First on the tee
- Updated: July 1, 2022
Robinson-Stumpfig hit the button as clock strikes 12, becomes first team to register for Sunny King Charity Classic
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Cody Robinson didn’t waste any time.
The 27-year-old Georgia convenience store operator checked in Thursday to see if Friday’s launch of online registration for this year’s Sunny King Charity Classic was going to be open when the clock struck 12.
Sept. 16-18
Assured that was the case, he was right by the computer in his Ranburne home and with the click of a button at the stroke of midnight he and partner Jack Stumpfig became the first to register for this year’s field.
“I’m just excited to play in it,” he said. “I’ve played in it twice before and loved it.
“I did set an alarm on my phone. I wasn’t expecting to be the first. I set my alarm for 11:55 and kind of filled out the form and hit enter. I didn’t even see what time it was. I looked at the time and it said 12 o’clock on the dot.”
Online registration for this year’s Classic indeed went live Friday morning. It closes Aug. 15. If last year’s response is any indication, open spots are expected to go quickly. Tournament officials anticipate about 75 teams to register by the end of the first day.
UPDATE: A total of 91 teams signed up on the first day of online registration. That’s almost 45 percent of the full field.
The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 16-18 at Silver Lakes, Cider Ridge Golf Club and Anniston Country Club. Entry fee is $770 per two-man team and includes pre-paid mulligans/sandies.
Robinson played in 2018 and 2019 with two other partners and was in the mix from their first tee shot. In 2018, with Dustin Viehe, he went off in the first game of the scramble round at Silver Lakes and shared the lead at the end of the day. In 2019, with Barrett Waters, he was tied for second after the first day.
The tournament wasn’t held in 2020 because of COVID and Robinson didn’t play when it returned last year with a September date. He was planning to play, but had a wedding to plan and “golf just wasn’t on my mind.” He recently regained the spark and is excited about getting back into the swing.
He plans to play in this year’s Alabama Open at Twin Bridges and join Cider Ridge, where his father-in-law is a member, when the course reopens following its greens renovation.
His partner is a former Bremen High School teammate who went on to play college golf at Columbus State and now is a golf instructor in Jacksonville, Fla., with five professional wins, including the 2019 Mayfair Open that back in the day was a fall PGA Tour stop. Robinson describes him as comparable to Waters, but longer off the tee.
“If we start out near the lead I hope we finish near the top,” Robinson said. “This is the tournament I’ve always wanted to win since I played in it for the first time. There’s just such good competition and it would be really, really good to come out on top. I hope we play well – really, no expectations – but winning would be something special.”
Stumpfig, 28, said it’s already special because he’ll get to play with his buddy again.
“What Cody told me is that it’s a fun three-day team charity event on some great golf courses and that it’s also very competitive,” he said. “We’ve always remained good friends so it’ll be great to come back to pretty close to the area I grew up and play golf with him.”
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