E.A. Sports Today

Breakthroughs

Georgia native Rollins prevails for first Calhoun County Golf Tour victory, and White Plains grad Jason Rich has ‘by far’ his best Tour outing for third

John Rollins tees off during Sunday’s final round of the Pine Hill Invitational. He finished 11 under par for his first Calhoun County Golf Tour victory. (Photo by Joe Medley)

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

When John Rollins stops sawing logs at 5:30 a.m. Monday to go cut logs for a living, he’ll wear a grin wider than two-man saw.

When Jason Rich awakens to deliver food, he’ll be the happiest 2 a.m. riser driving a truck east of the Mississippi River.

Both men made huge breakthroughs on the Calhoun County Golf Tour this weekend, with Rollins scoring his first Tour victory in the Pine Hill Invitational and Rich scoring his Tour-best third-place finish.

Rollins shot a 4-under-par 68 Sunday to back up his 65 from Saturday to beat Ty Cole by four shots. Cole finished second after winning the past two Tour events, on the Links at Briarmeade and at Cider Ridge.

A cutter operator for Triple J, in Summerville, Ga., Rollins is playing his first season on the Calhoun County Tour. He’s also on a roll, having finished third and Briarmeade a week prior to winning at Pine Hill.

He was ninth in Tour points before Pine Hill. The 2023 Tour wraps up with the Calhoun County Championship on Aug. 19-20 at Anniston Municipal.

A former high school state champion and winner of two junior-college events for Northwest Georgia Technical College, Rollins called the Calhoun County Tour “a little bit better” than what he’s used to in Georgia.

After emerging victorious in foursome that included Cole, Brennan Clay and Chad Calvert, Rollins called it “the best feeling in the world ever.”

“Them guys, they’re hounds,” he said. “To be in the final group and win is great. It’s great.”

Rollins entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over Clay and Cole and trailed briefly, after Clay chipped in from 25 feet on No. 4 to reach 8 under. Rollins birdied No. 7 to draw even with Clay at 8 under then regained a one-shot lead after the turn.

After bogeying No. 13 to fall back into a tie with Clay, Rollins hit a 15-foot birdie putt on 14 to take the lead for good.

“Finally, I got the long putt to go on the par-4 on the back,” Rollins said. “That really got me going, after that bogey.”

Rollins finished with a birdie, chipping from 15 yards to within 2 feet and tapping in after Clay teed into the woods.

“I was nervous on that last hole, trying to figure out what I needed to hit,” Rollins said. “I was telling them, I need to hit less club because my adrenaline was up so much because Brennan is a great golfer, and he took a bad break on that hole.

“I’ve been there, done that.”

Clay scored a 9 on 18, helping Rich achieve his best Tour finish.

Rich shot 70-68—138 and waited out the finish at the clubhouse. He had the low score before the final foursome finished.

He started on No. 10 and birdied. After leaving a putt short on 11, he went on what he described as “a bit of a birdie rampage” on the back nine.

The third-place finish was quite a coups for the long-time Pine Hill member and 2008 White Plains High graduate who described himself as “a nobody” in high school golf.

“I didn’t get a college scholarship,” he said. “I didn’t start getting a lot better at this game until later on in life. I just kept on playing, no lessons, and got better.

“It seems like, out here, for whatever reason, the last couple of months, I just can’t play bad out here. That’s not the case, if I go to Silver Lakes or Cider Ridge.”

Rich didn’t get to celebrate long. The final round concluded about 6 p.m., and he has to be up at 2 a.m. Monday to get ready to make his delivery rounds for Sysco.

Sleep or no sleep, he’ll be one happy delivery man.

“This is by far the best I’ve ever done,” he said. “This is, like, one of the best days of my life, to be honest with you. This the first time I’ve made the Championship A Flight and played incredible, considering the pressure.”

Jason Rich, a 2008 White Plains High graduate, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Sunday’s final round of the Pine Hill Invitational and finish 6 under overall to take third place, his top finish on the Calhoun County Golf Tour. (Photo by Joe Medley)

Scores

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
PLAYERRD. 1RD. 2TOTAL
John Rollins6568133
Ty Cole6671137
Jason Rich7068138
Brennan Clay6673139
Chad Calvert6871139
Jonathan Pate6971140
Vance Lewis6973142
Jeremy McGatha6973142
Hunter Carr6974143
Dalton Faulkner6976145
Sawyer Edwards6878146
Jeff Noah7076146
Bob Eaton7077147
FIRST FLIGHT
Gary Wigington7166137
Billy McCroskey7170141
Janson Wilborn7171142
Matt Evans7172143
Chase Hollingsworth7271143
Mason Dennis7271143
Tanner Wells7271143
Nick Ledbetter7273145
Clay Calkins7175146
Daniel Black7275147
Tyler Romine7177148
Randy Lipscomb7276148
Casey Harmon7277148
Kenny Okins71WD
SECOND FLIGHT
Mark McCaig7470144
Andrew Brooks7372145
Bradley Elliott7572147
Caleb Bowen7473147
Layton Bussey7572147
Eric Cannington7376149
Samuel Wallace7574149
Coleman Messer7575150
Cain Hollingsworth7476150
Seth Wallace7378151
Billy Thompson7576151
Dustin Travis7478152
Chris Reaves7577152
Josh Poole7380153
Josh Reynolds7578153
Nick Hubbad7579154
THIRD FLIGHT
Matt Wilson7768145
Shannon Page7671147
Landon Winfrey7771148
Mark Durden7674150
Cam Hurst7773150
Tim Turner7775152
Riley Boyd7776153
Greg Shultz7776153
Ethan Davis7678154
Matt Rogers7678154
Heath Hammond7679155
Logan Watson7780157
Chris Hubbard7780157
Zac Goss7781158
Bart Smith7686162
FOURTH FLIGHT
Daily Thomas7873151
Will Brown7874152
Luke Armstrong7974153
Caleb Morrow7977156
Chris Randall7977156
Wesley Jenkins7978157
Jared Waits7978157
Doug Huie7980159
Chance Harris7881159
Shane Lee7882160
Brian Edwards7982161
Daniel Ricks7988167
Joe Hedgepeth78WD
Trevor Lane79WD
Brad Baird79WD
FIFTH FLIGHT
Craig Duncan8074154
Sean Kline8174155
Zack Limberis8276158
Houston Black8078158
Tony Hicks8079159
Chris Sprayberry8277159
Ethan McCareeth8278160
Chris Maye8179160
Jason Payne8280162
Chad Mullinax8281163
Terry Cobb8183164
Keaton Borrelli8184165
Heath Waldrop8184165
Ethan Turner8284166
Johnny Barnes8291173
Taylor Morrow80WD
SIXTH FLIGHT
Jimbo Phillips8575160
Landon Holley8577162
David Coffey8676162
Vann Hall8578163
Dakota Clark8580165
Scott Watson8583168
Mark Gaines8682168
Spence Florczak8683169
Zack Henderson8487171
Ricky Carden8586171
Anthony Turner8391174
Greg Rainey8691177
Keith Hutcheson8592182
Blake Woodard84WD
SEVENTH FLIGHT
David Medders Jr.8879167
Jared Joiner8883171
Wilson Lowe8888176
Mike Ledbetter8888176
Jeff Roszell8890178
Kelly Rogers8894182
Casey Turner8896184
Josh Swope9095185
Eli Gravitt89WD
EIGHTH FLIGHT
Kolby Slick9584179
Adam Benefiel9488182
Jason Swope9687183
Bill McPherson9291183
Tyrell Tucker9291183
Eddy Burks9291183
Warren Sewell9896194
Larry Champion10094194
Ken Renfroe92103195
Shaughn Rankin95WD
SENIOR DIVISION
Championship FlightRD. 1RD. 2TOTAL
Chip Howell6566131
David Sanders7269141
David Messer7573148
Kurt Duryea7375148
Tim Steward7375148
Keith Haywood7377150
Jerry Irwin7379152
Dennis Austin7379152
Robbie Hurst7583158
First flight
Rick Barthel7973152
Wilton Page7776153
Allen Mangham7875153
Andy Jenkins7677153
Jerry Kemp7877155
Gary Smith7979158
Charley Estes7979158
Bob McClain7980159
Steve Perry7785162
David FItzgerald7983162
Carter Gable7888166
Ron Wheeler76WD
Second flight
Frank Toland8075155
Randall Doss8176157
Ricky Hurst8277159
David Medders Sr.8079159
Tim Hill8080160
Steve Williams8278160
Steve Smith8081161
Mike Thompson8182163
Frank Cobb8281163
Third flight
Greg Thrower8882170
Robbie Robertson8586171
Steve Borrelli8785172
Lee Clark8785172
Lamar Ward8490174
Jim Landers8991180
Terry Thompson10198199
Sammy Wynn102101203

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