2005 Four-Ball Championship

Jack Hall, Danny Nelson's Final Round 69 Secures Georgia Four-Ball Championship

McDONOUGH, Ga. - Jack Hall of Macon and Danny Nelson of Savannah scored a final-round 69 in cold and blustery conditions to win the 34th annual Georgia Four-Ball Championship, which took place April 22-24 at Georgia National Golf Club. Hall and Nelson, who shared the second-round lead, finished at 12-under par 201 (67-65-69) to hold off first-round co-leaders Doug Green of Cumming and David Noll, Jr. of Dalton, who also fired a two-under 69 but finished three strokes back at 204 (64-71-69).

Three teams tied for third at seven-under 206, including second-round co-leaders Rick Cravey and Brandon Farley of Atlanta, Ralph Ireland and John Gibbs of Augusta and Georgia National members Michael Standard and Dave Womack of McDonough. Greg Kennedy of Cumming and Kyle Harper of Hartwell placed sixth at 208 after carding eagle on the 18th to finish one-under for the day (the only other sub-par score on Sunday besides the top two finishers).

Two-time defending champions Carter Mize and Wright Waddell of Columbus finished in seventh place at 209 after carding a one-over 72 in the final round. Three teams tied at three-under 210 to round out the top 10, including Peter Persons and Stephen Welsh of Macon, Steven Meyer of McDonough and Allen Thompson of Atlanta and Austin Haynes of Dalton and Jay Moseley of Bainbridge.

Hall and Nelson were paired in the final round with Cravey and Farley, with whom they shared the second-round lead. Cravey and Farley started the day birdie-bogey-bogey, while Hall and Nelson held steady with five pars on their first six holes. Their only blemish (and only bogey of the entire championship) came at No. 3, where Nelson missed a four-footer. Nelson and Hall made the turn even and with a one-stroke lead, following a Cravey/Farley bogey on No. 7 and Hall's 12-foot birdie putt on No. 8.

Cravey and Farley dropped another stroke on No. 10, while Nelson carded two straight birdies on holes 13 and 14 with putts of eight and 20 feet, respectively. Cravey and Farley then fell out of contention with bogeys on 16 and 17, giving the eventual champions a five-stroke cushion.

Green and Noll, playing one group ahead, were the only ones to come close on the back nine. Green carded birdie on No. 10 to move the duo to within two strokes of leaders. Noll's eagle putt on 18 fell just short, but their score of 69 tied Hall and Nelson as the low round of the day.

"We knew they (Green and Noll) were having a good day, so Danny's birdies (on 13 and 14) certainly gave us some breathing room," Hall said of the play on the back nine.

Hall and Nelson win the Georgia Four-Ball Championship for the first time in six tries together after finishing as runners-up in 2000 at Wilmington Island Club in Savannah and in 2002 at Harbor Club in Greensboro. They tied for 21st at last year's event in Albany.

"We got that monkey off our back," said Nelson.

The par-71 layout at Georgia National played to 6,907 yards. The field of 80 teams was cut to the low 40 and ties after the second round, with the cut line falling at two-over 144 and 48 teams advancing.

Entries were open to male amateur golfers who are members of a GSGA Member Club and residents of Georgia. This event varies from the Four-Ball Tournament held in March, which requires a combined team handicap index of 4.0 or higher.

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.

 

Final Results

1 Danny Nelson, Savannah 67 65 69 201
Jack Hall, Macon
2 David Noll, Jr, Dalton 64 71 69 204
Doug Green, Cumming
T3 Brandon Farley, Atlanta 64 68 74 206
Rick Cravey, Atlanta
T3 Ralph Ireland, Augusta 65 70 71 206
John Gibbs, Augusta
T3 Michael Standard, McDonough 65 69 72 206
Dave Womack, McDonough
6 Greg Kennedy, Cumming 66 72 70 208
Kyle Harper, Hartwell
7 Wright Waddell, Columbus 66 71 72 209
Carter Mize, Columbus
T8 Stephen Welsh, Macon 68 70 72 210
Peter Persons, Macon
T8 Steven Meyer, McDonough 67 70 73 210
Allen Thompson, Atlanta
T8 Jay Moseley, Bainbridge 69 69 72 210
Austin Haynes, Dalton
T11 Nic Daugharty, Valdosta 70 69 72 211
Sam Hogan, Valdosta
T11 Griff Moody, Cumming 68 72 71 211
Timothy McCabe, Suwanee
T11 Blair Scurlock, Roswell 70 68 73 211
Pete Abernathy, Atlanta
T14 Jack Kearney, Peachtree City 69 70 73 212
Mike Pass, Peachtree City
T14 Donny Phillips, Duluth 69 69 74 212
Chris Hall, Marietta
T16 David Maddox, McDonoough 70 72 71 213
Dale Wheeler, Riverdale
T16 Rusty Strawn, McDonough 69 72 72 213
Frank Gasaway, McDonough
T16 Scott Davenport, Marietta 74 68 71 213
Jayce Stepp, Cartersville
T16 Madden Hatcher, Columbus 68 72 73 213
Seth Knight, III, Columbus
T16 Greg Cottrell, Powder Springs 67 72 74 213
Mark Strickland, Woodstock
T16 DeWitt Weaver, Suwanee 70 71 72 213
Scott Weaver, Roswell
T22 Doug Stiles, Athens 69 69 76 214
Garrick Stiles, Watkinsville
T22 Butler Melnyk, St. Simons Island 66 72 76 214
Dalton Melnyk, St. Simons Island
T22 Mitch Kim, Dunwoody 69 73 72 214
Matt Servies, Atlanta
T25 Greg Garde, Peachtree City 74 68 73 215
John Garde, Peachtree City
T25 Robbie Dew, Marietta 70 71 74 215
Mike Riley, Marietta
T25 Phil Hardin, Macon 67 75 73 215
Hal Johnson, Macon
T25 Hugh Darsey, Warner Robins 70 73 72 215
Iain McGarva, Warner Robins
29 Rhett Bonner, Marietta 72 72 72 216
Hap Fleming, Kennesaw
T30 Bob Royak, Alpharetta 68 74 75 217
Rod Reed, Alpharetta
T30 Scott Pitts, Cornelia 69 73 75 217
Jonathan Shiflet, Hartwell
T30 Paul Kocsis, Fayettville 68 74 75 217
Jody Travis, Shaprsburg
T30 Joe Dorner, Albany 69 71 77 217
Brent Dorner, Albany
34 Allen Peake, Macon 68 74 76 218
Coleman Tidwell, Macon
T35 Michael Crews, Atlanta 71 73 76 220
Ben Raney, Atlanta
T35 Shaw Blackmon, Warner Robins 71 73 76 220
Richard Farage, Atlanta
T35 Bob Young, Dunwoody 67 73 80 220
Jeff Belk, Marietta
T35 Keith Wood, Atlanta 71 72 77 220
Mark Burden, Atlanta
T35 Chad McDowell, Louisville 73 71 76 220
Cleve Lamb, Louisville
T35 Gay McMichael, Macon 68 74 78 220
Jim Stuart, Macon
T35 Mark Fitch, Marietta 73 71 76 220
David Howard, Hiram
T42 Brooks Woodruff, Mableton 73 69 79 221
Joe Peters, Watkinsville
T42 Jay Pyne, Duluth 70 74 77 221
Adam Grodhaus, Duluth
T42 Brandon Nelson, Roswell 70 74 77 221
John Martina, Alpharetta
T42 Bill Henderson, Bishop 74 70 77 221
Greg Brewer, Ellijay
T42 Don Marsh, Alpharetta 72 72 77 221
Steve Hoffman, Savannah
T47 Cameron Whaley, Woodstock 66 78 78 222
Michael Dempsey, Canton
T47 Winston Morris, Marietta 71 72 79 222
John Belicka, Atlanta