Tie at the top
- Updated: August 13, 2021
Cole, Wade shoot 66 to lead Gadsden Invitational; 36 players qualify for championship flight; UPDATED with Saturday pairings
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
GADSDEN – They may have taken different routes to get there, but Ty Cole and Frankie Wade Jr. found their way to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the 60th Gadsden Invitational Friday.
Both went around Gadsden Country Club in 5-under-par 66s to lead Championship Flight qualifying. They hold a two-shot lead over Corey Ray and Chad Calvert. Thirty-six players qualified for the championship flight at 77 or better.
Cole, 46, a four-time past Gadsden champion, played most of the round out of the rough, which normally is fatal here, but hit sharp irons and putted well. He didn’t hit a fairway until 16. He birdied three of the par-3s, but only one of the par-5s and bogeyed another.
Wade, 22, a North Alabama senior-eligible playing the course for only the second time, hit irons from the fairway close all day and made a bunch of putts. He made seven birdies in 13 holes from 4 through 16.
“Weird” is the way Cole described his round.
“Smoke and mirrors,” he said. “I putted great on the front. I didn’t hit a fairway until 16, was 7-under through 13 and bogeyed the par-5 because I kept missing fairways and I bogeyed 18 because I missed the fairway.
“I hit in the rough, but I had either a good enough lie or I guessed right to hit it 8-10 feet. It was like every time I was in the rough I had a good enough number to where I had a little bit of leeway if I didn’t pull off the shot I wanted to hit.”
Because of his trouble off the tee he promised he wouldn’t be hitting the same driver Saturday. He planned to take the one he used Friday completely apart and bring back the Purple People-Eater he used in the final round of the Anniston CC Invitational in which he shot 67 and came from three shots back to win by one, avoiding a playoff with Sunny King partner Gary Wigington by making birdie on the final hole.
“I’m not going to hit any less fairways with it,” he said of the new driver, “because I only hit one with it today.”
Wade’s round got off to the kind of start that might have frustrated a lesser player, but he has learned to check his emotions and when it came around he took off.
He missed 10-foot birdie putts on each of the first two holes and then hit it in the creek on 3 for bogey. But then he carded five straight 3s, which included four birdies as part of seven birdies over 13 holes.
“What I’ve done really well this summer and why my results have gotten a lot better is I don’t press early on,” Wade said. “I knew I was swinging it well, I knew I was rolling it well on the greens even though I wasn’t making anything, and I hit a bad tee shot on 3, but I didn’t press and I let the course come to me. Luckily, it came a lot sooner.”
The longest of the birdies was 20 feet, but most of them were in the four- to eight-foot range. He took 26 putts in the round.
“My iron play has been a lot better this summer; I’ve worked on it hard and that’s kind of what pulled me through,” he said. “The strength of mine has always been the putting. It’s my best aspect, but it’s usually one of the best in the field, so I knew if I could get just get another part of my game to click when that clicks, some special things can happen.”
The shot of the day belonged to Layton Bussey. The former high school county and state champion scored his second ever hole-in-one and first in competition when he aced No. 2 from 165 yards with an 8-iron.
It was the second ace on the Calhoun County Tour this season and the sixth on the Tour since 2018. Ohatchee football coach Scott Martin aced No. 16 at Pine Hill two weeks ago.
“It was just one of many (shots),” Bussey lamented. “I hit it good, it was just right of the hole and I just bent down to pick up my tee. I turned away and Tee (Brown) was like I think that just went in. I was like I didn’t think so. We looked up, Austin (Bradley) looked through his range finder, it wasn’t there, and then they all gave me a fist bump and that’s about it. No yelling. No hollering. Very anticlimactic. But it was cool.”
The rest of the round didn’t go so well. He failed to qualify for the championship flight.
“Obviously, I’m not disappointed at making a 1, but it’s just hard to be stoked about it when you play so bad after that,” Bussey said.
Gadsden Invitational
| CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT QUALIFIERS | |
| Ty Cole | 66 |
| Frankie Wade Jr. | 66 |
| Corey Ray | 68 |
| Chad Calvert | 68 |
| Woodie Eubanks | 69 |
| Josh Ashley | 69 |
| Alan Smedley | 69 |
| Dane Moore | 70 |
| Justin Graveman | 70 |
| Jody Wooten | 71 |
| Paul Bruce | 71 |
| Trey Rouse | 71 |
| Gary Wigington | 71 |
| Shawn Ledbetter | 71 |
| Chris Hummel | 72 |
| Jake Goggans | 72 |
| Sam Audia | 72 |
| Harrison Martin | 72 |
| Tee Brown | 72 |
| Tanner Wells | 72 |
| Jeremy McGatha | 73 |
| Nick Sawyer | 74 |
| Randy Lipscomb | 74 |
| Mason Dennis | 75 |
| Brennan Clay | 75 |
| Landon Winfrey | 75 |
| Morgan Cunningham | 75 |
| Mark Durden | 76 |
| Drew Anderton | 76 |
| Clay Smith | 76 |
| Jared Waits | 76 |
| Chris Jones | 76 |
| Brock McNeely | 76 |
| Jeff Chapman | 76 |
| Clay Calkins | 76 |
| Will Manuel | 77 |
SATURDAY PAIRINGS
7:30 a.m.: Ty Cole, Frankie Wade Jr., Corey Ray, Chad Calvert
7:39: Woodie Eubanks, Josh Ashley, Alan Smedley, Dane Moore
7:48: Justin Graveman, Jody Wooten, Paul Bruce, Trey Rouse
7:57: Gary Wigington, Shawn Ledbetter, Chris Hummel, Jake Goggans
8:06: Sam Audia, Harrison Martin, Tee Brown, Tanner Wells
8:15: Jeremy McGatha, Nick Sawyer, Randy Lipscomb, Mason Dennis
8:24: Brennan Clay, Landon Winfrey, Morgan Cunningham, Mark Durden
8:33: Dre Anderton, Clay Smith, Jared Waits, Chris Jones
8:42: Brock McNeely, Jeff Chapman, Clay Calkins, Will Manuel
9:00: Danny Dunlap, Jim Dunlap, David Bowman, Donnie Sutton
9:09: Dennis Austin, Tim Steward, Ron McClellan, Mike Lett
9:18: Bob Russell, Ed Shirley, David Sanders, Tim Williams
9:27: Frank Shikle, Jimmy Jones, Mark Dillard, Ted Heim
9:36: Ron Fleming, Tom Jungkind, Dani Bone, Steve Cantrell
9:45: Jim Woods, T.C. Morgan, Vic Merkel, Richard Hollingsworth
9:54: Timmy Woodard, Chase Thomas, Graham Morrow, Chase Hollingsworth
10:03: Luke Armstrong, Ross Hudak, Chandler Richards, Corbin Holland
10:12: Danny Whitaker, Marc Gaines, Mark McCaig, Layton Bussey
10:21: Mason Aulsbrook, John Agricola, Skylar Deerman, Seth Shirley
10:30: Wayne Copeland, Ryan Moore, Blake Erwin, Chad Maples
10:39: Morton Holcomb, Maverick Smith, Matt Rogers, Ryan Limbaugh
10:48: Chris Messer, Chris Cox, Sam Bone, Joseph Zieman
10:57: Matt Greer, Dre Davenport, Mike Morgan, Ethan Davis
11:06: Hunter Corbin, Bumper Jones, Daniel Black, Ryan Huff
11:24: Chad Hare, Greg Hare, Will Broome, Blake Grisham
11:33: Keith Crumpton, Matthew Bennett, Clayton Chandler, Hunter Trimble
11:42: Mark Moates, Scott Moates, Houston Black, James Lett
11:51: Caleb Morrow, Adam Benefiel, Mark Cotton, Austin Elliott
Noon: Ernie Blankenship, Kenneth Willingham, Brad Young, Jeremy Hallmark
12:09 p.m.: Craig Inze Jr., Mark Cantrerll, Jeff Hammontree, Nathan Nailer
12:18: Andrew Tunnels, Justin Goree, Scott Jimmerson, Colby Duckett
You must be logged in to post a comment Login