Rollins rollin’

Georgia native and Calhoun County Golf Tour newcomer shoots best round of season, leads Pine Hill Invitational after first round. Clay, Cole lurk one stroke back.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

John Rollins could bag his first Calhoun County Golf Tour victory. Brennan Clay could bag his first this year, and Ty Cole could win his third Tour event in a row.

That’s the size of things headed into Sunday’s final round of the Pine Hill Invitational, the seventh of eight points events on the 2023 Tour.

Rollins shot a 7-under-par 65 Saturday to hold a one stroke lead over Clay, last year’s Tour runner up, and Cole, who seeks his fourth Tour victory this year.

Rollins, playing in his fifth Tour event in his first Tour season, scored his best round so far. The Summerville, Ga., resident who works for a logging company hopes to keep chopping away at the Tour’s tallest timber Sunday.

“It would be awesome (to win),” he said. “To compete with those guys, and I’ve seen their names over the past couple of years, it would be awesome. I wouldn’t even know what to say.” 

Rollins starred at Trion (Ga.) High School, winning regional and state championships. He played for Georgia Northwestern Technical College, winning two tournaments and scoring “a few top fives,” he said.

Making his County Tour debut this season, he’s played in all but two events, missing Twin Bridges and Cane Creek. Coming off his top finish of the season, third at Briarmeade last week, he entered this weekend ninth with 705 Tour points. 

He finished six strokes behind Cole and five behind Gary Wigington, the season points leader.

Rollins’ season-best round saw him shoot 2-under for the first nine holes (10-18) and 5 under for the back.

Pine Hill “reminds me of a course I play back home,” Rollins said. “It’s the same greens, so I felt more comfortable around the greens, and that’s what kind of got me going.”

Clay was the early leader in the clubhouse, finishing one stroke off of his best round of the year, the first round at Cider Ridge.

“No bogies, and I haven’t done that in a minute,” Clay said. “I probably haven’t done that since the first round at that tournament last year.

“No real bad mistakes. A couple of bad swings, but I got up and down every time I missed a green and made a couple of big par putts late. It was just all around good.”

Cole, who won at Twin Bridges early in the season then Cider Ridge and Briarmeade, finished later in the day. His lone bogey came after he missed an 18-inch putt on the par-3 fourth hole, and he made six birdies.

Riding last week’s positive vibes, he stuck with the putter he used at Briarmeade. After Saturday’s round, he pledged to go back to his usual putter.

“I hit a bunch of good tee balls today and had some tap-in birdies the first couple of holes,” he said. “Didn’t make anything outside of 4 feet. Same putter I used at Briarmeade, but it will not leave the bag tomorrow. I’m going back my old putter I’ve had forever.

“Some of it might’ve been reads, but a lot of it was stroke.”

Scores

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
PLAYER	RD. 1	RD. 2	TOTAL
John Rollins	65		65
Brennan Clay	66		66
Ty Cole	66		66
Sawyer Edwards	68		68
Chad Calvert	68		68
Vance Lewis	69		69
Jeremy McGatha	69		69
Hunter Carr	69		69
Dalton Faulkner	69		69
Jonathan Pate	69		69
Jason Rich	70		70
Bob Eaton	70		70
Jeff Noah	70		70
FIRST FLIGHT
Matt Evans	71		71
Tyler Romine	71		71
Janson Wilborn	71		71
Gary Wigington	71		71
Clay Calkins	71		71
Billy McCroskey	71		71
Kenny Okins	71		71
Chase Hollingsworth	72		72
Randy Lipscomb	72		72
Casey Harmon	72		72
Daniel Black	72		72
Tanner Wells	72		72
Mason Dennis	72		72
Nick Ledbetter	72		72
SECOND FLIGHT
Seth Wallace	73		73
Andrew Brooks	73		73
Eric Cannington	73		73
Josh Poole	73		73
Cain Hollingsworth	74		74
Dustin Travis	74		74
Caleb Bowen	74		74
Mark McCaig	74		74
Bradley Elliott	75		75
Chris Reaves	75		75
Layton Bussey	75		75
Billy Thompson	75		75
Samuel Wallace	75		75
Josh Reynolds	75		75
Coleman Messer	75		75
Nick Hubbard	75		75
THIRD FLIGHT
Mark Durden	76		76
Ethan Davis	76		76
Heath Hammond	76		76
Matt Rogers	76		76
Shannon Page	76		76
Bart Smith	76		76
Matt Wilson	77		77
Tim Turner	77		77
Cam Hurst	77		77
Riley Boyd	77		77
Chris Shultz	77		77
Chris Hubbard	77		77
Logan Watson	77		77
Zac Goss	77		77
Landon Winfrey	77		77
FOURTH FLIGHT
Daily Thomas	78		78
Chance Harris	78		78
Will Brown	78		78
Shane Lee	78		78
Joe Hedgepeth	78		78
Caleb Morrow	79		79
Brad Baird	79		79
Trevor Lane	79		79
Chris Randall	79		79
Doug Huie	79		79
Brian Edwards	79		79
Daniel Ricks	79		79
Luke Armstrong	79		79
Wesley Jenkins	79		79
Jared Waits	79		79
FIFTH FLIGHT
Craig Duncan	80		80
Tony Hicks	80		80
Taylor Morrow	80		80
Houston Black	80		80
Keaton Borrelli	81		81
Terry Cobb	81		81
Sean Kline	81		81
Heath Waldrop	81		81
Chris Maye	81		81
Ethan McCareeth	82		82
Johnny Barnes	82		82
Zack Limberis	82		82
Chad Mullinax	82		82
Chris Sprayberry	82		82
Ethan Turner	82		82
Jason Payne	82		82
SIXTH FLIGHT
Anthony Turner	83		83
Zack Henderson	84		84
Blake Woodard	84		84
Rickey Carden	85		85
Landon Holley	85		85
Vann Hall	85		85
Scott Watson	85		85
Jimbo Phillips	85		85
Keith Hutcheson	85		85
Dakota Clark	85		85
Mark Gaines	86		86
David Coffey	86		86
Greg Rainey	86		86
Spence Florczak	86		86
SEVENTH FLIGHT
Vance Hall	88		88
Jeff Roszell	88		88
David Medders Jr.	88		88
Jared Joiner	88		88
Mike Ledbetter	88		88
Wilson Lowe	88		88
Casey Turner	88		88
Kelly Rogers	88		88
Eli Gravitt	89		89
Josh Swope	90		90
EIGHTH FLIGHT
Tyrell Tucker	92		92
Eddy Burks	92		92
Ken Renfroe	92		92
Bill McPherson	92		92
Adam Benefiel	94		94
Kolby Slick	95		95
Shaughn Rankin	95		95
Jason Swope	96		96
Warren Sewell	98		98
Larry Champion	100		100
SENIOR DIVISION
Championship Flight	RD. 1	RD. 2	TOTAL
Chip Howell	65		65
David Sanders	72		72
Jerry Irwin	73		73
Kurt Duryea	73		73
Tim Steward	73		73
Dennis Austin	73		73
Keith Haywood	73		73
Robbie Hurst	75		75
David Messer	75		75
First flight
Ron Wheeler	76		76
Andy Jenkins	76		76
Steve Perry	77		77
Wilton Page	77		77
Carter Gable	78		78
Allen Mangham	78		78
Jerry Kemp	78		78
Gary Smith	79		79
Bob McClain	79		79
Rick Barthel	79		79
David FItzgerald	79		79
Charley Estes	79		79
Second flight
Frank Toland	80		80
David Medders Sr.	80		80
Steve Smith	80		80
Tim Hill	80		80
Mike Thompson	81		81
Randall Doss	81		81
Ricky Hurst	82		82
Frank Cobb	82		82
Steve Williams	82		82
Third flight
Lamar Ward	84		84
Robbie Robertson	85		85
Steve Borrelli	87		87
Lee Clark	87		87
Greg Thrower	88		88
Jim Landers	89		89
Terry Thompson	101		101
Sammy Wynn	102		102

Sunday tee times

Hole No. 1

6:50 a.m.: FRANK COBB GREG THROWER STEVE SMITH LEE CLARK
7 a.m.: SAMMY WYNN TERRY THOMPSON MIKE THOMPSON BOB MCCLAIN
7:10 a.m.: RANDALL DOSS ROBBIE ROBERTSON RICKY HURST GARY SMITH
7:20 a.m.: KEN RENFROE WARREN SEWELL EDDY BURKS LARRY CHAMPION
7:30 a.m.: SCOTT WATSON CHAD MULLINAX KOLBY SLICK ADAM BENEFIEL
7:40 a.m.: LAMAR WARD FRANK TOLAND JERRY KEMP ANDY JENKINS
7:50 a.m.: ALLEN MANGHAM WILTON PAGE STEVE PERRY CARTER GABLE
8 a.m.: DAKOTA CLARK LANDON HOLLEY VANN HALL ETHAN TURNER
8:10 a.m.: ZACK HENDERSON BLAKE WOODARD ANTHONY TURNER ZACK LIMBERIS
8:20 a.m.: ETHAN MCCAREETH JOHNNY BARNES CHRIS SPRAYBERRY JASON PAYNE
8:30 a.m.: TONY HICKS CRAIG DUNCAN BRIAN EDWARDS WESLEY JENKINS
8:40 a.m.: DANIEL RICKS CALEB MORROW LUKE ARMSTRONG BRAD BAIRD

Hole No. 10

6:50 a.m.: DAVID MEDDERS SR. DAVID MEDDERS JR. JIM LANDERS STEVE BORRELLI
7 a.m.: RICK BARTHEL STEVE WILLIAMS TIM HILL CHARLEY ESTES
7:10 a.m.: RON WHEELER ROBBIE HURST JIMBO PHILLIPS RICKY CARDEN
7:20 a.m.: JASON SWOPE SHAUGHN RANKIN JOSH SWOPE BILL MCPHERSON
7:30 a.m.: WILL BROWN LOGAN WATSON SHANE LEE BILLY THOMPSON
7:40 a.m.: TYREL TUCKER ELI GRAVITT KELLY ROGERS JEFF ROSZELL
7:50 a.m.: CASEY TURNER WILSON LOWE MIKE LEDBETTER DAVID COFFEY
8 a.m.: LANDON WINFREY JARED WAITS DAVID FITZGERALD DOUG HUIE
8:10 a.m.: GREG RAINEY SPENCE FLORCZAK MARK GAINES KEITH HUTCHESON
8:20 a.m.: CHRIS MAYE HEATH WALDROP SEAN KLINE TAYLOR MORROW
8:30 a.m.: TERRY COBB JARED JOINER KEATON BORRELLI HOUSTON BLACK
8:40 a.m.: TREVOR LANE JOE HEDGEPETH ZACK GOSS CHRIS HUBBARD

Hole No. 1

11:20 a.m.: RILEY BOYD DAILY THOMAS CAM HURST MATT ROGERS
11:30 a.m.: DAVID MESSER KEITH HAYWOOD DENNIS AUSTIN TIM STEWARD
11:40 a.m.: KURT DURYEA JERRY IRWIN DAVID SANDERS CHIP HOWELL
11:50 a.m.: CHANCE HARRIS MATT WILSON GREG SHULTZ BART SMITH
Noon: TIM TURNER SHANNON PAGE HEATH HAMMOND ETHAN DAVIS
12:20 p.m.: MASON DENNIS RANDY LIPSCOMB CLAY CALKINS BILLY MCCROSKEY
12:30 p.m.: GARY WIGINGTON MATT EVANS BOB EATON JEFF NOAH
12:40 p.m.: SAWYER EDWARDS JEREMY MCGATHA VANCE LEWIS HUNTER CARR
12:50 p.m.: JOHN ROLLINS TY COLE BRENNAN CLAY CHAD CALVERT

Hole No. 10

11:20 a.m.: MARK DURDEN JOSH REYNOLDS SAMULE WALLACE CHRIS RANDALL
11:30 a.m.: COLMAN MESSER NICK HUBBARD CHRIS REAVES CAIN HOLLINGSWORTH
11:40 a.m.: DUSTIN TRAVIS LAYTON BUSSEY CALEB BOWEN MARK MCCAIG
11:50 a.m.: ANDREW BROOKS ERIC CANNINGTON SETH WALLACE BRADLEY ELLIOTT
12 p.m.: TANNER WELLS NICK LEDBETTER DANIEL BLACK JOSH POOLE
12:20 p.m.: CHASE HOLLINGSWORTH KENNY OKINS JANSON WILBORN CASEY HARMON
12:30 p.m.: TYLER ROMINE JASON RICH JONATHAN PATE DALTON FAULKNER

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