ALEXANDRIA CITY, Ala. — Georgia notched 22 1/2 points to earn a second-place finish while Florida won the Southeastern Challenge Match with 25 points. Alabama finished third with 15 1/2 points. The 15th playing of this three-state competition took place at Willow Point Golf and Country Club, October 17-18.
During Sunday’s three-ball singles matches, on October 18th, Georgia earned 11 points. In match one, Chris Hall of Kennesaw dropped both matches to Alabama (3 and 2) and Florida (6 and 5). Jack Hall of Sea Island earned Georgia’s first point of day two with a win over Florida (3 and 2), but fell to Alabama (4 and 3). Cameron Hooper of Atlanta then beat Florida (2 and 1) and lost to Alabama (2 up). In match four, Stan Gann, Jr., of Bonaire defeated Florida (4 and 3) and split a point with Alabama. Bobby Brent III of Columbus dropped both of his matches to Florida (4 and 3) and Alabama (5 and 4). Match six featured Mike Cromer of Peachtree Corners, as he split a point with Alabama and lost to Florida (2 and 1).
Doug Hanzel of Savannah swept both matches with wins over Alabama (4 and 2) and Florida (3 and 2). Billy Mitchell of Roswell earned a point over Alabama (1 up) and lost to Florida (1 up). Match nine saw Scotty Scott of Hoschton drop his matches to Alabama and Florida, both 3 and 2. Bob Royak of Alpharetta earned two points for Georgia over Alabama (5 and 4) and Florida (2 up). Match 11 gave two more points to Georgia as David Noll, Jr., of Dalton topped Florida (3 and 2) and Alabama (2 up). In the final match of the day, Cres Dodd of Calhoun lost both to Alabama (1 up) and Florida (7 and 6).
On Saturday morning, Team Georgia earned four points from six four-ball matches. The duo of Billy Mitchell of Roswell and Chris Hall of Kennesaw fell to Alabama’s Robert Nelson and Mike Greer. Scotty Scott of Hoschton and Mike Cromer of Peachtree Corners split a point with Florida’s Brian Keenan and Paul Royak. The Georgians earned their first point of the day when David Noll, Jr., of Dalton and Bobby Brent III of Columbus defeated Alabama’s Richard Douglas and Freeman Fite, 3 and 2. Another point was split between Georgia and Florida as Doug Hanzel of Savannah and Bob Royak of Alpharetta finished all square with Kelly Gosse and Tim Hume. Jack Hall of Sea Island and Cameron Hooper of Atlanta beat Hunter Bronson and Matt Gourgeot of Team Alabama, 4 and 3. The final point for the Georgians in the morning wave came when Cres Dodd of Calhoun and Stan Gann, Jr., of Bonaire took down Florida’s Joe Alfieri and Jimmy Jones in a tight match, 1 up.
In the day one afternoon foursome matches, Team Georgia earned 7 1/2 points. Mitchell and C. Hall earned a point each with wins over Florida (2 and 1) and Alabama (3 and 1). J. Hall and Hooper dropped both their matches to Florida (1 up) and Alabama (2 and 1). Noll and Brent won both matches over Florida (4 and 3) and Alabama (4 and 3). The Hanzel/Royak match resulted in victory over Alabama (2 and 1) and a split with Florida for a half point. Scott and Cromer split a point with Alabama, then defeated Florida (4 and 3). The final match of the day gave Georgia a half point as Dodd and Gann split with Alabama and lost to Florida (3 and 2).
With the victory, Florida now has eight wins at the Southeastern Challenge Match, while Georgia has six and Alabama has one.