Georgia Tech senior Bartley Forrester continued his productive summer by winning the 81st Monroe Invitational in Pittsford, N.Y. The event is one of the more prestigious events on the summer’s amateur circuit.
Forrester put together rounds of 69-65-64-71 at Monroe Country Club. He shot an 11-under 269, including an eagle on the 71st hole, and beat Ohio State senior Jackson Chandler by three shots and Rutgers senior Luke Wells by four. The eagle came when Forrester jarred a wedge from 72 yards. The eagle extended his lead to three strokes.
“I’d say my wedge game has probably been the strength of my game,” Forrester said. “I had a good number in. I was trying to skip it, probably land it seven, eight feet short and bounce it up there, but it ended up just flying right in the cup. I don’t know if I’ve flown a ledge in like that before, so it was pretty cool.”
Forrester’s former teammate Andy Ogletree won the Monroe Invitational in 2019.
Forrester, a Gainesville native, was co-medalist at the U.S. Amateur qualifier and tied for third at the Dogwood Invitational in June. He was named honorable-mention All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Capital City pro wins West Pines Classic
J.P. Griffin, the PGA assistant at Capital City Club-Brookhaven, finished with a 2-under 69 to win the Georgia PGA’s West Pines Classic in Douglasville.
Griffin shot an 8-under 134 and beat low amateur Stephen Kinsel of Sugar Hill, a junior at North Georgia, and West Pines PGA professional Chris Cartwright by four shots. Griffin’s opening-round 65 was the low round of the tournament.
Seven receive Gene Siller Grants
Seven juniors received the first funds from the Gene Siller Memorial Grant, given in honor of the former Pinetree Country Club professional who was slain a year ago.
The grant provides financial assistance to help defray the cost of junior golfers.
The original recipients are: Thaxton Cheyne, 13, of Canton; Josh Durthaler, 16, of Dunwoody; B.J. Little, 17, of Conyers; Brisen Mailutha Purnless, 10, of Snellville; Russell Makepeace, 18, of Atlanta; Jacob Smith, 10, of Atlanta; and Haven Ward, 17, of Atlanta.
The second annual Gene Siller Red Pants Memorial will be played Aug. 15 at Pinetree.
Suwanee resident qualifies for U.S. Adaptive Open
Stacey Rice of Suwanee will compete in the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, July 18-20, at Pinehurst Resort.
Rice, 59, of Suwanee is a former Paralympic competitor, having played in the 1988 games on the volleyball team. A high-above-the-knee amputee, her father-in-law founded the Georgia Amputee Golf Tournament, which will be played for the 29th time this year.
The course will be set up to four separate yardages to coincide with the impairment categories: arm impairment, intellectual impairment, leg impairment, multiple limb amputee, neurological impairment, short stature, vision impairment and seated players.
Miscellaneous
University of Georgia’s Caroline Craig, Caterina Don and Isabella Holpfer have been named All-American scholars by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. … Ava Merrill of Johns Creek came away from the U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier at West Pines as the second alternate. The Rivers Academy student shot a 71.
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