‘Wonder’ no more

Wigington allays own doubts, finishes strong to win Oxford City Championship and become fifth winner in five Calhoun County Golf Tour events this season.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Golfers play into old age, but age and doubt dance as partners into the mind.

How long can one play at their highest level? When will seemingly younger and younger golfers begin to blast their way out of reach?

How many more times will one see his or her name in the championship flight, let alone on top?

“I was beginning to wonder,” the 55-year-old Gary Wigington said Sunday, reflecting on a long-for-him winless streak on the Calhoun County Golf Tour.

Wonder no more. Wigington sank a 40-foot birdie putt to finish off his latest Tour victory Sunday, finishing 69-70–139 to edge Jeremy McGatha by three strokes in the Oxford City Championship.

Wigington became the fifth winner in five Tour events this season. The four-time Tour player of the year bagged his 25th victory in Tour points events and 26th overall, counting last year’s County Match Play, the Tour’s de facto all-star tournament.

He scored his first points victory since winning 2023’s first points event, at Silver Lakes, and his latest victory ended a span of 12 points events without a first-place finish.

The victory left him feeling like he felt after winning last year’s match-play event … reaffirmed. Age hasn’t knocked him out of the always-contending group yet.

“Agewise, I’m 55, and it’s just hard to compete with these young guys,” he said. “They’re just good, and they hit that danged thing a mile.

“I’m not as sharp mentally or physically, for sure, so every win at this point is a lot more important than we was young, because they’re just harder.”

Wigington went wire to wire at Cider Ridge. He and McGatha finished the first round tied at 3-under 69, and Sunday’s five-birdie round kept him atop the field.

His day included two bomb putts … a 30-footer for birdie on No. 10 and the 40-footer on No. 18. The latter touched off applause from the clubhouse gallery, and he got high-fives from McGatha, Tanner Wells and Ty Cole, long-time Tour veterans who joined him in the day’s final foursome.

As Wigington cleaned his cart and put equipment into his pickup, two younger players in another pickup stopped, called him “Mr. Twig,” a reference to his nickname, and jokingly asking for his autograph.

“Give me about an hour,” he said with a chuckle.

Dawson Day, from Rome, Ga., finished third, four shots back of Wigington.

Ty Cole, tied with Wells for second after a first-round 70, struggled Sunday. This year’s winners at Cane Creek withdrew after running out of balls while playing No. 18.

Wells shot a 79 Sunday.

Four of this season’s five winners played in the Oxford City Championship, though Andrew Weathers (Silver Lakes) withdrew during the final round. John Rollins (Twin Bridges) finished in the first flight.

This was a day for one of Calhoun County golf’s most successful players over many years, another day to finish on top. He did it in a season that’s shaping up as one of the Tour’s most competitive in recent memory.

“Instead of it being five or six guys that legitimately have a chance to win one, now you’ve got 10-15,” Wigington said. “There’s just never been that many.

“The Tour has grown. We’ve taken people from everywhere, basically, and it’s just hard to win. It’s just all of the young kids, and they do it all day long every day. I think you’ll see a lot more of that in the future. There’s going to be a lot more different winners.”

Scores

CHAMPIONSHIP A FLIGHT
PLAYER	RD. 1	RD. 2	TOTAL
Gary Wigington	69	70	139
Jeremy McGatha	69	73	142
Dawson Day	71	72	143
Matt Wilson	71	73	144
Layton Bussey	72	73	145
Logan Forrester	72	74	146
Tanner Wells	70	79	149
Ethan McCareeth	71	78	149
Kevin Daugherty	72	77	149
Mason Dennis	71	82	153
Graham Morrow	72	84	156
Ty Cole	70	WD
CHAMPIONSHIP B FLIGHT
Brayden Cochran	73	75	148
Caleb McKinney	73	75	148
Will Reaves	74	76	150
Chase Hollingsworth	74	77	151
Andrew Brooks	76	76	152
Jake Goggans	74	78	152
Hunter Carr	74	78	152
Greg Shultz	73	79	152
Benji Turley	73	80	153
Kilgore Knight	74	80	154
John Rollins	75	79	154
Austin Elliott	74	83	157
Chip Howell	74	84	158
Andrew Weathers	73	WD
FIRST FLIGHT
Dalton Chandler	76	70	146
Jonathan Pate	75	71	146
Chad Calvert	75	71	146
Janson Wilborn	75	72	147
Cam Hurst	75	75	150
Ott Chandler	76	74	150
Ryan Huff	75	76	151
Jeff Bain	76	76	152
Carson Chandler	76	76	152
Billy Thompson	75	79	154
Jared Waits	75	81	156
Sawyer Edwards	76	80	156
Chris Reaves	76	81	157
John Swader	76	NS
SECOND FLIGHT
Matt Miller	77	72	149
James Otwell	77	72	149
Daniel Black	77	73	150
Nick Ledbetter	78	72	150
Chance Harris	77	75	152
Dustin Travis	77	76	153
Landon Winfrey	78	76	154
Stephen Keen	78	76	154
Cain Hollingsworth	77	78	155
Coleman Messer	77	78	155
Bradley Elliott	78	77	155
Vann Hall	77	79	156
Tim Wilcox	77	81	158
Bob Eaton	78	80	158
Dre Davenport	77	85	162
Caden Wood	78	84	162
Lamar Carter	78	85	163
Kobe Messer	78	87	165
THIRD FLIGHT
Josh Reynolds	79	69	148
Jason Rich	80	71	151
Luke Armstrong	79	75	154
Mark McCaig	80	75	155
Chad Key	79	76	155
Skylar Dennis	79	80	159
David Coffey	79	82	161
Jimbo Phillips	80	85	165
Billy McCroskey	80	WD
FOURTH FLIGHT
Cody Boyd	81	74	155
Michael Rich	81	76	157
Wesley Jenkins	81	77	158
Blake Drummond	81	79	160
Timmy Woodard	82	78	160
Robin Wood	82	83	165
Jamarcus Stokes	82	83	165
Nathan Williams	81	85	166
Randy Archer	81	86	167
Ryder Hudgins	81	87	168
Wyatt Cotney	82	88	170
James Lett	81	92	173
Kyle Glover	81	95	176
Clayton Chandler	82	WD
FIFTH FLIGHT
Scotty McFry	83	75	158
Caleb Morrow	83	77	160
Caleb Bowen	83	79	162
Wade Richardson	83	82	165
Craig Duncan	84	81	165
Matt Greer	84	81	165
Shane Lee	84	82	166
Cypress Hathorne	84	84	168
Ray Stover Jr.	84	85	169
Mark Gaines	84	86	170
Sean Kline	83	88	171
Cole McNeal	83	WD	83
SIXTH FLIGHT
Bradley Young	85	82	167
Nash Messer	86	82	168
Bart Smith	86	82	168
Danny Whittaker	86	83	169
Scott Watson	87	85	172
Braxton Burnham	86	88	174
Hunter Fordham	85	90	175
Andrew Miller	87	88	175
Aaron Gregerson	86	94	180
Drake Bearden	87	96	183
Ricky Carden	86	103	189
SEVENTH FLIGHT
Matt Rogers	88	80	168
Bailey Masters	88	80	168
Jason Payne	91	78	169
Tyrel Tucker	91	78	169
Allen Hamlin	91	78	169
Nate Pearce	89	81	170
Jeff Roszell	89	85	174
Greg Rainey	88	88	176
Ted Gregerson	91	87	178
Chance Haywood	88	93	181
Joey Folker	89	94	183
Larry Champion	91	92	183
Jesse Miles	91	99	190
EIGHTH FLIGHT
Houston Black	96	80	176
David Medders Jr.	92	88	180
Kolby Slick	95	86	181
Heath Waldrop	93	89	182
Chase Thomas	92	91	183
Daniel Mitchell	96	87	183
Daniel Ricks	92	93	185
Scott Jimerson	96	92	188
Chris Hollingsworth	96	98	194
Adam Benefiel	96	107	203
NINTH FLIGHT
Logan Turner	98	84	182
Zoey Etter	100	98	198
Bill Gowan	104	94	198
Keith Hutcheson	102	96	198
Palmer Pearce	113	102	215
Jason Swope	108	117	225
Shaughn Rankin	114	114	228
Hayden Mann	100	NS
Andrew Kennemer	101	NS
SENIOR A FLIGHT
Mike Lett	75	71	146
David Messer	76	73	149
Jerry Kemp	77	76	153
Bob Feicht	76	79	155
Gary Austin	79	78	157
Andy Jenkins	77	81	158
Kevin Wells	74	85	159
Keith Haywood	77	82	159
David Sanders	80	79	159
Charley Estes	79	84	163
Jimmy Ingram	79	88	167
SENIOR B FLIGHT
Ron Wheeler	81	78	159
Rich Etter	84	77	161
Wilton Page	81	83	164
Allan Mangham	82	83	165
Tim Steward	82	85	167
Ron Fleming	81	88	169
Dennis Austin	88	82	170
Richard Patty	91	83	174
Steve Perry	89	90	179
Mike Thompson	89	91	180
Lee Clark	92	96	188
Lamar Ward	96	WD

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