2002 Senior Championship

Frank Costanzo Holds off Bill Ploeger, Wins Georgia Senior Championship

SAVANNAH, GA - Frank Costanzo of Savannah held on for a wire-to-wire victory at Georgia Senior Championship with a final-round 73 for a five-under 211, two strokes ahead of three-time champion Bill Ploeger of Columbus. Ploeger, who began the day five strokes behind Costanzo, finished with a two-under 70 for his third runner-up finish in as many years. Dick Van Leuvan of Roswell, the 2000 champion, finished third at 215 after a closing 71 on the 6,550-yard Deer Creek Course at The Landings Club.

Costanzo, benefiting from local knowledge and an enormous gallery of fellow Landings members, never relinquished his lead after an opening-round 66. Ploeger, who is also a past USGA Senior Champion and last year's USGA runner-up, got to within one stroke by the 12th hole, but Costanzo pulled away with a clutch downhill, left-to right 12 footer for birdie. Ploeger failed to get up and down despite chipping to within five feet.

Ploeger had a few more chances but was unable to convert. On number 15, Ploeger hit his approach to less than 15 feet with Costanzo off the green on a sidehill some 70 feet short of the hole. Costanzo chipped to four feet and made par, while Ploeger left his birdie putt short. On the 187-yard par-three 17th, Ploeger narrowly missed his birdie putt of about 15 feet, freeing Costanzo to lag his first putt and tap-in for par. Ploeger finished with a birdie on 18 to close the gap to two.

Van Leuvan, who was in the final pairing and started six back of Costanzo, played himself out of contention on the front nine with four bogeys and a birdie, but made a great comeback on the back nine carding a four-under 32, which included two birdies and an eagle. His eagle came on the par-five 15th, where he pitched in from the left of the green some 50 feet away. A birdie on 18 gave him third place outright, dropping Spencer Sappington of Alpharetta to fourth at 216. Sappington was the co-runner-up with Ploeger in 2001.

Finishing in a three-way tie for fifth at 221 were Bob Smith of Swainsboro, William Lepley of Alpharetta and two-time champion Joe Estes of Atlanta (1989, 1998.  Don Marsh of Alpharetta moved up to eighth with a final-round 71 to finish at 222. Karl Simon of Lawrenceville took ninth overall at 223, and Al Everett of Cumming rounded out the top ten at 224.

 

Costanzo became the first Savannah resident to win the Georgia Senior Championship since the late Johnny Skeadas (1987, 1992), for whom the trophy is named. Skeadas, who will be inducted into to Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in January 2003, won his first championship at The Landings' Plantation course.

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 entrants with the lowest 60 handicap indexes comprised the Championship flight. The remainder of the field, 84 players drawn by lottery, was divided into seven flights based on handicap index. Players in the Championship through sixth flights played from the same tees and were eligible for the overall title.

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

Championship Flight  
1 Frank Costanzo, Savannah 66 72 73 211
2 Bill Ploeger, Columbus 72 71 70 213
3 Dick Van Leuvan, Roswell 71 73 71 215
4 Spencer Sappington, Alpharetta 76 69 71 216
5 Bob Smith, Swainsboro 74 75 72 221
5 Joseph T. Estes, Atlanta 75 73 73 221
5 William Lepley, Alpharetta 73 73 75 221
8 Don Marsh, Alpharetta 76 75 71 222
9 Karl Simon, Lawrenceville 73 76 74 223
10 Al Everett, Cumming 74 72 78 224
11 Ed Payne, Augusta 78 76 71 225
11 Larry Eglen, Marietta 75 75 75 225
13 Mike Sprouts, Greensboro 75 74 77 226
14 John Felker, Atlanta 76 77 74 227
14 Boyd Johnson, Statesboro 73 77 77 227
14 Tom Reid, Macon 72 77 78 227
17 Bob Coleman, Greensboro 78 79 71 228
18 Mike Keeble, Atlanta 76 75 78 229
18 Mark R. Kirk, Marietta 76 76 77 229
20 Biff Thompson, Statesboro 78 76 76 230
20 Bill Myers, Marietta 75 73 82 230
22 James C. Naylor, Savannah 78 79 75 232
23 Amos Jones, Atlanta 80 78 75 233
23 Jim Montgomery, Alpharetta 75 79 79 233
23 Jim Weeks, Savannah 78 75 80 233
26 Paul Petrie, Dultuh 81 77 76 234
26 Bill Wetzel, Dunwoody 77 79 78 234
26 Jeff Shultz, Calhoun 78 76 80 234
26 Bob Nance, Calhoun 73 78 83 234
30 Don Heilman, Roswell 76 83 76 235
31 Richard Tatum, Atlanta 84 75 77 236
31 Walter F. Fugate, Macon 78 82 76 236
31 Fred Ethridge, Alpharetta 80 80 76 236
34 Arthur O Gunter, Roswell 76 82 80 238
34 Frank Otten, Bogart 76 81 81 238
34 Julian D. Saul, Dalton 80 76 82 238
37 Freddy Atterberry, Dahlonega 78 83 78 239
38 Wayne Harrell, Stone Mountain 79 79 82 240
39 Willis Ward, Warner Robbins 82 77 82 241
39 Peter Donald, Dacula 77 83 81 241
41 George Fisher Jr, Woodstock 77 82 83 242
41 Ron Savastano, Roswell 80 78 84 242
41 Stan Thorn, Alpharetta 80 79 83 242
41 Tom Grace, St Mountain 80 79 83 242
41 Gary E Cole, Dalton 80 80 82 242
41 Victor E. Jarvis, Norcross 88 76 78 242
47 Larry Hinds, Acworth 79 80 84 243
48 Tom Toombs, Perry 81 79 84 244
48 Dale Bentley, Calhoun 81 81 82 244
50 Chris Demarco, Acworth 79 82 84 245
50 Martin Knotts, McDonough 83 86 76 245
52 George Tasioudis, Atlanta 88 79 85 252
53 Spec Hall, Dunwoody 87 87 80 254
54 Charles Dabbs, Marietta 87 92 94 273
55 William S Andrus, Savannah 81 78 WD WD
55 Billy Howell, Bainbridge 84 84 WD WD
55 B. Earl Bowden, Macon NC
55 John B Adams, Savannah 82 WD
55 Mike Green, Savannah 78 DQ
55 Jim Duncan, Newnan 86 84 WD