2003 GSGA-GPGA Challenge Cup

Georgia Amateurs Overtake Professionals to Win 34th Georgia Challenge Cup

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The Georgia State Golf Association amateurs won 10 of 16 singles matches to overtake the Georgia PGA professionals and win the biennial Georgia Challenge Cup, 12 1/2 -11 1/2. The team of the state's top 16 amateurs battled back from a 6-2 deficit at Atlanta National Golf Club and ended the professionals' hopes of capturing their third-straight title.

Reigning Atlanta Amateur champion Jeff Belk of Marietta defeated John Godwin of Columbus 3 and 2 in the final match to give the amateurs theone-point victory. Belk clinched his match on the par-four 16th hole with a 12-foot breaking putt for birdie. Belk had a 3-up lead after eight, but dropped to only 1 up following a birdie by Godwin on nine and a pair of bogeys at 11 and 12. Belk responded to the news that his match would decide the Cup by making birdie at 13, where he stuck a sand wedge to 10 feet.

With the outcome of many of the later matches nearly determined, the middle matches between the seniors proved to be the most pivotal. The nation's number-one ranked senior amateur and past USGA and Georgia Senior Amateur champion Bill Ploeger of Columbus held on for a 1-up victory over Eddy Young of the Fairway Golf Center, who bogeyed 15 and 16. Dick Van Leuvan of Roswell, a USGA Senior Amateur finalist and former state champion, defeated Wendell Coffee of Wendell Coffee Golf Center, 1 up. Van Leuvan came back from 3 down with birdies on nine, 12 and 13. Van Leuvan then lost 15 to Coffee's fifth birdie of the day and halved 16 after missing a four-foot birdie putt.. He made up for it with a 12-foot birdie on the par-3 17th to return the match to all square. Coffee failed to get up and down on 18 and Van Leuvan picked up the point with a two-putt par.

Rick Cloninger of Dacula set the tone for the GSGA with a comeback victory of his own in the third match. The former state champion and six-time GSGA title-winner birdied 15, 16 and 17 to come from 2 down and overtake Mike Cook of Sea Island Golf Club. Cook, the 2002 Yamaha Atlanta Open runner-up, conceded Cloninger's birdie putt on 18 and Cloninger recorded a 2-up victory.

Three former mini-tour players turned in winning performances for the GSGA: Bill Brown of Dublinhad seven birdies in 14 holes to defeat 2001 Georgia PGA champion Craig Stevens of Brookstone Golf and Country Club, 6 and 4; Four-Ball champion Jason Griffith of Gainesville beat 2002 Yamaha Atlanta Open champion Phil Talyor of Ansley Golf Club, 2 and 1; andDavid Noll Jr. of Dalton defeated Georgia PGA's 2002 Player of the Year Tim Weinhart of RiverPines Golf, 3 and 2.

Also winning matches for the GSGA were Georgia Amateur champion Jonathan Shiflet of Hartwell, who defeated Todd Peterson of Todd Peterson Golf Learning Center, 3 and 1; Jack Hall of Macon, who picked up the GSGA's first full point of the day with a 3 and 2 win over Jennings Mill's Greg Lee, the 2002 Taylor-Made-addidas Georgia PGA Assistant's champion; and Allen Peake of Macon, who beat Jimmy Marston of BridgeMill Athletic Club, 5 and 4.

For the professionals, six-time Georgia PGA Senior champion Ed Everett of Doublegate Country Club defeated Spencer Sappington of Alpharetta, 4 and 3. Atlanta Country Club's Bill Johnstone beat the defending Georgia Senior Amateur champion Frank Costanzo, 6 and 5. 2002 Georgia Section winner Chan Reeves of the Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta National's Clark Spratlin and Drew Pittman of Twin City Country Club also won matches for the Georgia PGA.

The Georgia PGA squad won five of the eight four-ball matches and halved two to build their opening 6-2 lead. The Challenge Cup began in 1962 and was switched to a biennial competition in 1987. The Georgia PGA holds a 19 1/2 to 13 1/2 edge in the competition. In 1997, the trophy was re-named in honor of Billy Peters, past president of the GSGA and tireless volunteer official for both organizations.

 

Final Results
Georgia State Golf Association 12 1/2; Georgia Section PGA 11 1/2

Day Two Results - Singles
Stephen Keppler (GPGA) vs. Greg Kennedy (GSGA), halved
Jack Hall (GSGA) def. Greg Lee (GPGA), 3 and 2
Rick Cloninger (GSGA) def. Mike Cook (GPGA), 2 up
Drew Pittman (GPGA) def. Danny Nelson (GSGA), 4 and 3
Jonathan Shiflet (GSGA) def. Todd Peterson (GPGA), 3 and 1
Jason Griffith (GSGA) def. Phil Taylor (GPGA), 2 and 1
Bill Ploeger (GSGA) def. Eddy Young (GPGA), 1 up
Dick Van Leuvan (GSGA) def. Wendell Coffee (GPGA), 1 up
Bill Johnstone (GPGA) def. Frank Costanzo (GSGA), 6 and 5
Ed Everett (GPGA) def. Spencer Sappington (GSGA), 4 and 3
Allen Peake (GSGA) def. Jimmy Marston (GPGA), 5 and 4
Chan Reeves (GPGA) def. Bob McDonnell (GSGA), 2 and 1
David Noll (GSGA) def. Tim Weinhart (GPGA), 3 and 2
Clark Spratlin (GPGA) def. Chris Cupit (GSGA), 3 and 2
Bill Brown (GSGA) def. Craig Stevens (GPGA), 6 and 4
Jeff Belk (GSGA) def. John Godwin (GPGA), 3 and 2
Day Two Points: GSGA 10 1/2; Georgia PGA 5 1/2

 

Day One - Four-Ball
Weinhart/Spratlin (GPGA) def. Brown/Shiflet (GSGA), 1 up
Keppler/Marston (GPGA) def. Hall/Nelson (GSGA), 3 and 2
Cook/Reeves (GPGA) vs. Noll/Griffith (GSGA), halved
Everett/Johnstone (GPGA) def. Ploeger/Sappington (GSGA), 4 and 2
Coffee/Young (GPGA) def. Costanzo/Van Leuvan, (GSGA), 4 and 3
Cloninger/Kennedy (GSGA) def. Stevens/Peterson, (GSGA), 4 and 3
Lee/Pittman (GPGA) def. Cupit/Peake (GSGA), 3 and 2
Taylor/Godwin (GPGA) vs. Belk/McDonnell (GSGA), halved
Day One Points: Georgia PGA 6; GSGA 2