Playing for more
- Updated: August 14, 2021
Wade, Cole match scores again, remain tied for the Gadsden Invitational lead; Wade playing to honor grandmother
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
GADSDEN – Frankie Wade Jr. walked off the 18thgreen Friday a little bummed that he had bogeyed his final hole of what otherwise had been a pretty nice round. Still, he was looking forward to the early-morning start Saturday that came with holding a share of the opening-round lead of the Gadsden Invitational.
Then came the phone call that changed the University of North Alabama MBA golfer’s entire perspective on the tournament.
He learned later that before he started his round his paternal grandmother had passed away in Cullman. Gloria Hodges Wade had taken an interest in her grandson’s golf – even gifted him some golf clubs one time – and it will be in her honor he is dedicating his play the rest of the tournament.
“That’s who I’m playing for this week, going to finish it off,” he said shortly after sinking a birdie putt on 18 to maintain a share of the second-round lead. “It’s always better when you’re playing for something, something bigger than yourself.
“This is for her. Whatever happens, I’m keeping her in my thoughts. She shaped me into the man I am today, so I’m really grateful to have her in my life.”
Wade and Ty Cole matched scores again Saturday – this time posting 69s – to sit at 7-under-par 135 for 36 holes. They are four shots clear of Homewood’s Trey Rouse and Anniston’s Brennan Clay, who roared into contention with the round of the day (64). Corey Ray of Boaz and Chris Hummel of Birmingham are another shot back.
After an “uneventful” front nine, Wade birdied both par-5s on the back – and all three on the day – to get back into red numbers for the round. He closed it out with the 15-foot birdie on 18 that pulled him even with Cole, and he remained tied when Cole missed his birdie attempt.
“The putt on 18, just a swinger to the right, was a good one to finish it off,” he said. “That made the day a little better, but I just didn’t have my best stuff today. I scrambled around and just found a way to score. I came out of the rough a lot today, so if I can get it in the fairway tomorrow it’ll be a lot easier.”
Cole had another interesting day off the tee, to the degree he’ll reconfigure his driver again for the final round. But he’s been a Sunday stalwart on the Tour this year.
In his three Calhoun County Tour wins this year, he was part of a four-way tie after the first round at Twin Bridges and won by two; he was behind coming down the stretch at Cider Ridge, then birdied the last two holes of regulation to force a playoff and won it with a conceded eagle on the first extra hole; and he was three back going into Championship Sunday at Anniston Country Club and won it with a birdie on the final hole.
Even here, he came from two shots back with three holes to play to win in 2018 – the third of four straight wins here.
Clay climbed up the leaderboard with one of the best rounds since the Invitational was reinstated in 2016. His 64 is second only to the 63 Cole posted in the opening round of 2017.
It’s the best round on the County Tour this year by two shots. He shot an 8-under 62 in the first round of the County Tournament last year.
Interestingly, he started bogey-par-bogey, then made nine birdies over his last 15 holes, ranging from eight inches (from 185 yards) to a 20-footer on 17.
“I finally woke up,” he said. “I was standing on 4 tee and now I’m 6-over for the tournament at a place that I love. I was seeing red and had a little meeting with myself; I’ve been playing good, know I could make birdies out here. I can’t remember the last time I only made one birdie in a round here (like Friday) – maybe in the last round last year – but I just made that one on 4 and it kind of got me going.
“It was a lot of fun, a lot more fun that yesterday.”
It’s gonna be a boy
Tee Brown doesn’t usually get surprised when he hits one hard off the tee, but the Gadsden golfer was just that when he let one fly Saturday after his round in the Gadsden Invitational.
It was the occasion of the gender reveal for Tee and Carly’s second child. Tee was guessing another boy to complete the family’s foursome – and he guessed right.
When he stepped up to the makeshift tee in the backyard, wearing a blue golf shirt and pink hat for the occasion, a big blue puff exploded off the clubface, proclaiming to the two dozen friends and family on hand and more than 50 on Facebook live a boy is on the way.
He gave a fist pump and gave Carly a big bear hug.
“I finally hit a fairway,” he said.
One-year-old Knox’ baby brother is due to enter the game of life in February.
Honoring a friend
Players in the Senior flights will be shooting at an extra prize Sunday, as Ron McClellan pays tribute to his lifelong friend who lived on the golf course and was a four-time Invitational and club champion there.
McClellan is putting up a $100 closest-to-the-pin prize on No. 6 to honor the memory of Rex Keeling
“It’s just something to keep his memory going,” said McClellan, 71, a former area club pro who’s now a regular on the local senior scramble circuit. “I’d just like to honor him and his memory.”
Keeling, a punter for Bobby Bowden at Howard (Samford) who played in the NFL and later volunteered to coach Jack Crowe’s kickers at JSU, passed away in June 2010, but McClellan keeps his friend’s memory every round. He marks his golf ball with Rex’ initials and spots it on the green with a commemorative coin that was a tee gift in the memorial tournament McClellan put together shortly after Keeling’s passing.
It’s no coincidence they were setting up shop on No. 6. Keeling lived on the hole for more than 25 years (before moving to Fort Payne) and, McClellan said slyly, “that’s where he got in trouble all the time” by sliding out to the green for some extra practice during tournament weekends.
“There’s just a lot of memories when I come here,” McClellan said.
Gadsden Invitational
| CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT A | |||
| Frankie Wade Jr. | 66 | 69 | 135 |
| Ty Cole | 66 | 69 | 135 |
| Trey Rouse | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| Brennan Clay | 75 | 64 | 139 |
| Corey Ray | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| Chris Hummel | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| Woodie Eubanks | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| Paul Bruce | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| Jeremy McGatha | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| Dane Moore | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT B | |||
| Alan Smedley | 69 | 76 | 145 |
| Justin Graveman | 70 | 75 | 145 |
| Jody Wooten | 71 | 74 | 145 |
| Sam Audia | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| Harrison Martin | 72 | 72 | 145 |
| Chad Calvert | 68 | 78 | 146 |
| Gary Wigington | 71 | 75 | 146 |
| Randy Lipscomb | 74 | 73 | 147 |
| Brock McNeeley | 76 | 71 | 147 |
| Shawn Ledbetter | 71 | 77 | 148 |
| Jake Goggans | 72 | 76 | 148 |
| CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT C | |||
| Tee Brown | 72 | 77 | 149 |
| Jeff Chapman | 76 | 73 | 149 |
| Chris Jones | 76 | 73 | 149 |
| Josh Ashley | 69 | 81 | 150 |
| Mason Dennis | 75 | 76 | 151 |
| Drew Anderton | 76 | 75 | 151 |
| Clay Smith | 76 | 76 | 152 |
| Tanner Wells | 72 | 82 | 154 |
| Landon Winfrey | 75 | 79 | 154 |
| Will Manuel | 77 | 77 | 154 |
| Morgan Cunningham | 75 | 81 | 156 |
| Jared Waits | 76 | 81 | 157 |
| Clay Calkins | 76 | 82 | 158 |
| Mark Durden | 76 | 92 | 168 |
| Nick Sawyer | 74 | WD | WD |
| FIRST FLIGHT | |
| Morton Holcomb | 67 |
| Layton Bussey | 71 |
| Chase Hollingsworth | 73 |
| Danny Whittaker | 74 |
| Matthew Bennett | 74 |
| Samuel Bone | 75 |
| Chris Cox | 75 |
| Chad Hare | 75 |
| Keith Crumpton | 75 |
| Mark Cantrell | 75 |
| SECOND FLIGHT | |
| Blake Erwin | 76 |
| Ryan Limbaugh | 76 |
| Mike Morgan | 76 |
| Daniel Black | 76 |
| Ernie Blankenship | 76 |
| Corbin Holland | 77 |
| Joseph Zieman | 77 |
| Chris Messer | 77 |
| Greg Hare | 77 |
| Hunter Trimble | 77 |
| Jeff Hammontree | 77 |
| Caleb Morrow | 77 |
| THIRD FLIGHT | |
| Luke Armstrong | 78 |
| Wayne Copeland | 78 |
| Matt Rogers | 78 |
| Steve Cantrell | 79 |
| Chandler Richards | 79 |
| Ryan Moore | 79 |
| Dre Davenport | 79 |
| Mark Moates | 79 |
| Seth Shirley | 80 |
| Maverick Smith | 80 |
| Bumper Jones | 80 |
| Clayton Chandler | 80 |
| Houston Black | 80 |
| FOURTH FLIGHT | |
| Ethan Davis | 81 |
| Nathan Nailer | 81 |
| Scott Jimmerson | 81 |
| Richard Hollingsworth | 82 |
| Justin Goree | 82 |
| Timmy Woodard | 83 |
| Hunter Corbin | 83 |
| Kenneth Willingham | 83 |
| Graham Morrow | 84 |
| John Agricola | 84 |
| Chad Maples | 84 |
| Craig Inzer Jr. | 84 |
| FIFTH FLIGHT | |
| Ross Hudak | 85 |
| Mason Aulsbrook | 86 |
| Austin Elliott | 86 |
| Mark Gaines | 87 |
| Matt Greer | 87 |
| Blake Grisham | 87 |
| Scott Moates | 87 |
| Chase Thomas | 88 |
| Ryan Huff | 89 |
| SIXTH FLIGHT | |
| Mark McCaig | 91 |
| Will Broome | 91 |
| Jeremy Hallmark | 91 |
| Mark Cotton | 91 |
| James Lett | 92 |
| Adam Benefiel | 92 |
| Bradley Young | 93 |
| Vic Merkel | 98 |
| Skylar Deerman | 99 |
| Andrew Gunnells | 100 |
| SENIOR FLIGHT A | |
| Frank Shikle | 70 |
| Tom Jungking | 74 |
| Mark Dillard | 76 |
| David Sanders | 77 |
| Ted Heim | 78 |
| Jimmy Jones | 79 |
| SENIOR FLIGHT B | |
| Danny Dunlap | 81 |
| Donny Sutton | 81 |
| Ron McClellan | 82 |
| Bob Russell | 82 |
| Ron Fleming | 82 |
| T.C. Morgan | 82 |
| Tim Steward | 83 |
| SENIOR FLIGHT C | |
| Tim Williams | 85 |
| Dennis Austin | 86 |
| Mike Lett | 87 |
| David Bowman | 88 |
| Dani Bone | 89 |
| Ed Shirley | 90 |
| Jim Woods | 95 |
| Jim Dunlap | 109 |
Sunday pairings
7:30: Ed Shirley, Jim Woods, Jim Dunlap
7:39: Mike Lett, David Bowman, Dani Bone
7:48: Tim Steward, Tim Williams, Dennis Austin
7:57: Bob Russell, Ron Fleming, T.C. Morgan
8:06: Danny Dunlap, Donnie Sutton, Ron McClellan
8:15: David Sanders, Ted Heim, Jimmy Jones
8:24: Frank Shikle, Tom Jungkind, Mark Dillard
8:33: Vic Merkel, Skylar Deerman, Andrew Gunnells
8:42: James Lett, Adam Benefiel, Bradley Young
8:51: Mark McCaig, Will Broome, Jeremy Hallmark, Mark Cotton
9:00: Blake Grisham, Scott Moates, Chase Thomas, Ryan Huff
9:09: Mason Aulsbrook, Austin Elliott, Mark Gaines, Matt Greer
9:18: Ross Hudak, John Agricola, Chad Maples, Craig Inzer Jr.
9:36: Timmy Woodard, Hunter Corbin, Kenneth Willingham, Graham Morrow
9:45: Nathan Nailer, Scott Jimmerson, Richard Hollingsworth, Justin Goree
9:54: Ethan Davis, Houston Black, Bumper Jones, Clayton Chandler
10:03: Dre Davenport, Mak Moates, Seth Shirley, Maverick Smith
10:12: Matt Rogers, Steve Cantrell, Chandler Richards, Ryan Moore
10:30: Luke Armstrong, Payne Copeland, Jeff Hammontree, Caleb Morrow
10:39: Joseph Zieman, Chris Messer, Greg Harre, Hunter Trimble
10:48: Mike Morgan, Daniel Black, Ernie Blankenship, Corbin Holland
10:57: Blake Erwin, Ryan Limbaugh, Keith Crumpton, Mark Cantrell
11:06: Samuel Bone, Chris Cox, Chad Harre, Matthew Bennett
11:15: Morton Holcomb, Layton Bussey, Chase Hollingsworth, Danny Whittaker
11:33: Mark Durden, Jared Waits, Clay Calkins
11:42: Tanner Wells, Will Manuel, Landon Winfrey, Morgan Cunningham
11:51: Josh Ashley, Clay Smith, Drew Anderton, Mason Dennis
Noon: Chris Jones, Tee Brown, Jeff Chapman, Jake Goggans
12:09 p.m.: Gary Wigington, Randy Lipscomb, Brock McNeely, Shawn Ledbetter
12:18: Jody Wooten, Sam Audia, Harrison Martin, Chad Calvert
12:27: Jeremy McGatha, Dane Moore, Alan Smedley, Justin Graveman
12:36: Corey Ray, Chris Hummel, Woodie Eubanks, Paul Bruce
12:45: Ty Cole, Frankie Wade Jr., Trey Rouse, Brennan Clay
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