The Tour Championship created a HOPE Shot Scholarship as part of a record charitable donation of $3.7 million generated from the 2021 tournament.
The HOPE Shot Scholarship will award $5,000 to honorees on behalf of the Tour Championship. A tournament tradition that began in 2008 allows one boy and one girl from the First Tee of Metro Atlanta to hit the opening tee shot to start the event.
Marcus Leonard and Tatum Thompson, the 2021 honorees, were the surprise recipients of the first scholarships. A plaque of all previous honorees was unveiled at a ceremony at East Lake Golf Club.
Two UGA squads placed fifth at Liz Murphey Classic
The Georgia women fielded two teams in the 50th Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, and they ended up tied for fifth. The No. 31-ranked Bulldogs had a 901 from their first and second teams, including an impressive 292 from the No. 2 team in the final round.
“The depth is really good,” coach Josh Brewer said. “It’s a positive thing to have. It shows how well we’ve done recruiting, and these players have worked hard and developed themselves. Now we just have to get the right nucleus going forward. It creates a little bit of a dilemma because usually in our spot, a team has three or four players it can count on. We just proved we have 10 we can count on.”
Georgia’s No. 2 team was led by LoraLie Cowart, who tied for eighth overall at 4-over 220, and Candice Mahé, who tied for 14th at 223. The No. 1 group was led by Jenny Bae, who also tied for 14th and shot even par on the final day. Jo Hua Hung and Isabella Holpfer tied for 25th.
No. 4 South Carolina won the event, played in cold, windy conditions, at 10-over 874.
Sam Hogan, Guy Whidby win Georgia Four-Ball Tournament
The Valdosta duo of Sam Hogan and Guy Whidby came from three shots behind to win the Georgia Four-Ball Tournament at Sea Palms Resort at St. Simons Island. They shot rounds of 70-67 in windy conditions to catch first-round leaders Mike and Nash Nance of Calhoun, the 2019 champions, and win by one shot at 5 under.
Brian Owens and Kyle Pettyjohn of Cohutta were third at 3 under. Justin Starling of Waycross and Tony Wheeler of Blackshear tied for fourth at 142 with the Calhoun team of William Hamilton and Rhett McGowan.
Oklahoma State headlines Augusta Haskins field
The 54-hole Augusta Haskins Award Invitational begins Friday at historic Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta.
Defending champion Oklahoma State returns to defend the title it won by two shots over Pepperdine last year. The 15-team field also includes the No. 2-ranked Cowboys, who headline a group that includes No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 14 Texas, No. 15 Florida, No. 23 Illinois, No. 30 South Carolina and local teams Georgia State, Mercer and host Augusta.
Forest Hills features 13 holes from the original Donald Ross design. Bobby Jones won the Southeastern Amateur there in 1930 before winning the Grand Slam.
Hard Labor team qualifies for Ga. State Parks Cup
The team of Harrison Elliott, Nick Green, Matt Moore Jr. and Corbin Edwards shot 56 to win the Georgia State Parks Golf Club qualifier at The Creek at Hard Labor in Rutledge. They edged the team of Patrick Watkins, Scott Pecore, Jonathan Hix and Patrick Allgood by one shot.
Around the campuses
Georgia State had its finish of the season with a tie for second at the Craft Farms Intercollegiate in Gulf Shores, Ala. Sophomore Maxence Mugnier finished 5 under and tied for fourth to lead the Panthers. He had 21 birdies over the 54 holes. … Christo Lamprecht tied for sixth and Georgia Tech tied for sixth at The Goodwin at Stanford University. Lamprecht shot 68-67-68–203. Bartley Forrester tied for 15th at 205. … The Georgia State women had three players land in the top 25 and finished eighth at the GSU Invitational at Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek. Emma Berlin tied for 12th, Kelly Strickland tied for 19th and Mahina Leveau tied for 21st.
Barnhart event loaded with celebrities
A few spots remain for the sixth annual Tony Barnhart Honduras Outreach charity tournament, April 11 at St. Ives Country Club in Johns Creek. The event provides food, health care and education to that country’s less privileged.
Some of the celebrities committed to participate include Vince Dooley, Buck Belue, Matt Stinchcomb, D.J. Shockley, Eric Zeier, Aaron Murray, David Archer, Wes Durham, Danny Wuerffel, Bob Reinhart, Randy Rhino, Jimmy Robinson and Frank Ros. More information is available at HOI.org/golf2022.
Miscellaneous
Thomas Fowler has joined Bobby Jones Links management company on its business development team. The Mississippi State graduate is the former PGA professional at Brookstone Golf & Country Club in Acworth. ... University of Georgia grad Chuck Couch has been named VP of sales for Honma Golf. He previously worked as director of marketing for Mizuno.
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