click here for list of all qualifying scores
from Southern Golf Association web site

Too bad birdies aren’t retroactive. If they were, Ricky Honeycutt’s Southern Amateur qualifying round at The Honors on Monday would have helped him out a day earlier.

Heading into the final round of the Men’s Metro at Valleybrook with a two-shot lead, Honeycutt shot a front-nine 40 and didn’t make a birdie until the 17^th hole in losing to Chris Gilliland by two shots.

If Honeycutt was hurting for a few birdies on Sunday, he didn’t have that problem on Monday. He made eight en route to a 2-under-par 70, the day’s second-lowest qualifying score behind the 69 shot by Chris Hall of Marietta, Ga. It doesn’t take a math major to figure out that Honeycutt’s scorecard also including a bogey or two and some dreaded others. But that’s the way it goes at The Honors, were every hole is fraught with peril.

"You’ve got to stay on your toes all the time out here," Honeycutt said. "If you don’t, you can get in trouble in a hurry."

Conversely, as Honeycutt proved, the course can yield some birdies.

"The greens are so pure out here," Honeycutt said. "If you put your tee shot in the fairway and give yourself a chance [with the approach shot] you can make some putts."

Honeycutt, who conveniently enough is a member at The Honors, made more birdies in his first three holes on Monday than he did in his entire final round of the Metro.

He admitted to being a bit nervous on the Honors’ first tee, but quickly calmed his nerves with a good drive, an approach to six feet and a birdie putt that found the bottom of the cup. Honeycutt also birdied Nos. 3, 6 and 9 on the front, but double-bogeyed No. 8 after pulling his tee shot at the par-3 into the water.

Honeycutt made four more birdies on the back, at Nos. 10, 11, 14 and 17, but tossed in two bogeys (Nos. 13 and 18) and another dub (No. 15). Honeycutt was living large or the six at the par-4 15^th could have been much worse. He pulled his approach into the water, and then watched in horror as his fourth shot hit the rocks in front of the green. Had the ball bounced left and back into the drink, "I was looking at double digits," Honeycutt said. But fortunately, the ball bounced right and onto the green, a major catastrophe averted.

Another solid qualifying score was turned in by 57-year-old Lex Tarumianz, like Honeycutt an Honors member. Tarumianz shot a 1-under-71 as he rode his short game all day. He chipped in for birdie twice (Nos. 4 and 11) and made a five-footer for another birdie at No. 2. "I do that [chip in] maybe once a decade," Tarumianz said.

Tarumianz didn’t take a poll, but he thought he’d be the oldest competitor in the field.

"I would assume so," he said. "If you find one older, introduce me to him."

Andrew Black, the former East Ridge High School and University of Tennessee stalwart, was pleased with his 72, a score that safely got him into the Southern Am field for the third straight year. Two years ago at East Lake in Atlanta, Black finished second after shooting a final-round 67. A year ago, he missed the cut at the Homestead in Virginia, so he was eager to get back into the tournament.

"I drove the ball pretty well out here today," said Black, who made four birdies and four bogeys. "The times I got into trouble where when I missed the fairway. You don’t have to miss it by much to get yourself in trouble out here."

Also matching par and becoming one of six Chattanooga area players to claim the final 14 qualifying spots was UTC sophomore Bryce Ledford. The other two local players earned their spot in playoffs: Chris Gilliland, who a day earlier won the Metro, and McCallie’s Adam Mitchell. Both shot 74 along with four other players, including Chattanooga’s Richard Keene, who wound up third alternate.