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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Stan
Crawley
September 28, 2004
UTC golfer Bryce Ledford will be in the driver's seat for 2004
player-of-the-year honors this weekend in the season-ending
Chattanooga TPC Tournament at the Council Fire Golf Club.
But if Ledford glances across his shoulder, he will see
University of Tennessee golfer Ricky Honeycutt taking a peek into
the passing lane.
Ledford sits atop the points standings with 364, while
Honeycutt is second at 323. Rounding out the top 10 are Chris
Gilliland (234), Patrick Williams (164), John Lambert (162), Luke
List (160), Andrew Black (136), Philip Guess (131), Tyson Elliott
(129) and Josh Nelms (119).
Only Ledford and Honeycutt, however, are still in the chase for
player-of-the-year honors. The winner of the Chattanooga TPC
Tournament gets 75 points, the runner-up earns 40.
If Honeycutt doesn't win the tournament, then Ledford is the
automatic winner. If Honeycutt wins and Ledford finishes second,
Ledford still wins by six points. But if Honeycutt wins and
Ledford finishes third or below, then Honeycutt will succeed Tom
Schreiner as player of the year.
"This is the third straight year for our points system and the
third straight year the TPC will determine the player of the
year,'' said Mike Jenkins, founder and chairman of the Chattanooga
TPC Tournament. "That tells me we have a pretty good points
system. Not perfect, but pretty good.''
The tournament will begin with an 18-hole qualifier Thursday at
Council Fire. The field will be cut from 31 to 16, and match play
will be used Friday through Sunday.
Four foursomes will tee off starting at 1:30 p.m. on Friday,
with four twosomes starting at the same time on Saturday. The
semifinals will begin at 8 a.m. Sunday, with the final at
approximately 1 p.m.
On Thursday, Ledford, Honeycutt and Schreiner will tee off at
2:30 p.m.
"It's a very competitive field,'' Jenkins said.
The top eight in the final points will automatically qualify for the 2nd
Chattanooga Cup matches on Oct. 17-18 at the Chattanooga Golf and
Country Club against a team of local professionals. If anyone in
the top eight can't play on the amateur team, the points system
will be used to determine the field. The amateur team will
also consist of two captain's picks, along with amateur
co-captains Richard Keene and Mike Jenkins.
The amateurs will be sponsored by the ifyoulikegolf.com
website, and the professionals will be sponsored by the
Chattanooga PGA Chapter.
(E-mail Stan Crawley at
wscrawley@earthlink.net)
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