2002 Match Play Championship

Jeff Belk Captures Georgia Match Play/Atlanta Amateur Championship

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Jeff Belk of Marietta captured the Georgia Match Play/Atlanta Amateur Championship in convincing fashion, defeating Danny Nelson of Savannah 5 and 4 in the final round at the at Rivermont Golf and Country Club. Belk, 42, played the front nine in four under and never gave Nelson a chance.

A three-time Rivermont club champion, Belk capitalized on his familiarity with the greens and a hot putter to secure birdies on two, four, six, eight and 13.  Nelson, just one over but down five by the eighth hole, won his first hole at the par-four 11th, where he drained a 15 footer for birdie. Belk took it back on 13 where, despite hitting his approach shot to the wrong side of the hole, he rolled in an improbable 18-foot birdie putt that broke some five feet to the left. Nelson, 40, needed to win the remaining holes and nearly extended the match on the 152-yard par 3, but his 30-foot birdie try fell off just below the hole. Belk then made his three-foot par putt to close out the match and claim the combined title.

 

Belk began the match with a birdie on the par-5 second, where he chipped his third shot from the edge of the green to tap-in range. Nelson, also playing from the front edge, ran his shot to some five feet but was unable to convert. Belk, who recently switched to his old Ping putter from high school, then dropped a 10 footer for birdie on the 184-yard par 3 fourth to go two up. Nelson's lone bogey came with a missed four-foot par putt on the fourth hole, giving Belk a 3-up advantage through five. Nelson came back with a solid tee shot to about 10 feet on the 179-yard par 3 sixth, but Belk struck his uphill 15 footer dead into the hole and won his third straight when Nelson rolled his downhill putt past the hole. After matching pars on seven, Belk faced a dangerous 30-foot downhill putt on eight, but turned his lag putt into another birdie to leave Nelson stunned and down five.

Belk, a new dad who hasn't had much time for golf lately, reached the finals with a2 and 1 victory over two-time defending Match Play champion Rick Cloninger of Dacula, who had beaten him in the semifinals in 2001 and the finals in 1999. Nelson's road to the finals included two tough matches on Saturday. He prevailed 1 up against Chris Hall of Marietta in the quarterfinals and then battled back and forth with Allen Peake of Macon in the semifinals, eventually winning 2 up. Nelson also defeated defending Atlanta Amateur champion Erik Martin of Alpharetta in his opening match, 5 and 4. Nelson reflected that he was lucky to have made the match play portion of the event, admitting he had five-putted the ninth hole for a quadruple bogey during stroke-play qualifying. Nelson's 77 was the cutoff for match play.

This was Belk's first individual GSGA title, although he has claimed four of the last five Georgia Team Championships with his other club, Lanier Golf Club in Cumming, and won the 2001 Georgia Four-Ball Championship with Bob Young of Dunwoody. Nelson, a three-time Savannah City Amateur champion, has not won a GSGA title but has now finished runner-up in five GSGA events. The others were the 1993 and 1995 Mid-Amateur and the 2000 and 2002 Four-Ball Championships with Jack Hall of Macon.

Belk joins a distinguished group of Atlanta Amateur Champions, including Charlie Yates (1931), Tommy Barnes (1936), Dan Yates (1942), Gene Dahlbender (1946-47, 1957-59, 1962), Robert T. Jones, III (1948), Charles Harrison (1952-54, 1961, 1965, 1967-1969, 1973, 1977), Larry Mize (1979) and Danny Yates (1981-82).

The Georgia Match Play Championship was postponed from its original September date and combined with the Atlanta Amateur Championship. Entries for the combined championship were open to male amateur golfers who are Georgia residents and members of a GSGA Member Club. The low 132 entrants were accepted into the field.

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 Match
Jeff Belk, Marietta (71) def. Danny Nelson, Savannah (77), 5 and 4

Semifinals
Jeff Belk, Marietta (71) def. Rick Cloninger, Dacula (Exempt), 2 and 1
Danny Nelson, Savannah (77) def. Allen Peake, Macon (75), 2 up

Quarterfinals
Rick Cloninger, Dacula (Exempt) def. Hal Hobgood, Atlanta (76), 4 and 3
Jeff Belk, Marietta (71) def. Robert Sheats, Atlanta, 2 up
Danny Nelson, Savannah def. Chris Hall, Marietta (73), 1 up
Allen Peake, Macon (75) def. Don Marsh, Alpharetta (75), 7 and 6

Round of 16
Rick Cloninger, Dacula (Exempt) def. Mickey Jones, Duluth (75), 7 and 6
Hal Hobgood, Atlanta (76) def. Jorge Cora, Atlanta (73), 4 and 2
Jeff Belk, Marietta (71) def. Rod Reed, Alpharetta (75), 2 up
Robert Sheats, Atlanta (73) def. Jayce Stepp, Cartersville (72), 1 up
Danny Nelson, Savannah (77) def. Dan Barkley, Roswell (74), 3 and 1
Chris Hall, Marietta (73) def. Brian Hawver, Americus (73), 3 and 2
Don Marsh, Alpharetta (75) def. Craig Current, Woodstock (69), 5 and 3
Allen Peake, Macon (75), 1 up def. Michael DiLonardo, Atlanta (73), 1 up

Round of 32
Rick Cloninger, Dacula (Exempt) def. Richard Franklin, Atlanta (77), 9 and 7
Mickey Jones, Duluth (75) def. Rick Stevens, Duluth (74), 1 up
Jorge Cora, Atlanta (73) def. Mark Lyons, Powder Springs (76), 1 up
Hal Hobgood, Atlanta (76) def. Tevis Upton, Douglasville (73), 1 up
Jeff Belk, Marietta (71) def. Bill Kendall, Lawrenceville (77), 3 and 2
Rod Reed, Alpharetta (75) def. Paul Sorel, Alpharetta (73), 20 holes
Jayce Stepp, Cartersville (72) def. Walker Jamison, Atlanta (77), 1 up
Robert Sheats, Atlanta (73) def. Joe Shirley, Marietta (75), 4 and 3
Danny Nelson, Savannah (77) def. Erik Martin, Alpharetta (Exempt), 5 and 4
Dan Barkley, Roswell (74) def. Bob Vandergriff, Cumming (75), 2 up
Brian Hawver, Americus (73) def. Rob Langley, Norcross (76), 1 up
Chris Hall, Marietta (73) def. John Smith, Cumming (76), 6 and 5
Craig Current, Woodstock (69) def. Dan Whigham Jr, Atlanta (77), default
Don Marsh, Alpharetta (75) def. David Noll Jr., Dalton (74), 21 holes
Michael DiLonardo, Atlanta (73) def. David Schultze, Sharpsburg (77), 3 and 2
Allen Peake, Macon (75) def. Scott Madley, Smyrna (73), 1 up