David Ford of Peachtree Corners, a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina, used a second-round 62 to propel himself to victory at the 116th Southern Amateur Championship at Sea Island’s Plantation Course.
Ford shot rounds of 67-62-70-65 to finish at 20-under 264 and beat Georgia Southern’s Mason Williams and Jiri Zuska of the University of Louisville by three shots.
Georgia Tech’s Bartley Forrester of Gainesville, who earlier this summer won the Monroe Invitational, and Dacula’s Jackson Buchanan, who plays for Illinois, tied for sixth at 13 under. Georgia Southern’s Ben Carr of Columbus tied for 10th.
Harman finishes strong at British Open
Champion Cameron Smith wasn’t the only one with final-round fireworks at the British Open at St. Andrews. Savannah’s Brian Harman shot a 6-under 66 in the final round and moved all the way up into a tie for sixth at 13-under 274. It was Harman’s best performance in seven appearances at the British Open.
After opening with a 73, Harman turned in back-to-back 68s before closing strong. Harman had seven birdies, including an 8-footer at 18, and one bogey in the final round. He had only two bogeys over the final 54 holes.
Harman, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, is having another solid season. He ranks 52nd on the FedEx Cup list and has five top-10s in 23 starts.
Spivey tops Georgia qualifiers for U.S. Amateur
Jay Spivey of Macon shot a 5-under 139 at the Georgia Southern University Golf Course to lead four Georgians who earned a spot in the U.S. Amateur in the state’s second qualifier.
Spivey, who plays at Mercer, shot a 65 on the final day to offset a first-round 74 and finish second. Also earning a place in the championship event were Georgia Southern players Ben Carr of Columbus and Brantley Baker of Leesburg, who tied for third at 4 under. Will Baker of Statham, who plays at Prince Avenue Christian, won the final spot in a playoff over Kennesaw State’s Brock Healy of Peachtree Corners after both shot 3 under. Healy and Maxwell Ford of the University of Georgia are the two alternates.
The medalist was the University of South Florida’s Luke Gifford, who finished 10-under 134.
The 122nd U.S. Amateur will be Aug. 15-21 at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.
Tour Championship offers free tickets
The Tour Championship, Aug. 24-28 at East Lake Golf Club, is offering free tickets for young people and military members.
The youth program offers a maximum of two free tickets for children 15 and younger for each ticketed adult. The program is for grounds access only and does not require preregistration. Families need only to show up at any tournament gate. Daily grounds tickets start at $35.
The military program offers all active, retired, reserve and National Guard members up to two complimentary tickets for Wednesday and the option for two tickets for one of the competition days. Veterans also have the option to purchase two discounted tickets for Wednesday ($15 plus fees) and one of the competition days ($45 plus fees).
Complimentary tickets may be reserved at tour.spinzo.com/military. Military members need an active GovX account to verify their status and unlock the ticket offer. Tickets must be redeemed online only and will not be available at the gates.
Southeastern Amateur celebrates centennial
A field of 90 competitors will participate in the 100th anniversary of the Southeastern Amateur, which begins Thursday at the Country Club of Columbus.
Georgia Southern has the most representatives in the field. The nine Eagles are Wilson Andress, Brantley Baker, Jack Boltja, Colin Bowles, Hayden Carner, Lindsey Cordell, Luke Dasher, Ian Glanton and Hogan Ingram. But two-time winner and defending champion Ben Carr is not returning.
Georgia Tech has three players in the field: Adam Bratton, Andy Mao and Hiroshi Tai. Others in the field include Brock Healy and Evan Thompson of Kennesaw State, Steve Kibare of Dalton State and Ty Patterson of Shorter.
This is the 93rd playing of the Southeastern Am, one of the nation’s oldest amateur events.
UGA’s Craig shows well at North-South
Caroline Craig of Sautee Nacoochee, a rising senior at the University of Georgia, reached the Round of 16 at the North and South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst, N.C.
Thanks largely to a 1-under 71 on Pinehurst No. 2, Craig was the No. 31 seed going into the match-play portion of the tournament. She emphatically took down No. 2 seed Emmy Schimpf of South Carolina 5 and 4 in the first round. Craig lost 1 up in the second round to Melanie Green of New York.
First Tee students earns spot in Leadership Summit
Matthew Cook of the First Tee of Metro Atlanta is one of 40 students selected to attend the prestigious First Tee Leadership Summit at Arthur Blank’s West Creek Ranch in Montana.
Cook is one of 40 players selected to participate in the program. On average the 24 girls and 16 boys have spent seven years in the First Tee program and have a grade-point average of 3.85.
The summit is designed to strengthen leadership skills through outdoor and team-building activities. Former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick will be the guest speaker.
Georgia women represented on scholar team
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association named 1,485 to its All-American Scholar Team, which requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50.
Women from Georgia schools were: Berry -- Sarah Beth Scarborough, Chloe Wegienka, Anna DeMersseman; Emory -- Ellen Dong, Irene Wang, Sharon Mun, Mariana Chong; Georgia Southern -- Abby Newton; Georgia State -- Aristelle Acuff; Oglethorpe: Grace Hallenbeck, Morgan Nichol, Sara Hsu; Reinhardt -- Katie Kauffman, Brooke Newsome, Lauren White, Debbie Blount; Savannah College of Art and Design – Atlanta -- Alejandra Toyos, Martha Sanchez, Megan Ahmadi; SCAD – Savannah -- Zayla White, Olivia Parramore, Ariana Castro, Alessia Avanzo, Marie Oulie; North Georgia -- Ellie Rippee, Lainey Painter, Danielle Humphrey, Madeline Ananthasane; Truett-McConnell -- Jala Stamey, Madison Panter, Abby Akin, Grace Lansdell, Erin Dorsey and Lauren Weaver; University of Georgia --Caroline Craig, Caterina Don, Isabella Holpfer.
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