Weinhart second, again finishes as low pro
Things are becoming predictable in the Championship at Berkeley Hills.
For the fourth straight year, an amateur won the Georgia PGA tournament. And for the third time in that span, Tim Weinhart came away with first place money and first place points among the Georgia PGA members in the field.
Jacob Bayer, a junior member at Berkeley Hills and a rising senior at Gwinnett’s Collins Hill High School, fired a final round 65 for a 36-hole total of 10-under 134 and a 2-stroke victory over Weinhart, who closed with a 67 to finish at 136.
Joseph Jarrard, who has transferred from Armstrong Atlantic to North Georgia, finished third at 137 after taking the first round lead with a 65. Jarrard shot 72 the final day. Tying for fourth at 138 was Frederica GC head pro Hank Smith (69-69) and veteran tour player Paul Claxton (70-68), who has joined the staff at Hawk’s Point in Vidalia as the Director of Golf.
Bayer did not get off to the best of starts in the tournament, beginning his opening round with bogeys on the first two holes. He did not make bogey the rest of the day and carded five birdies for a 69 to trail Jarrard by four going to the final round.
For the first seven holes of the second round, Bayer was just 1-under par for the day and still four off Jarrard’s lead. A beautiful tee shot on the par-3 eighth to within two feet resulted in Bayer’s second birdie of the day, and he briefly gained a share of the lead when he reached the short par-5 10th in two for a birdie.
Bayer missed from about five feet for birdie at the short, par-3 11th, but gave himself another 5-footer at the 12th and holed it to pull even with Weinhart, who was playing in the group behind them, and Jarrard, who was in the final pairing.
After both made birdie at the 10th, Weinhart and Jarrard managed just one more birdie apiece the remainder of their rounds, but Bayer was far from finished adding circles to his scorecard. He hit his second on the difficult on the par-4 13th within 10 feet and made the putt to take the outright lead for the first time.
Bayer saved par after his only missed green of the back nine at the par-3 14th, and added to his lead with birdies at 15 and 16. He came up about 20 yards short of the green in two on the par-5 15th and knocked in a 12-footer.
When he reached the 16th tee, Bayer learned that he was ahead by two shots, describing it as “a weird feeling. But after I found out about it on the tee, I didn’t think about it.” Nine-under at the time, Bayer thought the lead number would be in double figures under par.
“I didn’t think I would be leading by two,” said Bayer, who responded to that knowledge by hitting a big drive at the par-4 16th and rolling in a 15-footer for birdie to increase his lead to three. He had looks at birdie at both 17 and 18, settling for pars to finish at 10-under.
When both Weinhart and Jarrard failed to birdie the 15th, their hopes for forcing a playoff were greatly reduced, with Weinhart taking second place by himself with a birdie at the 16th.
Bayer has won events on the Southeastern Junior Tour and placed second earlier this year in an American Junior event at Coosa CC in Rome, with his victory at Berkeley Hills his most significant yet.
Playing the tournament on his home course “was definitely an advantage,” he offered. “You know where you have to hit it, but you still have to hit the shots.”
Trailing by four going to the final round, Bayer said he was focused on trying to move up into the top five, and did not think winning the tournament was a realistic hope.
“I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could,” he said. He made enough the second day to become the fourth straight amateur to win the Championship at Berkeley Hills.
Bayer, a lanky left-hander, has verbally committed to play college golf at Western Kentucky, but after his recent victory, he may be hearing from some programs with more name recognition than the Hilltoppers.
Weinhart has enjoyed a run of success in the tournament, which was first played in 2010, placing fourth or better five times, including a pair of runner-up finishes. Three of the last four years, Weinhart has finished as low pro, shooting 10-under and 8-under the last two without a victory.
“I played a lot of really good golf,” Weinhart said. “I’ve got to play better.”
Like Bayer, Weinhart got off to a rocky start in the opening round. Teeing off in the 10th hole, he made bogeys at 12, 13 and 14 and was 3-over after five. He was 6-under over his final 14 holes with two birdies and an eagle on the remaining par 5s, concluding his round with birdies on his final three holes.
Weinhart moved into a tie for the lead by playing the front nine the next day in 3-under 33, highlighted by a chip-in eagle on the third, his second eagle on the hole in two days. He briefly took the outright lead with a birdie at the 10th, but could not keep up with Bayer down the stretch. He was 11-under par for his last 31 holes in the tournament.
“That’s nice; that helps,” he said of the first place check for $1,500 and the first place points that moved him to the top of the standings as he shoots for a ninth Georgia PGA Player of the Year honor. “But I’m just not getting it done.”
Weinhart has 14 career victories in Georgia PGA points events during his two decades in the Section, but his last wins came in 2012, when he collected his third Match Play title and won the Section’s qualifier for the national club professional championship for a fourth time.
It was Weinhart’s second tournament appearance at Berkeley Hills in the span of less than a week. His third round match in the GPGA Match Play Championship against Karen Paolozzi was played at the Duluth club, and Weinhart scored a tight 2-up victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
Weinhart, the No. 1 seed in the bracket, and the 17th-seeded Paolozzi, were all square after nine holes, at which point both players stepped up their games. Weinhart birdied holes 10, 12 and 13, but the match was still even as Paolozzi birdied 11, 12 and 13. Weinhart got up-and-down for par to win the 14th and take the lead, but Paolozzi won the 16th to get back to even.
Paolozzi’s tee shot on the 17th went through the fairway and left her with an obstructed second shot, and she bogeyed to fall 1-down, with Weinhart also winning the 18th to take the match.
Weinhart’s final round 67 was the second lowest score of the day, behind only Bayer’s 65. Bayer’s score matched that of Jarrard’s the day before for low round of the tournament, and was two strokes lower than his previous best on his home course.
“I got my putter going on the second nine yesterday and hit it close a few times,” Jarrard said of his opening 65.
Jarrard was just 1-under after 11 holes the first day when he birdied six of his last seven holes. His only par in that stretch came on the fourth hole, as he finished the round with five consecutive birdies.
“I made a few putts outside 20 feet. It was a normal round until the last few holes.”
Playing with the lead the second day was “tough,” Jarrard said. “I left some putts short. I left a few out there, but it was a good tournament overall. The first round was better than I’ve been playing.”
Brookfield CC head pro Michael Parrott almost matched Jarrrard the first day with a 66, but managed just one birdie the second day and shot 73 to tie for sixth at 139 with West Pines head pro Chris Cartwright (71-68).
After notching seven birdies the day before, Parrott’s only birdie the final round came when he hit his second shot on the par-5 third inside 10 feet, but missed his eagle attempt. After a pair of early bogeys, he parred his last 14 holes.
Tying for eighth at 140 was J.P. Griffin (70-70) of Capital City Club, Seth McCain (69-71) of Jennings Mill and Brian Dixon (68-72) of Fox Creek. Dixon and McCain were both within one shot of the lead on the back nine before Bayer pulled away.
Five players tied for 11th at 141, including Sonny Skinner (72-69) of Spring Hill CC, Mark Anderson (71-70) of Brunswick CC, Craig Stevens (70-71) of Brookstone G&CC, Stephen Keppler (69-72) of Marietta CC and amateur Mark Nickerson (69-72).