Natchez golfers sweep Mississippi Golf Association Four-Ball State Championship – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper

NATCHEZ — Natchez Golfers swept the Mississippi Golf Affiliation 4-Ball State Championship at Beau Pré Sunday. Greg Brooking, Invoice Byrne, Tee Cotten, Casey Ham, Bobby Meason, and Kevin Smith represented the house membership to win the Tremendous Senior Championship, Senior Championship, and Grand Masters Championship. 

Bubba Kaiser and his accomplice Paul Guido had a great exhibiting within the remaining spherical and gained their Tremendous Senior Flight. Tom Bryant and Jeffery Anderson put numerous strain on Cotton and Ham on the ultimate gap with a final-round cost. 

Meason and Smith held a two stroke lead and had the least strain coming into the ultimate spherical. Smith mentioned they only maintained their lead all through the day to complete six underneath for the match within the Grand Masters Championship. 

“We have been in a partnership right now. We each performed good, and we brother-in-lawed, which means if I hit a foul shot, he hit a great shot, fairly good,” Smith mentioned. “We did that every one day. We performed regular, in order that was key to our success. It feels good to win something in competitors, however particularly the state competitors, it feels higher. We recognize the State Golf Affiliation for competing right here in Natchez. I feel we had about 80 folks right here.” 

There was numerous strain on the opposite two pairings after they walked as much as the ultimate gap. After bogeying 17, Brooking and Byrne wanted a birdie to safe a win. 

“I’m tickled to win. I used to be very nervous on No. 18. I’ve one different state championship I’ve gained. Any time you get an opportunity to win a state championship it’s a massive factor,” Brooking mentioned. “We needed to have the birdie. We knew the second place group must shoot 66 to tie or 65 to win. It was going to be onerous with the win and pin placements. We ended up successful by a stroke.” 

The pair had a great entrance 9 to start out the day with birdies on No. 5 and No.8. They shot par or higher till gap No. 14, the place they bogeyed. 

Byrne birdied No. 15 to get them on observe, and Brooking made a birdie on No. 16. Their win was the primary time that they had gained a four-ball state championship as they completed 13 underneath par. 

“Greg chipped in on 16, which saved us. I birdied 15, and he made a great birdie on 18. He is an efficient accomplice,” Byrne mentioned. “We play numerous four-ball collectively.” 

Cotten and Ham discovered themselves a stroke behind the leaders within the senior championship. David Allen and his accomplice Robert Sanford, who gained The Natchez Open senior championship final 12 months, double bogeyed the third gap and couldn’t get better. They dropped from first to seventh by capturing one over on the ultimate day. 

Their pairing Cotten and Ham had a a lot better begin to the day. They birdied No. 2, No. 5 and No. 8 on the entrance 9. After Ham and Cotten had hassle on No.9 and shot a bogey, they recovered with birdies on No. 11 and No. 13. Cotten quipped the entire spherical was a collection of turning factors. 

“We didn’t birdie two holes in a row the whole weekend. It was a wrestle. It was comforting to know my man right here might gentle it up,” Cotten mentioned. “All I needed to do was make par. I rode him like seabiscuit or a rented mule. It was a enjoyable weekend. We love our golf course, even when it will get the very best of us.” 

His enjoying accomplice Ham gained his second senior championship with a 13 underneath par spherical. He gained his first particular person title this 12 months. At 50, Ham appears nearer to 35 the MGA official mentioned when presenting the crew his trophy. 

On Gap No. 15, Ham needed to take a stroke penalty for an infraction when he went to mark his ball. One in all two golf equipment slipped out of his grasp and struck the ball, which led to him taking a penalty. Cotten bailed them out with a par. 

A bogey on 16 and a par on 17 introduced all of the strain to the final gap. Cotten struck his second shot about 20 ft from the outlet.

“We needed to birdie 18 to win. I had appeared on the leaderboard after 17. He hit a chip that hit the pin. I felt fairly comfy we’d win, I simply needed to put it shut.” 

He sank his fourth putt to win it and full the sweep at Beau Pré. Kaiser, Anderson, Bryant, Smith and Meason watched the 2 stroll off the No. 18 inexperienced as senior champions. 

After the spherical, Ham wished to thank some folks for the weekend. 

“We thank everybody who voluntered. We thank the MGA and the Beau Pré Workers who made this all occur,” he mentioned.