Sports
Noll Takes One Stroke Lead into Final Round
Several players within stirking distance as play concludes today at Cherokee Town and Country Club in the Huntcliff neighborhood.
David Noll, Jr., of Dalton finished the third round at even-par 70, giving him a 54-hole total of 2-under-par 208 (71-67-70) and a one stroke advantage over Anders Albertson of Woodstock (1-under-par 201, 69-69-71) going into the final round of the 2011 Georgia Amateur Championship.
Noll, the four-time reigning GSGA Player of the Year, turned in two birdies and two bogeys on Saturday’s round at Cherokee Town & Country Club in the Huntcliff community, and will look to capture his second amateur championship of his career since winning the annual event in 2003. Albertson, who plays golf for Georgia Tech, hopes to continue his impressive play in tomorrow’s final round and catch Noll on the leaderboard for his first amateur championship of his young career.
Noll and Albertson kept the third round exciting as the two players traded the top spot on the leaderboard. Going into the 18th-hole, the two players were tied at 2-under-par overall. Noll sunk his putt to save par and finished at 2-under, but Albertson missed an eight-foot putt and tapped in for bogey and a 1-under-par total. Overall, Noll is happy with the way he has been playing with the near-perfect conditions of the golf course this week.
"I think the greens were at least a foot faster today,” Noll said. “It was difficult out there, but I played pretty solid. I was a little shaky with the putter, but it was by-and-large due to the quicker greens today. I would have liked to have shot a couple under today. I definitely left a couple out there, which would have given me more of a cushion for tomorrow, but overall it was good.”
Noll knows the grind that comes with the Georgia Amateur Championship after winning the annual event back in 2003 at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw.
”Layne Williams [GSGA Senior Director, Rules and Competitions] always says the state amateur is like a marathon. You don’t have to shoot something like 22-under, you just have to outlast the other guy. Today [Sunday] is going to be a tough day.”
This week is Albertson’s first time playing Cherokee Town & Country Club’s North Course, and he is happy with his play through the first three rounds.
”It was a real grind out there today. The greens were really fast and firm like always and the pins were a little bit tougher today[Saturday]. I know Mr. Noll pretty well, so tomorrow should be a good match. It will be fun. I know we have some guys close to us, so it should be an exciting afternoon Sunday.”
Albertson echoed Noll’s thoughts on the North Course at Cherokee Town & Country Club, and also understands what a grind this week can be.
”This is my first time playing this course and I am very impressed with the greens. It is a real good test anytime you get to play brand new greens and these are firm and fast, so it has been real fun to play.”
The defending champion and first-round leader, Lee Knox of Augusta, was one of five players to turn in red numbers on day three, finishing at 1-under-par 69 to bring his 54-hole total to 1-over-par 211 (67-75-69). Knox will begin the final round only three strokes back of the leader and hopes to repeat as champion.
Joining Noll and Albertson towards the top of the leaderboard are seven players within five strokes of Noll’s lead. Doug Hanzel of Savannah is tied for third with the defending champion Knox at 1-over-par 211. A trio of players, Franco Castro of Savannah, who plays golf at LSU, second-round leader and Darton College’s head golf coach Bill Jones, III, and 2011 Georgia Mid-Am Champion Mark Strickland of Woodstock are tied for fifth at 2-over-par 212. Tied for eighth is Jeff Knox of Augusta, a two-time Georgia Mid-Am Champion, and the reigning Georgia Public Links Champion William Mitchell of Roswell, at 3-over-par 213.
The Georgia Amateur Championship is conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association and brings together 144 of the state's best male amateur golfers for the prestigious state title first won by Bobby Jones in 1916.
The Championship format is 72 holes of stroke play over four days. After 36 holes, the field was cut to the low 70 players and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader. The cutline fell at 10-over 150 with 73 players advancing.
An online leader board, featuring all competitors’ complete scorecards, is currently available atwww.gsga.org. Sunday’s round will feature live, hole-by-hole scoring for several of the leading groups as well as nine-hole updates for all the other groups.
Georgia State Golf Association
90th Annual Georgia Amateur Championship
Cherokee Town and Country Club, Atlanta
July 7-10, 2011
Third Round Results
Par 70
Place Name Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Score To Par
1 David Noll Jr., Dalton 71 67 70 208 -2
2 Anders Albertson, Woodstock 69 69 71 209 -1
T3 Doug Hanzel, Savannah 70 68 73 211 1
T3 Lee Knox, Augusta 67 75 69 211 1
T5 Mark Strickland, Woodstock 73 67 72 212 2
T5 Bill Jones III, Albany 69 68 75 212 2
T5 Franco Castro, Alpharetta 71 69 72 212 2
T8 Jeff Knox, Augusta 75 68 70 213 3
T8 William Mitchell, Roswell 72 69 72 213 3
T10 Cameron Simmons, Acworth 73 70 71 214 4
T10 Ridge Purcell, LaGrange 68 74 72 214 4
T10 Chris Chuck, Roswell 72 74 68 214 4
T10 Patrick Garrett, Powder Springs 71 72 71 214 4
T10 Kris Mikkelsen, Atlanta 70 75 69 214 4
T15 Carter Collins, Statesboro 71 71 73 215 5
T15 Chad Wilson, Calhoun 71 71 73 215 5
T15 Harold Wyatt, Atlanta 75 67 73 215 5
T18 Zach Estep, Lawrenceville 72 73 71 216 6
T18 Gus Wagoner, Duluth 69 72 75 216 6
T18 Chris Waters, Athens 72 74 70 216 6
21 Seth Reeves, Duluth 72 72 73 217 7
T22 Jack Hall, Sea Island 75 72 71 218 8
T22 Mark Sweeney, Monroe 71 73 74 218 8
T22 Brent Whitehead, Marietta 75 73 70 218 8
T22 Matt Russell, Dunwoody 69 74 75 218 8
T22 Zachary Healy, Norcross 71 73 74 218 8
T27 Jay Degenhart, Savannah 71 70 78 219 9
T27 Michael Garretson, Acworth 78 72 69 219 9
T27 Patrick Kenney, Acworth 71 79 69 219 9
T27 Ryan Parnell, Atlanta 71 73 75 219 9
T27 Greyson Sigg, Augusta 73 71 75 219 9
T32 Cason Hammock, Columbus 74 74 72 220 10
T32 John Stembridge, Norcross 70 78 72 220 10
T32 Patrick Grahek, Alpharetta 74 76 70 220 10
T32 Rich Grote, Kennesaw 72 76 72 220 10
T32 Michael Hinnant, Suwanee 73 76 71 220 10
T37 Lee Dennis, Athens 75 71 75 221 11
T37 Michael Standard, McDonough 71 74 76 221 11
T37 Brendan Gillins, Savannah 74 71 76 221 11
T37 Nate Gahman, Leesburg 73 72 76 221 11
T37 Brent Cooper, Atlanta 70 74 77 221 11
T37 Grant Cagle, Gainesville 73 74 74 221 11
T37 Dylan Freeman, Athens 73 73 75 221 11
T37 Mitch Greer, Perry 73 73 75 221 11
T45 Taylor Smith, Covington 72 77 73 222 12
T45 Jonathan Klotz, Columbus 74 74 74 222 12
T45 Jeff Amershadian, Suwanee 74 70 78 222 12
T45 David Sullivan, Woodstock 75 74 73 222 12
T45 Rob Mcrae, Augusta 75 74 73 222 12
T50 Bryn Powers, Carrollton 73 71 79 223 13
T50 Zach Lindsey, Kennesaw 73 72 78 223 13
T50 Justin Cho, Norcross 71 74 78 223 13
T50 Mike Cromer, Peachtree Corners 75 73 75 223 13
T50 Alan Fowler, Gainesville 73 73 77 223 13
T55 Dan Whigham Jr., Atlanta 74 76 74 224 14
T55 William Anderson, Atlanta 72 76 76 224 14
T55 Buster Bruton, Dallas 75 71 78 224 14
T55 Bob Royak, Alpharetta 76 73 75 224 14
T55 Coleman Tidwell Jr., Macon 73 74 77 224 14
T55 Gavin Shane Harper, Twin City 77 73 74 224 14
T55 Ted Moon, Lilburn 75 74 75 224 14
T55 John Quirk, Atlanta 79 68 77 224 14
T55 Blaine Woodruff, Acworth 71 74 79 224 14
T64 Taylor Welborn, LaGrange 73 73 79 225 15
T64 Zane Goldthorp, Tucker 78 72 75 225 15
T64 David Yowell, Marietta 70 78 77 225 15
67 Jeff Belk, Marietta 77 72 77 226 16
68 Ray Perez III, Norcross 73 76 79 228 18
69 Scott Weeks, Savannah 76 72 81 229 19
T70 Grant Leroux, Atlanta 73 76 81 230 20
T70 Don Marsh, Johns Creek 75 72 83 230 20
72 Joey Maziar, Atlanta 73 76 83 232 22
73 Richie Wiltfang, Brunswick 76 73 84 233 23
Final Round
Pairings
Tee Time Name Score
1 8:00 AM Dylan Freeman, Athens 221
Lee Dennis, Athens 221
1 8:10 AM Cason Hammock, Columbus 220
Michael Hinnant, Suwanee 220
Patrick Grahek, Alpharetta 220
1 8:20 AM Greyson Sigg, Augusta 219
John Stembridge, Norcross 220
Rich Grote, Kennesaw 220
1 8:30 AM Michael Garretson, Acworth 219
Patrick Kenney, Acworth 219
Jay Degenhart, Savannah 219
1 8:40 AM Mark Sweeney, Monroe 218
Matt Russell, Dunwoody 218
Ryan Parnell, Atlanta 219
1 8:50 AM Jack Hall, Sea Island 218
Brent Whitehead, Marietta 218
Zachary Healy, Norcross 218
1 9:00 AM Zach Estep, Lawrenceville 216
Gus Wagoner, Duluth 216
Seth Reeves, Duluth 217
1 9:10 AM Harold Wyatt, Atlanta 215
Chad Wilson, Calhoun 215
Chris Waters, Athens 216
1 9:20 AM Patrick Garrett, Powder Springs 214
Ridge Purcell, LaGrange 214
Carter Collins, Statesboro 215
1 9:30 AM Chris Chuck, Roswell 214
Kris Mikkelsen, Atlanta 214
Cameron Simmons, Acworth 214
1 9:40 AM Franco Castro, Alpharetta 212
Jeff Knox, Augusta 213
William Mitchell, Roswell 213
1 9:50 AM Doug Hanzel, Savannah 211
Bill Jones III, Albany 212
Mark Strickland, Woodstock 212
1 10:00 AM David Noll Jr., Dalton 208
Anders Albertson, Woodstock 209
Lee Knox, Augusta 211
10 8:00 AM Mitch Greer, Perry 221
Grant Cagle, Gainesville 221
10 8:10 AM Michael Standard, McDonough 221
Nate Gahman, Leesburg 221
Brendan Gillins, Savannah 221
10 8:20 AM Brent Cooper, Atlanta 221
Jeff Amershadian, Suwanee 222
Jonathan Klotz, Columbus 222
10 8:30 AM Taylor Smith, Covington 222
Rob Mcrae, Augusta 222
David Sullivan, Woodstock 222
10 8:40 AM Alan Fowler, Gainesville 223
Zach Lindsey, Kennesaw 223
Justin Cho, Norcross 223
10 8:50 AM Mike Cromer, Peachtree Corners 223
Bryn Powers, Carrollton 223
Buster Bruton, Dallas 224
10 9:00 AM Coleman Tidwell Jr., Macon 224
William Anderson, Atlanta 224
John Quirk, Atlanta 224
10 9:10 AM Blaine Woodruff, Acworth 224
Bob Royak, Alpharetta 224
Ted Moon, Lilburn 224
10 9:20 AM Dan Whigham Jr., Atlanta 224
Gavin Shane Harper, Twin City 224
Taylor Welborn, LaGrange 225
10 9:30 AM David Yowell, Marietta 225
Zane Goldthorp, Tucker 225
Jeff Belk, Marietta 226
10 9:40 AM Ray Perez III, Norcross 228
Scott Weeks, Savannah 229
Don Marsh, Johns Creek 230
10 9:50 AM Grant Leroux, Atlanta 230
Richie Wiltfang, Brunswick 233
Joey Maziar, Atlanta 232
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