MARIETTA, GA. – Jan. 29, 2005 – The 2005 Georgia State Golf Association competition season will soon get underway. The schedule, which runs March through November, features 18 statewide competitions, sectional qualifying for two state championships, two interstate team competitions and 17 qualifying rounds for USGA national championships.
The Georgia Amateur Championship returns to Savannah Golf Club for a record-setting seventh time July 7-10. The 2005 event marks the 84th annual Amateur, which began in 1916 and was first won by 14-year-old Robert T. “Bobby” Jones, Jr. Qualifying for the Amateur Championship will be held at 10 sites across the state beginning on June 6 at Country Club of Columbus, Georgia Veterans Memorial Golf Club in Cordele, and Crooked Creek Golf Club in Alpharetta.
The 24th Annual Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship returns to Coosa Country Club in Rome, May 20-22. Coosa last hosted the event in its 1982 debut. For the third consecutive year, 18-hole qualifying rounds for the Mid-Amateur will be held at five locations statewide from April 11-18.
The Georgia Junior Championship, which annually features the top juniors from around the state, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2005. The championship takes place at Green Island Country Club in Columbus, June 20-22. The 26th Annual Girls’ Championship will be held concurrently at Capital City Club - Brookhaven in Atlanta.
The first women’s competition of 2005, the Georgia Women’s Match Play Championship, returns to its perennial home at Sunset Hills Country Club in Carrollton, April 13-15. Laura Coble of Augusta has dominated this event, capturing four straight and five of the last six titles. The GSGA’s longest-running women’s event, the Greater Atlanta Women’s Amateur Championship, will be contested for the 36th annual time, May 25-27. The championship returns to Canongate-on-Mirror Lake in Villa Rica for the second-straight year. The Senior Women’s Championship also returns to its 2004 site, taking place August 15-16 at The Orchard Golf & Country Club in Clarkesville.
Once again, the GSGA offers three events for senior men’s players. The second annual Senior Challenge, a Stableford scoring event, will take place at Sunset Hills Country Club in Carrollton, May 10-12. Country Club of Columbus plays host to the Senior Championship, August 31-September 2. The Senior Four-Ball Championship, the final GSGA competition of the season, is scheduled for November 16-18 at Okefenokee Country Club in Blackshear and Lakes at Laura S. Walker in Waycross.
Georgia will host the 25th Annual Georgia-Florida Women’s Team Matches at Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville, July 28-29. The event pits teams from the neighboring states in a match-play format. Florida owns a 13-11 lead in the series, but Georgia has won four of the last six matches. Another interstate event is the Georgia-South Carolina Junior Challenge Match, pitting the top eight juniors from each state (based on finish in their respective Junior Championships) in a two-day, match-play format. The 29th annual event takes place July 15-16 at Yeamans Hall in Hanahan, S.C.
The biennial GSGA-GPGA Challenge Cup resumes in 2005, scheduled for October 16-17 at The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta. A team of amateurs, representing the GSGA, competes against its professional counterparts in singles and four-ball matches. The Georgia PGA owns a 19 ½ to 13 ½ series edge, but GSGA has won two straight and three of the last five meetings.
For the second year, GSGA will accept entries online through its website, www.gsga.org. Entries are currently open for the season’s first competition, the Georgia Four-Ball Tournament, which takes place in Valdosta, March 18-20.
Complete competitions details, including entry fees/requirements, opening/closing dates and USGA qualifying, are also available on the GSGA website, www.gsga.org.
In addition to competitions, the GSGA provides computerized handicapping, course rating and measuring, a summer-long junior sectional competitions program, Golf Georgia magazine and two college scholarship programs.
2005 GSGA Competitions and USGA Qualifiers
Event Date Site
Four-Ball Tournament March 18-20 Valdosta CC/Kinderlou Forest GC, Valdosta
Women’s Match Play Championship April 13-15 Sunset Hills CC, Carrollton
Four-Ball Championship April 22-24 Georgia National GC, McDonough
Senior Challenge May 10-12 Sunset Hills CC, Carrollton
Mid-Amateur Championship May 20-22 Coosa CC, Rome
Mid-Amateur Qualifying Rounds:
Atlanta North April 11 Berkeley Hills CC, Duluth
Macon April 11 Healy Point CC, Macon
Savannah April 17 The Landings Club, Savannah
Northwest April 18 Coosa CC, Rome
Atlanta South April 18 Wolf Creek GC, Atlanta
Greater Atlanta Women’s Am. Champ. May 25-27 Canongate-on-Mirror Lake, Villa Rica
Junior Championship June 20-22 Green Island CC, Columbus
Girls’ Championship June 20-22 Capital City Club-Brookhaven, Atlanta
Top 60 Women’s Classic June 29-30 Club at Savannah Harbor, Savannah
Amateur Championship July 7-10 Savannah GC
Amateur Qualifying Rounds:
Atlanta North June 6 Crooked Creek GC, Alpharetta
Middle June 6 Ga. Veterans Memorial GC, Cordele
West June 6 Country Club of Columbus
Atlanta South June 7 Orchard Hills GC, Newnan
East June 8 Jones Creek GC, Augusta
Northwest June 9 Barnsley Gardens, Adairsville
Atlanta North June 13 Pinetree CC, Kennesaw
Southwest June 20 Glen Arven CC, Thomasville
Northeast June 20 Jennings Mill CC, Bogart
Southeast June 27 Savannah GC
GA-SC Junior Challenge Match July 15-16 Yeamans Hall CC, Hanahan, SC
Junior Sectional Challenge Match July 19-20 Doublegate CC, Albany
GA-FL Women's Team Matches July 28-29 Barnsley Gardens, Adairsville
Senior Women’s Championship Aug. 15-16 The Orchard G&CC, Clarkesville
Senior Championship Aug. 31-Sep. 2 Doublegate CC, Albany
Public Links Championship Sep. 24-25 Cherokee Run GC, Conyers
Atlanta Amateur Match Play Champ. Oct. 6-9 Rivermont G&CC, Alpharetta
GSGA/GPGA Challenge Cup Oct. 16-17 GC of Georgia, Alpharetta
Women’s Team Championship Oct. 18-19 The Hampton Club, St. Simons Island
Team Championship Oct. 29-30 Harbor Club, Greensboro
Senior Four-Ball Championship Nov. 16-18 Okefenokee CC, Blackshear/Lakes at Laura S. Walker, Waycross
USGA Qualifiers
U.S. Women’s Open Local May 16 Horseshoe Bend CC, Roswell
U.S. Open Local #1 May 16 Rivermont G&CC, Alpharetta
U.S. Open Local #2 May 23 Planterra Ridge GC, Peachtree City
U.S. Open Sectional June 6 East Lake GC, Atlanta
U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links June 13 The Oaks Course, Covington
U.S. Amateur Public Links June 20-21 Orchard Hills GC, Newnan
U.S. Women's Amateur June 27 Chapel Hills GC, Douglasville
U.S. Junior Amateur June 28 Cherokee T&CC, Atlanta
U.S. Girls Junior Amateur June 28 Braelinn GC, Peachtree City
U.S. Senior Open July 18 Lanier GC, Cumming
U.S. Amateur #1 July 26-27 Capital City Club-Crabapple, Woodstock
U.S. Amateur #2 August 1-2 White Columns CC, Alpharetta
U.S. Mid-Amateur August 15 Druid Hills GC, Atlanta
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur #1 August 16 Eagle's Landing CC, Stockbridge
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur #2 August 22 The Landings Club, Savannah
USGA Senior Amateur August 22 The Farm, Rocky Face
USGA Senior Women’s Amateur August 24 Sea Island GC
Media Contact:
Eric Cheek
Cell Phone/Email: (706) 340-3338
echeek@gsga.org
