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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
September 24, 2008
Few cities in
the country offer its amateur golfers as much of an opportunity to
compete as does Chattanooga, with a full schedule of local
tournaments and the season-ending TPC match play event.
To that number another tournament has been
added—the 5C (Chattanooga Classic CDGA Club Champions) Shootout at
Black Creek. The inaugural event is part of this year’s
Chattanooga Classic activities and matches the club champion or
designated player from each of the 16 clubs that make up the
Chattanooga District Golf Association in the popular shootout
format, the winner earning a spot in the Wednesday pro-am of the
Nationwide Tour’s Chattanooga Classic.
The first 5C Shootout will be played 2:00 PM
Oct. 11 at Black Creek, and it couldn’t have a better
infrastructure. Mike Jenkins, who’s selflessly given his time to
the CDGA in various capacities over the years and has introduced
the TPC and the CDGA Four-Ball tournaments to the city, was asked
to run the new tournament by Chattanooga Classic officials. True
to his nature, he couldn’t say no.
“The CDGA is very excited to be part of this
inaugural event,” Jenkins said. “The competition itself is a great
reward for being an area club champion.
“The Classic pro-am spot has really created
some interest among the club champions. Every champion I’ve spoken
with is ready to tee it up.”
The format calls for two groups of five and,
if every club champion in the CDGA competes, six in another,
starting out on holes No. 1-3 at Black Creek. The player who makes
the highest score on a hole in each group is eliminated from that
group, and in the case of
ties, a chip-off will decide who gets the boot. Once each of these
three groups is down to just two players the final six will head
to #5 tee to play holes 5 – 9. The last one standing after #9 is
the 5C Shootout Champion. That will make for an exciting
tournament.
“That chip-off really does make it exciting,
and there’s a lot pressure on those chip shots, too,” Jenkins
said. “We’ve had several shootouts at our club the last few years
[Chattanooga Golf and Country Club], and I know other clubs have
had them, too. So most of the club champions will be familiar with
this format.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
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Speaking of fun, the Chattanooga TPC will get
underway on Oct. 2. The tournament has long been a nice reward for
players who have supported local tournaments and played well in
them, or for others who have fared well on the national level.
Council Fire has been generous in donating its course for the
event, and Jenkins has rounded up enough sponsors that the players
are treated well and given nice prizes for advancing through the
various stages of match play.
Adding drama to the event is the fact that
the race for the Chattanooga amateur player of the year always
seems to be on the line.
That’s true again this year, though Derek
Rende, a junior on Chattanooga’s nationally ranked team, would
have to break a leg not to win. Rende, who will be able to play
because the Mocs aren’t in a tournament next weekend, has put
together a solid season that includes winning the Tennessee
Amateur.
As well as Rende has played, though, he still
trails University of Georgia senior Adam Mitchell by five points
(210-205). Mitchell hasn’t teed it up in a single local tournament
this season, but the player-of-the-year competition also awards
points to local players who compete in national amateur events.
Mitchell had a great summer, winning the
Porter Cup and reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur.
Rende will earn points if he just makes it
through stroke-play qualifying at the TPC and into match play.
That would be enough for him to claim the player-of-the-year
award.
There is an outside chance that a third
player, Tom Schreiner, could sneak up and win POY honors. If Rende
didn’t make match play and Schreiner (157 points) won the TPC, he
would have enough to overtake Rende and Mitchell.
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