In the zone
- Updated: July 9, 2022
At the urging of his fiancé, Gage Ledbetter returns to the game, makes final group of Etowah Open with three of Calhoun County Tour’s best
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
GLENCOE – Gage Ledbetter has had this love-hate relationship with the game of golf all his life. He loves it now, but that wasn’t always the case.
He used to play all the time but about three and a half years ago the game “hurt my feelings real bad.” It was a traumatic enough experience he put the sticks away and never touched them again until about eight months ago.
Now that he’s back in it, playing regular tournament golf, he wants to put himself in the conversation with the best players on the Calhoun County Tour.
The 23-year-old North Gadsden welder made a big move in that direction in Saturday’s opening round of the Etowah Open at Briarmeade. He posted a 6-under-par 65 to land a spot in Sunday’s final group tied with Brennan Clay, one shot behind co-leaders and past tournament champions Gary Wigington and Ty Cole.
“I had fun today, I really did,” Ledbetter said. “That’s all I wanted to do was be comfortable and have fun, really.”
There was a time when the game was neither comfortable nor fun. He was a good player in high school and wanted to give it a shot in college with an eye towards playing on the next level. He was fighting through the flu the day he tried out for the Snead State team and it hurt him so badly not to make the squad that he gave up the game cold turkey.
His fiancé, Morgan McGee, the niece of playing partner Patrick Cooper, convinced him to play again, with all the permissions that entailed, and he was back in the game. He took on Blaine Bryant, an outside staffer at Twin Bridges, as his Michael Greller right around the start of the Calhoun County Tour season and off he went.
“One day my fiancé said why don’t you pick them up,” Ledbetter said. “She said I didn’t seem happy, like something was missing, and that’s what it was. It was this. I watch it, I love it; that’s all I ever cared for, really, golf and her.
“She even bought me my sticks. That was our deal: If I pay for the nails, I can play golf. It seemed like when I picked them back up I was better than what I was. I was like a 5 or 6 handicap in high school and now I just feel comfortable. I feel really good. I just feel comfortable now.”
His round Saturday had seven birdies – none longer than six feet – with five coming on a back-nine 31. It was his best round in three County Tour starts. What he’s hoping for this time is to avoid the downturn that accompanied him in each of his previous two Tour Sundays.
He followed an opening-round 74 at Twin Bridges with a Sunday 88. He posted a 71 with seven birdies at Cane Creek, but followed it with a 77.
“It’s just nerves,” he said. “Every tournament I’ve played in I’ve been in either the final group or second to final group and I just feel more comfortable. I’m used to having flamin’ hot rounds, but now I actually feel more consistent and comfortable over the golf ball.”
And now he’s going to put it all to the test against the County Tour’s best.
“I’m going to come at their throats; that’s all I can do, come at their throats,” he said. “I respect every guy in here. I could almost say I look up to them or I have in the past. I just want them to know I’m here and I’m here to stay.
“I’m friendly with every guy I play, but I want to beat you every week. I see how Twig and Ty (Wigington and Cole) have dominated this whole Calhoun County Golf Tour; any tournament they play, they’re there. I want to be there, too. I don’t really know them personally, I’ve spoken to them, but I look up to their game and they seem to be really good people and maybe I can be there, too.”
Clay got off to a torrid start that touched off a 59 watch. He birdied five of his first six holes, but didn’t have another until 14. He was 7-under through 16, then gave a shot back with a “sloppy bogey” on the par-5 17th.
The blemish broke a string of 41 holes without a bogey, going back to 11 in the first round at Cane Creek, and that upset him more than anything.
“I was hitting it good and rolling it good early,” he said. “The back nine is probably easier, I just didn’t play as good back there. I was thinking I could probably come in 8 or 9 (under) if I keep it going. I just didn’t hit it close enough on the back.”
Wigington enjoyed his best County Tour round of the season and one of his best of the year to grab a share of the lead. He played bogey-free with seven birdies. He had 12 one-putt greens and got up and down on the five greens he missed. He turned in 3-under with birdies at 4, 7 and 8, then birdied 13, 14, 15 and 17 on the back.
“Sometime around the middle of July for some reason it always starts coming around,” the 2020 champion said of his game. “I don’t know why it doesn’t earlier. I felt like I was getting pretty close to playing good and more consistent, so hopefully that’ll be the case tomorrow.”
Cole made his way into the final Sunday group for the second Tour event in a row with a strong close. A double bogey on 12 knocked him back to 2-under for the day, but he reeled it back in and played his last five holes in 5-under with birdies on 14, 16 and 18 and an eagle on 17.
OPEN NOTEBOOK: Mason Dennis posted the early number to shoot for, a 4-under 67 that featured seven birdies and an eagle. He was 1-over through 5 and played his last 13 holes in 5-under-par … Lamar Carter posted his best round ever on the Calhoun County Golf Tour, a white-tee 67 highlighted by five birdies on a back-nine 32. His previous best was an even-par 70 in the opening round of the 2019 Calhoun County Championship at Anniston Municipal … The food service team at Briarmeade brings added value to the tournament with their home-cooked meals for the players … Look for details soon on Briarmeade’s 3-Man Scramble Aug. 20-21.
| ETOWAH OPEN | |||
| CHAMPIONSHIP A | |||
| Gary Wigington | 32 | 32 | 64 |
| Ty Cole | 32 | 32 | 64 |
| Brennan Clay | 30 | 35 | 65 |
| Gage Ledbetter | 34 | 31 | 65 |
| Mason Dennis | 34 | 33 | 67 |
| Scott Smith | 34 | 33 | 67 |
| Chad Hare | 32 | 36 | 68 |
| Shawn Ledbetter | 35 | 33 | 68 |
| CHAMPIONSHIP B | |||
| Skylar Dennis | 35 | 34 | 69 |
| Matt Rogers | 34 | 35 | 69 |
| Andrew Brooks | 35 | 34 | 69 |
| Dane Moore | 34 | 35 | 69 |
| Daily Thomas | 35 | 35 | 70 |
| Jeremy McGatha | 35 | 35 | 70 |
| Randy Lipscomb | 37 | 33 | 70 |
| Brad Connor | 34 | 36 | 70 |
| Bumper Jones | 35 | 36 | 71 |
| Tee Brown | 36 | 36 | 72 |
| Clay Calkins | 37 | 35 | 72 |
| FLIGHT 1 | |||
| Lamar Carter | 35 | 32 | 67 |
| Neal Keener | 34 | 34 | 68 |
| Jeff McRae | 36 | 34 | 70 |
| Greg Hare | 35 | 38 | 73 |
| Patrick Cooper | 36 | 37 | 73 |
| Vance Lewis | 37 | 36 | 73 |
| Michael McDowell | 36 | 37 | 73 |
| Zack Mangum | 39 | 35 | 74 |
| Trent Ralston | 39 | 35 | 74 |
| FLIGHT 2 | |||
| Timmy Fulmer | 35 | 40 | 75 |
| Kenny Fulmer | 38 | 37 | 75 |
| Jason Billingsley | 39 | 36 | 75 |
| Blake Grisham | 38 | 38 | 76 |
| Lee Vinson | 39 | 37 | 76 |
| Mike Underwood | 37 | 39 | 76 |
| Grant Hockman | 40 | 36 | 76 |
| Jeff Noah | 40 | 37 | 77 |
| Jason Britton | 39 | 38 | 77 |
| Ted Heim | 37 | 40 | 77 |
| Ron McClellan | 38 | 39 | 77 |
| Craig Colvard | 38 | 39 | 77 |
| FLIGHT 3 | |||
| Opie Teague | 38 | 40 | 78 |
| Scott Moates | 38 | 40 | 78 |
| Melvin Fant | 37 | 41 | 78 |
| Luke Armstrong | 42 | 36 | 78 |
| Craig Graves | 41 | 38 | 79 |
| Eric Ray | 38 | 41 | 79 |
| Mike Estes | 40 | 39 | 79 |
| Wesley Watkins | 40 | 39 | 79 |
| Russel Spencer | 39 | 41 | 80 |
| Chris Cox | 41 | 39 | 80 |
| Chris Sanford | 38 | 42 | 80 |
| Patrick Patterson | 41 | 39 | 80 |
| FLIGHT 4 | |||
| Ethan Davis | 41 | 40 | 81 |
| Frank Barnes | 38 | 43 | 81 |
| TJ Daugherty | 41 | 41 | 82 |
| Chuck Medders | 40 | 42 | 82 |
| Blake Erwin | 42 | 41 | 83 |
| Mason Cothran | 44 | 40 | 84 |
| Kolby Slick | 41 | 43 | 84 |
| Larry Moon | 40 | 44 | 84 |
| Greg Davenport | 40 | 44 | 84 |
| Jason Gilley | 41 | 44 | 85 |
| Paul Allen | 45 | 40 | 85 |
| Phillip Eades | 45 | 40 | 85 |
| Carey Potter | 44 | 41 | 85 |
| FLIGHT 5 | |||
| Scott Sanders | 42 | 44 | 86 |
| Justin Fisher | 45 | 41 | 86 |
| Payton Grisham | 47 | 41 | 88 |
| Phillip Jones | 46 | 42 | 88 |
| Jason Womack | 44 | 47 | 91 |
| Josh Colvard | 44 | 47 | 91 |
| Chris Holderfield | 47 | 49 | 96 |
| Cole Jones | 52 | 45 | 97 |
Sunday pairings
10 a.m.: Justin Fisher, Jason Womack, Scott Sanders, Payton Grisham
10:10: Phillip Jones, Cole Jones, Chris Holderfield, Josh Colvard
10:30: Phillip Eades, Kolby Slick, Carey Potter
10:40: Greg Davenport, Blake Erwin, Paul Allen
10:50: Mason Cothran, Jason Gilley, Larry Moon
11:00: Frank Barnes, Ethan Davis, Chuck Medders, T.J. Daugherty
11:20: Patrick Patterson, Chris Sanford, Chris Cox, Russell Spencer
11:30: Craig Graves, Eric Ray, Mike Estes, Wesley Watkins
11:40: Melvin Fant, Opie Teague, Luke Armstrong, Scott Moates
Noon: Jason Britton, Craig Colvard, Ron McClellan, Ted Heim
12:10 p.m.: Jeff Noah, Mike Underwood, Blake Grisham, Lee Vinson
12:20: Kenny Fulmer, Tim Fulmer, Jason Billingsley, Grant Hockman
12:40: Greg Hare, Trent Ralston, Zack Mangum
12:50: Michael McDowell, Patrick Cooper, Vance Lewis
1:00: Lamar Carter, Neal Keener, Jeff McRae
1:20: Clay Calkins, Tee Brown, Bumper Jones, Daily Thomas
1:30: Brad Connor, Jeremy McGatha, Randy Lipscomb
1:40: Matt Rogers, Andrew Brooks, Dane Moore, Skylar Dennis
2:00: Chad Hare, Shawn Ledbetter, Mason Dennis, Scott Smith
2:10: Brennan Clay, Gage Ledbetter, Gary Wigington, Ty Cole
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