 83 85 79 247
55 Don Heilman, Roswell 81 82 85 248
55 Berney Armstrong, Valdosta 78 85 85 248
55 Dick Martin, Alpharetta 79 88 81 248
58 Robert Bertrand, Alpharetta 83 83 83 249
59 John Anderson, Roswell 82 81 87 250
60 Jay Harper, Augusta 81 86 84 251
61 Jim Kamis, Marietta 82 83 87 252
61 Morris Henderson, Powder Springs 77 91 84 252
63 Tom Powers, Smyrna 91 78 84 253
64 Carson Keller, Lilburn 79 85 91 255
65 Bob Sharpenberg, Alpharetta 84 81 91 256
65 Bill Wetzel, Dunwoody 85 83 88 256
67 Michael Towson, Savannah 90 78 89 257
68 Terry Moon, Powder Springs 84 85 89 258
69 Bob Kelley, Marietta 86 77 99 262
70 Michael Smith, Cumming 76 75 WD