Since he first won the Georgia PGA Match Play Championship in 1997, Brian Dixon has been looking for a second shot at a title in the event.
He did not have the chance to defend his title for two years, as the event was not played in 1998 or ’99 while the Geeorgia PGA was considering changes to the format. The tournament resumed in 2000 and Dixon made it to the quarterfinals the next year. But that was as far as he had advanced until this year’s competition.
Dixon, an instructor at the Fox Creek executive course in Smyrna, reached the third round eight straight times from 2006 to ‘13, but his tournament ended there on all eight times.
After a pair of 2&1 victories in the first two rounds of the 2014 GPGA Match Play Championship, Dixon was back in the third round for a ninth straight year. But this time he made it past that hurdle, scoring a third consecutive 2&1 victory, this time against fourth-seeded Kyle Owen of Dunwoody Country Club, who had already won a Georgia PGA tournament this year.
Once he got past the third round, there was no stopping Dixon this time. He needed 18 holes in his quarterfinal match to defeat Rivermont’s Matthew Evans 2-up, setting up a semifinal match-up with two-time Match Play champion Craig Stevens of Brookstone G&CC, whose last win in the event came in 2000, the first time it was played after Dixon’s 2007 victory.
Dixon got past the top-seeded Stevens in 20 holes, and faced 2007 Match Play champion Greg Lee of Chicopee Woods in the finals, with Lee scoring an impressive 5&3 victory over Seth McCain of Jennings Mill in the other semifinal.
The semifinals and finals were played at Peachtree Golf Club, with the first four rounds at courses around the state as determined by the two participants. Dixon won the title match 2&1, his fourth win by that score in his six matches.
“It’s been a while,” Dixon said of the lengthy gap between wins in the event. “It just hasn’t worked for me since then, but I made a couple of putts today when I needed to.”
Dixon never trailed in the championship match. He took three 1-up leads on the front nine before Lee won the next hole all three times. Dixon took the lead for good with a birdie putt in the 15-foot range on the par-3 12th, and went ahead 2-up for the first time when Lee’s tee shot on the par-3 14th splashed in the pond fronting the green.
Lee cut Dixon’s lead to one hole when he birdied the par-5 16th, but Dixon closed out the match with a nice two-putt par on the 17th, winning the hole when Lee missed his par attempt after failing to hit the green in regulation.
Since 2001 Lee has an outstanding record in the tournament, winning once, reaching the finals twice and making it as far as the semifinals and quarterfinals three times each. He closed out his third round and quarterfinal matches on the 15th hole, and repeated that feat in the semifinals against McCain, winning four of the first five holes and making only one bogey in the round.
But after enjoying an excellent putting round in the morning, Lee struggled on the greens in the championship match, and was also not as sharp with his ball striking. Dixon, meanwhile, turned in a solid effort in the finals, with his only serious mistake coming on the par-4 third hole and its diabolically sloped green.
Dixon went 1-up with a birdie at the par-5 second after Lee hit his second shot into the pond just short of the green. Lee won the third hole with a bogey after his short-sided pitch rolled all the way down the slope and he managed to two-putt while Dixon three-putted from the same spot after hitting his second into a greenside bunker.
Lee missed a short par putt at the fourth, but pulled even when he reached the par-5 fifth in two and birdied while Dixon left himself in a tough spot after missing one of Peachtree’s demanding greens complexes bordered by Augusta National-like mounds.
Another short miss for par cost Lee the sixth hole, with Dixon saving par from well below the putting surface on the lengthy par 3. Lee pulled even for the last time on the eighth when Dixon went from rough to bunker and made bogey.
After Dixon took the lead with his birdie at the 12th, Lee had a chance to square the match at 13 despite having to pitch back to the fairway after an errant tee shot. He gave himself an excellent opportunity to save par after a superb third shot, but missed the putt to halve the hole with a bogey.
After going 2-down with his tee shot in the water at 14, Lee just missed his birdie try at 15, but cut the deficit to one hole when he slipped in a birdie putt at the 15th following a deft chip shot. Dixon was over the par 5 in two and his third shot came back down one of Peachtree’s devilish slopes, with his next chip barely making it to the putting surface.
Dixon holed a sizeable par putt to force Lee to make his short birdie try for a win, with Lee barely slipping his effort into the side of the cup. Lee wasn’t as fortunate with his par attempt at the 17th, ending the match.
“The thing about match play is that you have to make putts at the right time,” Dixon said. He cited his birdie at 11 as the turning point of the match. “It was pretty big there to birdie that hole. The match could have went either way, but the putts weren’t going in for him and a few went in for me.”
“I think I missed one putt inside eight or nine feet this morning,” Lee said. “I missed six this afternoon.”
Like his match with Lee, Dixon’s semifinal battle against Stevens also featured a back-and-forth front nine. Only one hole on the opening nine was halved, with Dixon winning three holes with birdies. Both players birdied the par-5 10th, with Dixon taking a lead before Stevens squared the match at the 17th.
Dixon ended the playoff on the par-5 second after both players hit their second shots to the downhill par-5 within eagle range. Stevens, who was just outside Dixon, missed his putt and Dixon made his to return to the finals for the first since time since 1997.
Coming into the finals, Dixon said he “had nothing to lose. Craig is one of the best players in the Section and I had no expectations of beating him and no pressure. I birdied some key holes and never got too far down.”
The two Match Play titles are Dixon’s only ones in a Georgia PGA points event, and he says there is “a different mindset” between stroke play and match play.
“You hit one out of play, it only costs you one hole in match play. It might cost you two or three shots in stroke play. In match play, you only have to beat one person, not the whole field.”
Peachtree, one of the state’s most respected layouts, played close to its maximum of 7,400 yards in the semifinal and finals, and challenged the four Georgia PGA participants with its length, number of hazards and extremely challenging greens complexes.
Dixon said a key to his victories there were getting in front “so you’re not the one who has to make birdies. There are not many birdie chances here other than the par fives.”