Playing in the final round of the Yamaha Georgia Senior Open at Chattahoochee GC, Craig Stevens took what appeared to be a comfortable 4-stroke lead over playing partner James Mason when he birdied the par-5 13th hole.
But just as Stevens was putting some distance between himself and who he thought were the other contenders, Danny Elkins was finishing off a run of seven birdies in eight holes on the front nine at Chattahoochee GC to conclude a tournament-record 62 on the venerable Robert Trent Jones, Sr., layout.
Elkins’ 10-under par round got him into the clubhouse at 7-under 137, with Stevens 8-under with five holes to play, a par 5 among them. Stevens failed on an excellent opportunity to birdie the par-5 15th, and fell into a tie with Elkins for the lead when his tee shot on the par-3 17th came up short in a greenside bunker and he took bogey.
The tie did not last long, however. After an excellent drive on the par-4 18th, Stevens says he had “a perfect number with a wedge.” Stevens works a lot on his wedge game during practice sessions and was prepared for the moment.
“I told myself, ‘You have the perfect number; just hit it well’.”
He did, he just didn’t know how well.
The hole location was hidden from Stevens’ view from the fairway, but when he got to the green, he discovered he was no more than 2 ½ feet from the cup.
“I didn’t know I was that close,” a smiling Stevens said after his round. “That took a big relief off my shoulders. I felt like I could make that.”
Stevens holed the short birdie putt for a final round 66 and a 36-hole total of 8-under 136. Elkins, who shot 75 the first day, was 2nd at 137. Stephen Keppler, who birdied three of his last four holes for a 69, took 3rd at 139 with Mason 4th at 141 after a disappointing back nine which led to a closing 73.
It was the second Georgia Senior Open title in three years for Stevens. He was runner-up last year at Newnan CC, where he won by eight strokes in 2011 in his first appearance in the tournament.
Stevens is not just a standout among the Georgia PGA’s excellent contingent of seniors. He is also the Section’s 2012 Player of the Year, earning that title for the third time, the first since 2001. Since turning 50 in 2011, he has added three state senior titles to the dozen times he’s won in Section points events, three of them coming since 2010.
Even in his early 50s, Stevens still has the ability to shoot low numbers, as he did in the 2011 Yamaha Atlanta Open at The Frog (13-under 131 for 36 holes), one month after winning by eight in the Georgia Senior Open at Newnan CC at 9-under 135. He shot 137 there last year, but was 2nd by a shot as Sonny Skinner birdied the last hole to break a tie and win at 136.
Stevens has lost Section events to final hole heroics in the past, most notably in the 2007 Griffin Classic, when Jeff Hull made a hole-in-one on the par-3 18th at Griffin CC to edge him by a shot.
“I did think about that on 18,” Stevens said after his victory. “That’s happened to me before. It’s very satisfying to finish with a birdie and to win a tournament.”
Stevens’ approach shot to the 18th was not quite as dramatic as Hull’s final shot in Griffin six years earlier, but achieved the same result
The final round set up as a battle between three of the Section’s most successful players over the past 25 years. Stevens, Mason and Keppler combined for nine straight Player of the Year titles from 1993-2001. Mason took his game to the Champions Tour in 2001, playing there almost exclusively for the next decade before returning to Georgia PGA tournament play last year in the Atlanta Open, which was played at Chattahoochee GC.
Mason, who lives in Dillard and plays out of The Orchard, opened with a 68 to lead Stevens, Keppler and amateur John Foster by two. Mason, who lost in a playoff in last year’s Atlanta Open, led throughout the front nine the final day, carding birdies on three of the last four holes around a bogey on the reachable in two par-5 eighth when he missed the green on his second shot in some thick foliage.
Stevens, an instructor at Brookstone CC, used his deft short game to birdie the two par 5s on the opening nine, along with a sizeable birdie putt on the par-3 third for an outgoing 33. He was one back of Mason at the turn, with Keppler, the head professional at Marietta CC, settling for eight pars and a bogey after some sub-par ball striking.
A birdie at the short par- 4 10th pulled Stevens into a tie with Mason, and Stevens followed with birdies at 11 and 13 while Mason bogeyed 11 and 12. Stevens hit it close for all three of his birdies, and had a chance to take a 2-shot lead with his fourth birdie of the day on a par 5 at the 15th. But he chipped long after coming up just short of the green on his second shot, and his missed birdie attempt kept his lead at one.
Even after getting the news that what he thought was a 4-stroke lead was instead just a 1-shot margin, Stevens was not fazed.
“I thought ‘Wow, that’s unbelievable. That was a super, super round by Danny.’ But I was not really nervous. I had been hitting the ball really well and I had a par five ahead of me.”
Even after the bogey at 17, Stevens was in good position.
“The worst scenario was I make par and we have a playoff. If he won with a 62 and I finished second, that’s OK. I played well. I could have accepted that.”
Only four players shot in the 60s the final day, with Ted Meier matching Stevens’ 66 and Keppler’s late surge resulting in a 69. Elkins shot 75 the previous day.
Elkins, the owner and operator of Georgia Golf Center in Roswell, said he has been “putting so good lately, if I hit it at all I can score.” He started fast after teeing off on 10 with birdies on four of his first six holes, getting within six feet on holes 11 and 15 and rolling in putts in the 15-to-18-foot range on 13 and 14 to turn in 4-under. He also holed an 8-footer for par on his first hole to get things started, but bogeyed No. 1 (his 10th) when he pulled his tee shot into a hazard and had to chip out.
At 3-under after 10 holes, Elkins was just even par for the tournament, but closed out his round with a stretch of golf similar to that of Roberto Castro, a long time student of Elkins, who shot 63 in the first round of the Players Championship.
Elkins hit it to five feet on the second hole and inside a foot on both the par-3 third and par-4 fourth. He holed a 12-footer at the fifth for his fourth straight birdie, but had a birdie putt of around 18 feet “horseshoe out” at the par-5 sixth. Undeterred, Elkins rolled in “a 40-foot bomb” on the seventh, chipped to six feet on the par-5 eighth and closed out his day with a birdie putt of some 10 feet at the ninth.
The 56-year-old Elkins has enjoyed some strong recent showings in both senior and non-senior events, but his last win in a points event came in the 2011 PGA Senior Championship.
“I used to have plenty of skill, but I wasn’t good at grinding out a round,” he observed. “Now that I don’t have as much skill, I can grind it out.”
After getting to 4-under after six holes, Elkins began to think about making a run at the lead. The bogey on his 10th hole could have ended his hopes, but he fought back with his furious finish to give himself a chance at victory.
“I think I was tied I finished, but Craig is such a quality player that I didn’t expect a playoff. I did all I could.”
Jeff Belk took low amateur honors and was 5th overall at 142 after back-to-back scores of 71. Meier, an instructor of Flat Creek, birdied his last three holes for a 66 and a tie for 6th at 144 with amateur Mel Mendenhall. Host pro Rodger Hogan tied for 8th at 145 with Tommy Brannen of Augusta CC and defending champion Skinner, who bounced back with a 70 after an opening 75.
When Stevens turned 50, he gave the Champions Tour a shot, but one year of trying to Monday qualify for events within reasonable proximity of Atlanta was enough for him.
“It’s a closed shop,” he said of the tour. “I’ve been a club pro all my life and I have a good situation at the club (Brookstone). I have a good job and if you want to play that tour you have to play it full time.”
Stevens enjoys splitting his tournaments between senior and non-senior events, and has certainly remained competitive with the under-50 crowd.
“That keeps me young,” he said of his non-senior efforts. “The yardage gap can be kind of tough, but I hit it pretty straight and I’m consistent. When I’m putting well I can still shoot in the 60s, and in the club pro ranks, that’s OK.”