2007 Senior Four-Ball Championship

Sappington and Ploeger Come From Behind to Capture Third Senior Four-Ball

 

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. – Starting the day four strokes off the leaders' pace, Spencer Sappington of Milton and Bill Ploeger of Columbus fired a six-under 66 in the final round to come from behind and capture the title at the 16th annual Georgia Senior Four-Ball Championship. The event was held at Jekyll Island Golf Resort, November 14-16. Phil Pavoni and Edsel Davis, both of Macon, carded 71 in the final round and finished as the championship's runners-up with a 206.

 

Sappington and Ploeger, who captured Georgia Senior Four-Ball titles in 2000 and 2002, began the day with par but carded birdies on numbers two, three and four to quickly get to three-under on the round. Davis and Pavoni, playing in the day's final group, made birdies at two and seven but bogeys on three and nine led to them making the turn at even-par.

 

With each of the remaining lead teams turning at even-par, Sappington and Ploeger made their move on the inward nine. The duo posted birdies at 10, 11 and 12 and took the out-right lead. They would par the next two holes before Ploeger post back-to-back birdies on the 486-yard 15th hole and the par-3 16th.

 

"You should see this guy chip and putt," Sappington said of Ploeger's short game. "He kept us in this tournament. He's my friend, my buddy and he's a great champion."

 

The only major blemish of the day came on the final hole when the tandem settled for bogey. Sappington and Ploeger ended with a 32 on the inward nine and totaled 66 for the final round. This marks the third time that they have won the Georgia Senior Four-Ball Championship together.  This is Ploeger's fifth overall title at the event, having won twice previously with Billy Key of Columbus (1997 and 1999), and Sappington's fourth career win, his first coming in 1998 with partner Jerry Greenbaum of Greensboro.

 

Don Marsh of Alpharetta and Larry Clark of Cartersville, winners of the Senior Four-Ball in 2005, posted a one-under 71 to finish third overall. Three teams finished in a tie for fourth position with defending champions Karl Simon of Lawrenceville and Taylor Adams of St. Simons Island at 208. They were Roswell's Scott Northey and Dawsonville's Steven Prout, Columbus-tandem Bill Evans and Jim Lester and Joe Brogdon of Macon and Pete Malcolm of Duluth. Tied for eighth place with a 7-under 209 was Bill Blalock and Don Russell of Atlanta and 2003 champions Frank Perry of Fayettville and Mike Jackson of Martinez. John Carter and Ronald Waeghe, both of Greensboro and Curtis Wagner of Peachtree City and Mike Keeble of Newnan finished in a tie for tenth at 212.

 

Other flight winners were: first flight – John Washington of Macon and McDOnough's Randall Rozier tied with Marc Tate and Michael McAdams of Savannah at 207; second flight – Joey Phelan and Larry Sweat, both of Atlanta with 211; third flight – Bruce Swinsky of Dunwoody and Garry Briddon of Duluth carded 216; and in the fourth flight – Don Schrum of Flowery Branch and Len Kaper of Suwanee won with 224.

 

The Championship flight played each round at the 6,357-yard, par-72 Oleander course at Jekyll Island Golf Resort. The first through fourth flights played the Pine Lakes course which was playing as a par-72 at 6,303 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 Bill Ploeger, Columbus 69 70 66 205 -11
Spencer Sappington, Milton
2 Edsel Davis, Macon 67 68 71 206 -10
Phil Pavoni, Macon
3 Don Marsh, Alpharetta 66 70 71 207 -9
Larry Clark, Cartersville
T4 Scott Northey, Roswell 69 69 70 208 -8
Steven Prout, Dawsonville
T4 Karl Simon, Lawrenceville 71 68 69 208 -8
Taylor Adams, St. Simons Island
T4 Bill Evans, Columbus 70 69 69 208 -8
Jim Lester, Columbus
T4 Joe Brogdon, Macon 67 73 68 208 -8
Pete Malcolm, Duluth
T8 Don Russell, Atlanta 67 70 72 209 -7
William Blalock, Atlanta
T8 Frank Perry, Fayetteville 70 69 70 209 -7
Mike Jackson, Sr., Martinez
T10 John Carter, Greensboro 69 70 71 210 -6
Ronald Waeghe, Greensboro
T10 Curtis Wagner, Peachtree City 69 69 72 210 -6
Mike Keeble, Newnan
T12 Curt Knorr, Dunwoody 71 70 71 212 -4
Ron Hunter, Jasper
T12 Joe Dorner, Albany 69 68 75 212 -4
Tom Hall, Albany
T12 Charles Hobbs, Blakely 71 72 69 212 -4
Joe Peters, Watkinsville
T15 Eddie Wiggins, Warner Robins 72 69 72 213 -3
Ron Baggett, Warner Robins
T15 Brian Johnston, Duluth 69 75 69 213 -3
Edmund Jones, Duluth
T15 Billy Hatton, Roswell 66 73 74 213 -3
Jon Hauck, Roswell
T15 Charlie Edwards, Newnan 72 71 70 213 -3
Ted Vallo, Newnan
19 David Smith, Warner Robins 68 75 71 214 -2
Hal Baker, Bonaire
T20 Steve Collins, Claxton 69 72 74 215 -1
Wally Adams Jr., Vidalia
T20 Ladell Norton, Rome 69 71 75 215 -1
Martin Ball, Rome
T20 C.D. McKeever, Dunwoody 72 71 72 215 -1
Scott Griffin, Dunwoody
T20 Dick Donegan, Kennesaw 74 70 71 215 -1
George Alexander, Kennesaw
T20 Frank Aliffi, Savannah 71 75 69 215 -1
Victor Jarvis, Savannah
T25 Freddy Atterberry, Dahlonega 72 70 74 216 Even
Wayne Palmore, Cumming
T25 Dick Martin, Alpharetta 70 73 73 216 Even
Terry Moon, Powder Springs
27 Bruce Connors, Newnan 68 76 73 217 1
Rob Lauer, Newnan
T28 Richard Tatum, Atlanta 72 69 77 218 2
Tommy Bates, Atlanta
T28 Carl Wade, Kingsland 75 69 74 218 2
Danny Daniels, Kingsland
T30 Peter Donald, Greensboro 69 76 74 219 3
Tom Blank, Greensboro
T30 Bill Newsom, Clarkesville 76 73 70 219 3
Jerry Frank, Clarkesville
T30 John Felker, Atlanta 70 73 76 219 3
John Holle, LaGrange
T30 Jim Watson, Marietta 72 72 75 219 3
Scott Pearcy, Acworth
T30 Alex Best, Duluth 70 74 75 219 3
Christopher Demarco, Acworth
T35 Charles Anderson, Alpharetta 71 73 77 221 5
David McCarty, Norcross
T35 Frank Costanzo, Savannah 72 74 75 221 5
Thomas Rood, Savannah
T37 Jeff Morgan, Milledgeville 75 75 72 222 6
Phil Herring, Greensboro
T37 Jim Mahoney, Waverly 76 73 73 222 6
Tom Powers, Smyrna
T37 Bob Lutz, Dacula 75 70 77 222 6
Earl Johnson, Lawrenceville
40 Bob Nance, Calhoun 74 75 74 223 7
Mike Townsend, Dalton
T41 Daniel Rhoads, Albany 74 76 74 224 8
Tom Heyer, Eastman
T41 Mike Ambrose, St. Marys 75 73 76 224 8
Ron Howard, St. Marys
43 Chris Hall, Dalton 72 75 81 228 12
Gary E. Cole, Dalton
44 Don Heilman, Roswell 75 74 80 229 13
Larry Eglen, Marietta
45 Ron Lowery, Dalton 79 75 76 230 14
Steve Crane, Dalton
46 Bob Dutlinger, Suwanee 76 78 77 231 15
Jeff Tindle, Alpharetta
47 Jim Sheffield, Roswell 72 72 WD WD WD
Miles Vickery, Canton

 

First Flight
T1 John H. Washington, Macon 71 68 68 207 -9
Randall Rozier, McDonough
T1 Marc Tate, Savannah 67 68 72 207 -9
Michael McAdams, Savannah
T3 Carl Carroll, Odum 70 71 67 208 -8
Daniel Shalongo, Jesup
T3 Murray Calhoun, Columbus 67 70 71 208 -8
Walter Wellman, Atlanta
5 Joseph Estes, Atlanta 69 71 71 211 -5
Tom Herndon, St. Simons Island
T6 Ben Cornett, Dunwoody 71 71 70 212 -4
Les Noel, Atlanta
T6 Ken Stewart, Savannah 70 69 73 212 -4
Roger O'Neil, Savannah
8 Jim Duncan, Newnan 71 71 72 214 -2
Richard Emery, Newnan
9 David Hathaway, Macon 74 74 68 216 Even
Jimmy Rigsby, Augusta
10 Dick Myers, St. Marys 75 69 74 218 2
Earl Hartman, St. Marys
11 David Mansfield, Cohutta 73 71 75 219 3
Gary Brock, Chatsworth
12 Jim Crowley, Dunwoody 72 77 72 221 5
John Tienken, Atlanta

 

Second Flight
1 Joey Phelan, Atlanta 71 72 68 211 -5
Larry Sweat, Atlanta
T2 Bob Fowler, Atlanta 72 71 70 213 -3
John Salviski, Alpharetta
T2 Billy Cumbie, Columbus 73 72 68 213 -3
James Jones, Midland
4 Charlie Busbee, McDonough 73 71 72 216 Even
Paul Cobb Jr., Norcross
5 Lawson Farmer, Griffin 73 73 74 220 4
Stan West, Fayettevile
6 Cal Norman, Atlanta 74 73 74 221 5
Ron Ford, Dunwoody
7 Sydney Welch, LaGrange 70 76 76 222 6
Wayne Anderson, LaGrange
8 John Wicklund III, Dunwoody 74 76 74 224 8
Mike Norten, Dunwoody
9 John Lee, McDonough 73 75 77 225 9
Kenneth Newsome, Sharpsburg
10 Charles Dickerson, Atlanta 77 75 75 227 11
William Flinn, Norcross
T11 Lonnie Huff, Athens 80 78 77 235 19
William Daniels, Brunswick
T11 James Gordon, Cohutta 79 76 80 235 19
Mike Brumlow, Dalton

 

Third Flight
1 Bruce Swinsky, Dunwoody 66 74 76 216 Even
Garry Briddon, Duluth
2 Clifton Burr, Peachtree City 71 73 74 218 2
Marshall Guthrie, Newnan
3 David Deariso, Sylvester 76 72 71 219 3
Gene Drew, Albany
T4 Ron Eulenfeld, St. Simon's Island 73 76 71 220 4
Thomas Burke, Peachtree City
T4 Jim Brown, Evans 70 76 74 220 4
Sam Smith, Macon
T6 Bobby Johnson, Snellville 73 74 75 222 6
Pete Martin, Lawrenceville
T6 Don Toland, Peachtree City 75 71 76 222 6
Phil Colston Sr., Peachtree City
8 Don Gray, Dalton 74 76 73 223 7
Don Smith, Varnell
T9 Bob Maynard, Kennesaw 74 73 79 226 10
Chris Kitchens, Acworth
T9 Dave Benton, Social Circle 74 76 76 226 10
Doug Southern, Conyers
11 Jim Carter, Snellville 78 73 76 227 11
Rick Wagner, Snellville
12 Dale Dover, Camilla 76 82 74 232 16
Melvin Kinslow, Americus

 

Fourth Flight
1 Don Schrum, Flowery Branch 71 75 78 224 8
Len Kaper, Suwanee
2 Jerry Chastain, Jasper 77 74 75 226 10
John Chastain, Jasper
3 Jim Franks, LaGrange 75 76 79 230 14
Wayne Hunter, LaGrange
T4 Chas Schaffer, Duluth 77 75 79 231 15
Spiros Siaggas, Duluth
T4 Duncan Knapp, Big Canoe 77 77 77 231 15
Sam Horner, Dawsonville
6 Pete Fleming, Newnan 79 73 80 232 16
Royce LeVaughn, Newnan
7 Ken Phair, Canton 76 78 80 234 18
Robert Smith, Canton
8 Gerald Arrowood, Marietta 81 79 76 236 20
Mike Riley, Marietta
T9 Bill Durham, Dalton 79 78 84 241 25
Ron Durham, Cohutta
T9 Tony Spagnolo, LaGrange 81 80 80 241 25
Wallace Skinner, LaGrange
11 Bob Foley, Kennesaw 81 79 83 243 27
Stanley Bishop, Marietta
12 Buddy Reeves, Kennesaw 84 82 86 252 36
Jerry Lichtefeld, Kennesaw