There will be a strong Georgia contingent in this week’s Symetra Classic at Atlanta National Golf Club in Milton.
The field includes Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse, a three-time All-American at Stanford who earned partial LPGA status this year; Karen Paolozzi, an assistant professional at Druid Hills Golf Club, who became the second woman to make the cut at the PGA Professional National Championship; and University of Georgia alumni Mauela Carbajo Re, a Symetra Tour rookie.
Other Georgians include former World No. 1-ranked amateur Ashlan Ramsey of Milledgeville, Jean Reynolds of Newnan, Avery George of Perry and Lacey Agnew of Jonesboro. The first alternate is Jessica Welch of Thomasville.
Laura Wearn of Charlotte returns to defend her title, which she won with a birdie on the final hole.
The tournament is part of the Symetra developmental tour that awards an LPGA exemption to the top 10 on the season’s money list.
The 54-hole tournament concludes Sunday. Admission is free.
GSU, Kennesaw earn automatic bids
Georgia State won’t need to worry about whether its name will be called when the regional fields are announced for the NCAA men’s golf championships. The Panthers took care of that matter this week by winning the Sun Belt Conference championship and the automatic playoff bit that comes with it.
The Panthers knocked off No. 1-seed Troy in the semifinal and beat Georgia Southern 3-2 in the final. Junior Alex Hermann clinched the win with a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole. Georgia State also got wins from Nathan Williams and Nick Budd.
This will be the fourth consecutive year that coach Joe Inman has taken his team to the NCAA regionals.
Another automatic invitation will go to Kennesaw State, which won the Atlantic Sun Conference championship at Chateau Elan for the second consecutive year. Jake Fendt birdied the 18th hole of his match to put the Owls in the lead and Chris Guglielmo two-putted for par on the final hole to secure the one-shot victory over Belmont.
Georgia Tech and Georgia are certain to be included in the NCAA field. The Yellow Jackets finished seventh in the ACC Championships, and the Bulldogs were ninth at the SEC Championships.
Augusta University is competing in the MEAC Championship in Savannah this weekend, an event it has won the past two years.
The announcement of the regional field, which includes 81 teams and 45 individuals, will come at noon May 4 on Golf Channel. The top five teams from the six regional sites will advance to the national championships May 26-31 at Rich Harvest Farms outside Chicago.
UGA duo qualifies for Canadian Tour
The University of Georgia will have a pair of representatives on the PGA Tour Canada. Greyson Sigg was third and Lee McCoy was 14th at the qualifying school. Sigg will be except for the first eight events once his college career is over. McCoy will be exempt for the first four events, when the first reshuffle will occur.
Waddell wins Senior Match Play
Wright Waddell of Columbus won the Georgia State Golf Association’s Senior Match Play Championship at Green Island in Columbus. Waddell defeated Mark Nickerson of Roswell 3 and 2 in the final match. David Nell of Sharpsburg defeated Bill Evans of Columbus 2 and 1 in the Super Senior finale.
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