2008 Senior Four-Ball Championship

Marsh and Clark Surge Late to Capture Second Georgia Senior Four-Ball Title
Clark's ace carries team to second-career victory

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Starting the day three strokes ahead, Don Marsh of Alpharetta and Larry Clark of Kingston fired a 31 on the back nine, 66 for the day, to claim victory at the 17th annual Georgia Senior Four-Ball Championship. The event was held at The Hampton Club and The Golf Club at Sanctuary Cove, November 12-14. Defending champions, Spencer Sappington of Milton and Bill Ploeger of Columbus, erased the initial lead but could not keep pace and finished as the championship's runners-up with a 201.

Marsh and Clark, who teamed to win the 2005 Georgia Senior Four-Ball title, began the day with a three-stroke advantage. Ploeger made the first move of the day sinking a birdie putt on the first hole. Clark answered, however, with a birdie of his own on the 374-yard second hole. Making seven straight pars to the turn, Marsh and Clark saw their lead slip away as Ploeger and Sappington connected on birdies at holes five, seven and nine.

Momentum made a major switch back into Marsh and Clark's favor, however, on the par-3, 118-yard 11th. Clark, hitting sand wedge, made a hole-in-one to give the duo a two-shot lead into the home stretch.

"That really was a big momentum shift for us," Marsh explained of the resulting ace. "It definitely put us in a more positive frame of mind heading the rest of the way."

Clark did not slow down from there though. He posted birdies on four of his last five holes – Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18 – and the tandem posted a 31 on the back nine, giving them a score of 66 for the final round. Sappington and Ploeger could only muster up a single birdie on the back side, at the par-5 14th, leaving them four strokes behind the eventual champions.

Marsh and Clark's victory marks their second win at the Georgia Senior Four-Ball Championship. Their first title came in 2005 when the pair claimed a two-shot victory at Okefenokee Country Club in Blackshear.

Steve Collins of Claxton and Wally Adams of Vidalia posted a final-round 68 to finish third overall. Two teams, Bob Young of Dunwoody and Donny Crump of Atlanta and Macon's Joe Brogdon and Duluth's Pete Malcolm, finished in a tie for fourth position overall at 205. Tied for sixth place with an 8-under 208 was Bill Evans and Jim Lester, both of Columbus, and 2003 champions Frank Perry of Fayetteville and Mike Jackson of Martinez. Braselton-duo, Dave Wilder and Richard Ward finished alone in eighth with a 209. Four teams ended the championship tied for ninth position overall. They were Scott Northey of Roswell and Steven Prout of Dawsonville, Carl Wade and Danny Daniels, both of Kingsland, George Bullard of Martinez and Richard Felder of Evans and Dahlonega's Fred Atterberry and Wally Gamling.

Other flight winners were: first flight – Charlie Busbee of McDonough and Tom Toombs at 202; second flight – Don Coker of Dunwoody and Alpharetta's Roy Johnson with 213; third flight – a three-way tie at 218 between Sydney Welch and Wayne Anderson of LaGrange, Jack Demyan of Augusta and Peter Lambo of Conyers and Camilla's Dale Dover and Melvin Kinslow of Americus; fourth flight – Ed Tomblin of Tucker and Ray Dillon of Hartwell won with 216.

The Championship flight played each round at The Hampton Club, a 6,373-yard, par-72 layout. The first through fourth flights played The Golf Club at Sanctuary Cove, which was playing as a par-71 at 6,164 yards.

The low 48 teams based on combined handicap index comprised the Championship Flight. The remainder of the field was determined by lottery and flighted by team handicap index. Only the competitors in the Championship flight were eligible for the overall title. 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 maximum handicap differential between partners was six strokes.

Final Results

Championship Flight  
1 Don Marsh, Alpharetta 69 62 66 197 -19
Larry Clark, Kingston
2 Spencer Sappington, Milton 70 64 67 201 -15
Bill Ploeger, Columbus
3 Steve Collins, Claxton 68 67 68 203 -13
Wally Adams, Vidalia
T4 Bob Young, Dunwoody 71 65 69 205 -11
Donny Crump, Atlanta
T4 Joe Brogdon, Macon 68 69 68 205 -11
Pete Malcolm, Duluth
T6 Frank Perry, Fayetteville 71 68 69 208 -8
Mike Jackson, Martinez
T6 Bill Evans, Columbus 68 71 69 208 -8
Jim Lester, Columbus
8 Dave Wilder, Braselton 69 71 69 209 -7
Richard Ward, Braselton
T9 Scott Northey, Roswell 72 70 68 210 -6
Steven Prout, Dawsonville
T9 Carl Wade, Kingsland 69 72 69 210 -6
Danny Daniels, Kingsland
T9 George Bullard, Martinez 71 71 68 210 -6
Richard Felder, Evans
T9 Fred Atterberry, Dahlonega 70 71 69 210 -6
Wally Gramling, Dahlonega
T13 Ronald Waeghe, Greensboro 73 70 68 211 -5
John Carter, Greensboro
T13 Mark Wiesner, Roswell 68 72 71 211 -5
Sam Gaddis, Roswell
T13 Jim Kamis, Marietta 73 68 70 211 -5
John Holle, LaGrange
T16 Steve Schwartz, Savannah 70 72 70 212 -4
David Holcombe, Savannah
T16 Ted Vallo, Newnan 71 72 69 212 -4
Charles Edwards, Newnan
T18 Ladell Norton, Rome 72 69 72 213 -3
Martin Ball, Rome
T18 Phil Pavoni, Macon 69 74 70 213 -3
Edsel Davis, Macon
T18 Billy Hatton, Roswell 72 71 70 213 -3
Jon Hauck, Roswell
T21 Tom Hall, Albany 71 71 72 214 -2
Joe Dorner, Albany
T21 Frederick Laist, Savannah 73 68 73 214 -2
Roger O'Neil, Savannah
T21 Dick Donegan, Kennesaw 74 68 72 214 -2
Leigh B Mackay, Watkinsville
T24 Don Russell, Atlanta 70 72 73 215 -1
Bill Blalock, Atlanta
T24 Curtis Wagner, Peachtree City 73 69 73 215 -1
Mike Keeble, Newnan
T24 Richard Farage, Warner Robins 70 75 70 215 -1
Dennis Hanson, Macon
T24 Ron Savastano, Roswell 73 69 73 215 -1
William Bader, Roswell
T24 Richard Tatum, Atlanta 72 71 72 215 -1
Tommy Bates, Atlanta
T29 Dave Sexton, Suwanee 73 73 70 216 Even
Eddie Register, Sugar Hill
T29 Michael Young, Athens 75 72 69 216 Even
Woody Chastain, Athens
T29 Ernie Venet, Moultrie 73 71 72 216 Even
Donald Dale, Moultrie
T29 Bruce Connors, Sharpsburg 72 71 73 216 Even
Rob Lauer, Newnan
T29 Victor Jarvis, Savannah 71 71 74 216 Even
Frank Aliffi, Savannah
T34 Ron Baggett, Warner Robins 72 70 75 217 1
Eddie Wiggins, Warner Robins
T34 Karl Simon, Lawrenceville 74 71 72 217 1
Taylor Adams, St. Simons Island
T36 Daniel Rhoads, Flowery Branch 70 74 74 218 2
Thomas Heyer, Eastman
T36 Larry Hines, Sharpsburg 71 71 76 218 2
Jake Shirley, Newnan
T38 CJ Dodd, Calhoun 77 68 74 219 3
Melvin Nichelson, Calhoun
T38 Nick Kirkland, Snellville 72 72 75 219 3
Joe Whisenant, Douglasville
40 George Coker, Roswell 77 71 73 221 5
Randy Jacob, Alpharetta
41 Jim Mahoney, Waverly 70 79 73 222 6
Tom Powers, Smyrna
42 Jere Killingsworth, Suwanee 77 71 76 224 8
David Vaughn, Norcross
43 Christopher DeMarco, Acworth 74 74 77 225 9
Glenn Kavanagh, Powder Springs
44 Jim Saffell, Duluth 78 76 76 230 14
John Grimm, Atlanta
45 Hal Baker, Bonaire 75 79 78 232 16
David Smith, Warner Robins
T46 Chris Hall, Dalton 77 82 78 237 21
Gary E Cole, Dalton
T46 David Hooker, Macon 77 78 82 237 21
Sebie Lacey, Warner Robbins
48 Bob Nance, Calhoun 74 76 NC NC NC
Mike Townsend, Dalton

 

Flight: 1
1 Charlie Busbee, McDonough 68 67 67 202 -11
Tom Toombs, Perry
T2 Charles Hobbs, Blakely 65 72 70 207 -6
Joe Peters, Watkinsville
T2 Ben Cornett, Dunwoody 70 70 67 207 -6
Lessley Noel, Atlanta
T4 Bob Dutlinger, Suwanee 70 67 72 209 -4
Jeff Tindle, Alpharetta
T4 Alan Crowell, Norcross 71 69 69 209 -4
Larry Grant, Buford
T6 Davi Hathaway, Macon 71 70 70 211 -2
Jimmy Rigsby, Augusta
T6 Joey Phelan, Atlanta 69 72 70 211 -2
Larry Sweat, Atlanta
8 Bill Burns, Alpharetta 73 67 72 212 -1
Charles Macpherson, Marietta
9 Don Heilman, Roswell 73 70 70 213 Even
Larry Eglen, Marietta
10 Bob Fowler, Atlanta 72 72 72 216 3
John Salviski, Alpharetta
11 Donnie Revels, Waverly 73 73 73 219 6
James Goodis, St. Simons Island
12 Dick Martin, Alpharetta 70 76 74 220 7
Terry Moon, Powder Springs

 

Flight: 2
1 Don Coker, Dunwoody 67 74 72 213 Even
Roy Johnson, Alpharetta
2 Andy Robinson, Columbus 73 70 71 214 1
BJ Robinson, Alpharetta
3 George McLaughlin, Roswell 65 75 75 215 2
Randy Koster, Acworth
4 Ron Eulenfeld, St. Simons Island 73 71 72 216 3
Royce Wood, St. Simons Island
5 Ernie Hollifield, Kennesaw 71 76 70 217 4
Tab Mefford, Acworth
6 John H. Washington, Macon 74 74 70 218 5
Randall Rozier, McDonough
T7 Darryl Harris, Woodstock 72 75 72 219 6
David Field, Athens
T7 Dave Benton, Social Circle 70 76 73 219 6
Doug Southern, Greensboro
T9 Gary Sowell, Alpharetta 78 68 74 220 7
Phillip Jessup, Kennesaw
T9 Clifton Burr, Peachtree City 71 78 71 220 7
Marshall Guthrie, Newnan
11 John Lee, McDonough 74 75 73 222 9
Kenneth Newsome, Sharpsburg
12 Bill Davis, Marietta 77 77 78 232 19
James Whitlock, Roswell

 

Flight: 3
T1 Sydney Welch, Lagrange 72 73 73 218 5
Wayne Anderson, Lagrange
T1 Jack Demyan, Augusta 73 73 72 218 5
Peter Lambo, Conyers
T1 Dale Dover, Camilla 73 74 71 218 5
Melvin Kinslow, Americus
T4 David Deariso, Sylvester 73 74 72 219 6
Gene Drew, Albany
T4 Bryan Stansell, Atlanta 75 69 75 219 6
Randy Gordy, Clarkesville
6 Jerry Manzi, Roswell 71 73 76 220 7
Richard Williamson, Alpharetta
7 Paul R Murphy, Fayetteville 74 74 74 222 9
Phil Colston, Peachtree City
T8 Roger Fiveash, Roswell 76 73 75 224 11
William Doane, Marietta
T8 Rick Davies, St. Simons Island 74 74 76 224 11
Tom Perambo, St. Simons Island
10 Bruce Swinsky, Dunwoody 77 74 74 225 12
Joe Evangelista, Duluth
11 Chuck Walker, Alpharetta 78 75 76 229 16
Terry Hall, Alpharetta
12 Joe Perusse, Marietta 78 77 75 230 17
Joseph Linden, Woodstock

 

Flight: 4
1 Ed Tomblin, Tucker 75 69 72 216 3
Ray Dillon, Hartwell
2 Bobby Johnson, Snellville 71 75 72 218 5
Pat Payton, Loganville
3 Larry Hobgood, Duluth 74 72 75 221 8
Steve Mann, Duluth
4 Harold Cumbie, Alpharetta 72 75 76 223 10
Ian Fleck, Alpharetta
5 Jerry Chastain, Jasper 78 74 73 225 12
John Chastain, Jasper
T6 Don Gardner, Kennesaw 79 74 74 227 14
George Whitman, Marietta
T6 David Jaret, St. Simons Island 73 75 79 227 14
Joe Simpson, Marietta
8 Jim Brown, Evans 78 75 78 231 18
Sam Smith, Macon
9 Jim Franks, Lagrange 79 74 79 232 19
Wayne Hunter, Lagrange
10 Brent Harmon, Newnan 81 76 79 236 23
Royce LeVaughn, Newnan
11 Jay Dement, Kennesaw 82 82 80 244 31
Jerry Lichtefeld, Kennesaw
12 Tony Spagnolo, LaGrange 79 77 WD WD WD
Wallace Skinner, Lagrange