Historic playoff

Cole edges Wigington in the first sudden-death playoff between the County Tour’s top two players to win the Oxford City Championship

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD – Of all the things they’ve done together on the golf course, all the times they’ve battled each other down the stretch with a title on the line and all the times they joined forces to win a team event, the two best players on the Calhoun County Golf Tour did something Sunday that’s never happened between them before.

They went head-to-head in a playoff.

In the Calhoun County Tour version of Nicklaus-Palmer at Pinehurst, Ty Cole defeated Gary Wigington on the first hole of sudden death to win the Oxford City Championship at Cider Ridge Golf Club.

It was Cole’s second win this season and gave him two-thirds of the unofficial City Triple Crown after the first two events on the Tour schedule, having won the Gadsden City Championship at Twin Bridges two weeks ago. The newly named Anniston City Championship at Cane Creek in three weeks, but with other pursuits occupying his interests Cole wasn’t immediately certain he’ll enter.

The two winningest players on the Tour – now 21 wins each – played the 36 holes of regulation in 5-under-par 139 with Cole making birdie on each of the last two holes to force the playoff. Cole won the playoff hole (No. 18) with a conceded eagle after Wigington found the left-side hazard with his second shot and needed four to get on the green.

“It’s every week with him, so that’s sort of a normal thing there,” Wigington said. “You can’t not play 100 percent and expect to win. “You’re going to have to play good and I just didn’t take advantage of a couple opportunities I had there.”

Twig grabbed the lead on 10 when he chipped in for birdie from just off the green. He extended the margin to two shots when he birdied 16.

Cole cut his deficit in half when he birdied 17 from eight feet. Wigington hit a good birdie putt from 12 feet that just curled away at the end.

Wigington’s drive on 18 left him with a hanging lie just off the left side of the fairway. He hit a good 6-iron from 210 yards that he thought was going to be in the middle of the green but instead found the greenside bunker. His bunker shot ran through the green into the fringe, fromm where he putted to within six inches and tapped in for par.

Cole, meanwhile, hit the green with a 6-iron from 190 yards that left him an eagle putt for the win in regulation. He ran it past the hole, but confidently holed the next putt to force the playoff.

With daylight fading, they hustled back to the 18^th tee, an expedited start that never gave either play a chance to appreciate the magnitude of the moment.

“The turnaround was so fast because we knew we were fighting daylight, so you don’t think about it,” Cole said. “We drove right back to the tee, flipped a coin to see who went, pegged it up and we both smacked it. So, it was just another hole, really. It wasn’t like it was a playoff.

“In the heat of the moment, it’s just another hole. He would probably say the same thing. We turned right around and played the same hole we just played and it’s just another hole we’ve got to play to see who’s going to win.

“It wouldn’t have been any different if it would’ve been on 15. We both want to win, we’re both competitors. You just tee it up, hope you hole it out and see who wins.”

Playing 18 again, Wigington found the fairway off the tee, but his 5-iron from 215 went left and found in the deep rough inside the hazard line. Cole was 196 yards out and this time took a 5-iron because it was damp and put it in the middle of the green.

Wigington gouged his ball out of the rough, but it only made it halfway up the hill. He got on the green with his next shot and rolled his par putt past the hole at which time he picked up his Sunny King Classic partner’s coin and congratulated him on the win. It was Wigington’s Tour-leading 27^th runner-up finish.

Cole played 12 par-5s in his first three Tour rounds this season with only three birdies. On those holes Sunday he birdied all four of them in regulation and had the conceded eagle in the playoff.

“I hit two great drives on 18 and I hit two great second shots,” he said. “That’s the four best shots of this tournament (for him).” 

The golf course played considerably easier than the day before. Eighty of the 130 players in the field improved on their first-round score, some by as many as 18 shots. Twenty players in the championship division and 22 overall improved by at least 10 shots.

The course, shortened by some 400 yards over the opening round, played to a stroke average of 82.77 in the championship division, compared to 85.40 the day before. There was only one round below 70 and three of par or better Saturday, but Sunday there were six rounds in the 60s and a dozen of par or better.

The day’s set up shortened five of the six holes that were played from the tips Saturday. In an homage to Arnold Palmer’s 1960 U.S. Open win at Cherry Hills, they gave players a chance to drive No. 1 at 289 yards, but the wind shifted and only one player hit the green from the tee (Maverick Smith).

“My first thought was I can’t believe 400 yards made that much difference,” Cider Ridge director of golf Jammie Lett said. “What was interesting was No. 2, the one we got the most complaints about yesterday, was shortened and it was harder today than it was yesterday.  I guess it’s just a hard hole.

“My whole deal was I wanted everyone to have a good experience here at Cider Ridge. My thought yesterday was I wanted them to play on a championship golf course, which I think it is, so we set it up that way. We were going to make it a little shorter today anyway and tuck a few pins on the shorter holes, so that was kind of the setup idea.”

Brennan Clay posted the best round of the day, 5-under 67, a 15-shot improvement over the day before when “I couldn’t find the center of the face with any club” that took him from a tie for 46^th to a top 10 finish overall.

“The change in the course definitely made the difference,” Clay said. “Today was obviously a lot easier and that had a lot to do with it, but I think everybody was able to adjust, too.”

The biggest improvements came from third flight winner Clay Calkins (86-68) and fourth flight winner Ethan Davis (91-73). Both bettered their score by 18 shots. Chance Harris, Matt Rogers and Warren Sewell also had 15-shot improvements.

The main factor was keeping big numbers to the minimum. There were 452 double bogeys and “others” on Saturday, but only 348 Sunday. Davis hit seven out of bounds in his first tournament experience Saturday, but hit driver only once Sunday and hit none OB.

“Obviously, the golf course played shorter today so that helped and I think the pins were a little easier today,” said Calkins, whose round featured five birdies and a bogey. “The intimidation of some of the longer tee shots yesterday can get you. It can cost you two shots making one bad swing.

“Yes, it played easier today, but it sure helps when you hit it better and that was, for me, the big difference.”

Oxford City Championship

Championship Flight
x-Ty Cole	69	70	139
Gary Wigington	71	68	139
Andrew Brooks	76	69	145
Kevin Daugherty	76	71	147
Scott Martin	76	72	148
Caleb McKinney	72	76	148
Corey Ray	75	74	149
Daniel Black	76	74	150
Jeremy Willis	75	75	150
Josh Poole	73	77	150
Nick Pollard	76	75	151
Tee Brown	74	77	151
Tanner Wells	76	79	155
Michael Rich	75	81	156
Chris Leonhardt	76	87	163
Lance Evans	74	WD	WD
x-won on first playoff hole
First Flight
Landon Straub	78	69	147
Dalton Chandler	77	70	147
Dustin Travis	77	73	150
Kilgore Knight	78	74	152
Sawyer Edwards	79	74	153
Chip Howell	78	75	153
Chase Hollingsworth	79	75	154
Billy McCroskey	77	78	155
Logan Forrester	78	79	157
Lamar Carter	79	78	157
Drew Anderton	79	79	158
Mason Dennis	79	79	158
Jonathan Pate	79	82	161
Ethyn Roberts	79	82	161
Dre Davenport	79	82	161
Shannon Page	77	84	161
Daily Thomas	77	87	164
Billy Thompson	79	WD	WD
Maverick Smith	78	NC	NC
Second Flight
Brennan Clay	82	67	149
Jeremy McGatha	80	70	150
Justin Graveman	82	69	151
Greg Schultz	80	76	156
Nate Pearce	81	76	157
Danny Whittaker	82	77	159
Landon Winfrey	80	79	159
Caleb Bowen	80	79	159
Jake Goggans	81	81	162
Walker Cobb	82	82	164
Ryan Limbaugh	81	83	164
Jay Esty	81	85	166
Zac Mangum	82	85	167
James Lett	80	87	167
Craig Duncan	82	90	172
Jason Payne	82	103	185
Mark Guyther	80	WD	WD
Third Flight
Clay Calkins	86	68	154
Chance Harris	85	70	155
Peyton Bradley	83	75	158
Jeff Bain	83	75	158
Maurice Dates	83	79	162
Graham Morrow	85	78	163
Sean Kline	85	79	164
Clayton Chandler	83	83	166
Timmy Woodard	84	82	166
Jared Waits	83	86	169
Keaton Borrelli	84	92	176
Lenn Coffey	86	92	178
Eric Ray	85	95	180
Sean Hayes	85	NC	NC
Bailey Masters	85	NC	NC
Hunter Carr	84	DNF	DNF
Fourth Flight
Ethan Davis	91	73	164
Matt Rogers	90	75	165
Tyler Romine	88	80	168
Wesley Jenkins	87	82	169
Tyler Dopson	87	83	170
Bradley Elliott	89	82	171
Chris Reaves	91	81	172
Brad Baird	90	83	173
Cain Hollingsworth	89	85	174
Rex Brooks	89	86	175
Jason Romine	90	86	176
Greg Rainey	90	86	176
Heath Waldrop	90	86	176
Houston Black	87	91	178
Marcus King	91	88	179
Hogan Page	91	89	180
Zac Carrizales	88	92	180
Chase Thomas	89	92	181
Drey Reeves	89	93	182
Kolby Slick	91	98	189
Fifth Flight
Gage Miller	93	80	173
Will Brown	94	80	174
Landon Holley	94	81	175
Frankie Hanvey	96	82	178
Bradley Young	94	84	178
Randy Watson	94	85	179
Marc Gaines	97	83	180
Robert Daniel	97	84	181
Eddie Burks	99	86	185
Tyler Teneyck	95	90	185
Trey Stone	93	93	186
Ricky Carden	100	89	189
Kelly Rogers	102	90	192
Chad Moore	103	92	195
Jesse Junior	101	96	197
Adam Benefiel	101	103	204
Ethan Page	103	113	216
Sixth Flight
Jim Ramey	104	96	200
Alex Whaley	105	100	205
Ken Renfroe	110	101	211
Warren Sewell	117	102	219
Austin Elliott	111	116	227
Senior Championship
Gary Austin	73	76	149
Jerry Irwin	76	77	153
Steve Minton	76	77	153
Charlie Estes	79	76	155
Rich Etter	78	80	158
James Beavers	84	75	159
David Sanders	82	77	159
Keith Haywood	85	79	164
Mike Thompson	85	79	164
Mike Lett	84	81	165
Steve Templeton	84	81	165
Senior Flight 1
Dennis Austin	88	77	165
Jerry Kemp	86	79	165
Frank Toland	86	81	167
Lee Waldron	86	82	168
Tim Steward	86	83	169
Lamar Ward	88	86	174
Bobby Vinson	86	96	182
Bruce Collins	89	94	183
Ron Fleming	106	94	200

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