Breakthroughs
- Updated: July 30, 2023
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
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.”
Scores
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT | |||
PLAYER | RD. 1 | RD. 2 | TOTAL |
John Rollins | 65 | 68 | 133 |
Ty Cole | 66 | 71 | 137 |
Jason Rich | 70 | 68 | 138 |
Brennan Clay | 66 | 73 | 139 |
Chad Calvert | 68 | 71 | 139 |
Jonathan Pate | 69 | 71 | 140 |
Vance Lewis | 69 | 73 | 142 |
Jeremy McGatha | 69 | 73 | 142 |
Hunter Carr | 69 | 74 | 143 |
Dalton Faulkner | 69 | 76 | 145 |
Sawyer Edwards | 68 | 78 | 146 |
Jeff Noah | 70 | 76 | 146 |
Bob Eaton | 70 | 77 | 147 |
FIRST FLIGHT | |||
Gary Wigington | 71 | 66 | 137 |
Billy McCroskey | 71 | 70 | 141 |
Janson Wilborn | 71 | 71 | 142 |
Matt Evans | 71 | 72 | 143 |
Chase Hollingsworth | 72 | 71 | 143 |
Mason Dennis | 72 | 71 | 143 |
Tanner Wells | 72 | 71 | 143 |
Nick Ledbetter | 72 | 73 | 145 |
Clay Calkins | 71 | 75 | 146 |
Daniel Black | 72 | 75 | 147 |
Tyler Romine | 71 | 77 | 148 |
Randy Lipscomb | 72 | 76 | 148 |
Casey Harmon | 72 | 77 | 148 |
Kenny Okins | 71 | WD | |
SECOND FLIGHT | |||
Mark McCaig | 74 | 70 | 144 |
Andrew Brooks | 73 | 72 | 145 |
Bradley Elliott | 75 | 72 | 147 |
Caleb Bowen | 74 | 73 | 147 |
Layton Bussey | 75 | 72 | 147 |
Eric Cannington | 73 | 76 | 149 |
Samuel Wallace | 75 | 74 | 149 |
Coleman Messer | 75 | 75 | 150 |
Cain Hollingsworth | 74 | 76 | 150 |
Seth Wallace | 73 | 78 | 151 |
Billy Thompson | 75 | 76 | 151 |
Dustin Travis | 74 | 78 | 152 |
Chris Reaves | 75 | 77 | 152 |
Josh Poole | 73 | 80 | 153 |
Josh Reynolds | 75 | 78 | 153 |
Nick Hubbad | 75 | 79 | 154 |
THIRD FLIGHT | |||
Matt Wilson | 77 | 68 | 145 |
Shannon Page | 76 | 71 | 147 |
Landon Winfrey | 77 | 71 | 148 |
Mark Durden | 76 | 74 | 150 |
Cam Hurst | 77 | 73 | 150 |
Tim Turner | 77 | 75 | 152 |
Riley Boyd | 77 | 76 | 153 |
Greg Shultz | 77 | 76 | 153 |
Ethan Davis | 76 | 78 | 154 |
Matt Rogers | 76 | 78 | 154 |
Heath Hammond | 76 | 79 | 155 |
Logan Watson | 77 | 80 | 157 |
Chris Hubbard | 77 | 80 | 157 |
Zac Goss | 77 | 81 | 158 |
Bart Smith | 76 | 86 | 162 |
FOURTH FLIGHT | |||
Daily Thomas | 78 | 73 | 151 |
Will Brown | 78 | 74 | 152 |
Luke Armstrong | 79 | 74 | 153 |
Caleb Morrow | 79 | 77 | 156 |
Chris Randall | 79 | 77 | 156 |
Wesley Jenkins | 79 | 78 | 157 |
Jared Waits | 79 | 78 | 157 |
Doug Huie | 79 | 80 | 159 |
Chance Harris | 78 | 81 | 159 |
Shane Lee | 78 | 82 | 160 |
Brian Edwards | 79 | 82 | 161 |
Daniel Ricks | 79 | 88 | 167 |
Joe Hedgepeth | 78 | WD | |
Trevor Lane | 79 | WD | |
Brad Baird | 79 | WD | |
FIFTH FLIGHT | |||
Craig Duncan | 80 | 74 | 154 |
Sean Kline | 81 | 74 | 155 |
Zack Limberis | 82 | 76 | 158 |
Houston Black | 80 | 78 | 158 |
Tony Hicks | 80 | 79 | 159 |
Chris Sprayberry | 82 | 77 | 159 |
Ethan McCareeth | 82 | 78 | 160 |
Chris Maye | 81 | 79 | 160 |
Jason Payne | 82 | 80 | 162 |
Chad Mullinax | 82 | 81 | 163 |
Terry Cobb | 81 | 83 | 164 |
Keaton Borrelli | 81 | 84 | 165 |
Heath Waldrop | 81 | 84 | 165 |
Ethan Turner | 82 | 84 | 166 |
Johnny Barnes | 82 | 91 | 173 |
Taylor Morrow | 80 | WD | |
SIXTH FLIGHT | |||
Jimbo Phillips | 85 | 75 | 160 |
Landon Holley | 85 | 77 | 162 |
David Coffey | 86 | 76 | 162 |
Vann Hall | 85 | 78 | 163 |
Dakota Clark | 85 | 80 | 165 |
Scott Watson | 85 | 83 | 168 |
Mark Gaines | 86 | 82 | 168 |
Spence Florczak | 86 | 83 | 169 |
Zack Henderson | 84 | 87 | 171 |
Ricky Carden | 85 | 86 | 171 |
Anthony Turner | 83 | 91 | 174 |
Greg Rainey | 86 | 91 | 177 |
Keith Hutcheson | 85 | 92 | 182 |
Blake Woodard | 84 | WD | |
SEVENTH FLIGHT | |||
David Medders Jr. | 88 | 79 | 167 |
Jared Joiner | 88 | 83 | 171 |
Wilson Lowe | 88 | 88 | 176 |
Mike Ledbetter | 88 | 88 | 176 |
Jeff Roszell | 88 | 90 | 178 |
Kelly Rogers | 88 | 94 | 182 |
Casey Turner | 88 | 96 | 184 |
Josh Swope | 90 | 95 | 185 |
Eli Gravitt | 89 | WD | |
EIGHTH FLIGHT | |||
Kolby Slick | 95 | 84 | 179 |
Adam Benefiel | 94 | 88 | 182 |
Jason Swope | 96 | 87 | 183 |
Bill McPherson | 92 | 91 | 183 |
Tyrell Tucker | 92 | 91 | 183 |
Eddy Burks | 92 | 91 | 183 |
Warren Sewell | 98 | 96 | 194 |
Larry Champion | 100 | 94 | 194 |
Ken Renfroe | 92 | 103 | 195 |
Shaughn Rankin | 95 | WD | |
SENIOR DIVISION | |||
Championship Flight | RD. 1 | RD. 2 | TOTAL |
Chip Howell | 65 | 66 | 131 |
David Sanders | 72 | 69 | 141 |
David Messer | 75 | 73 | 148 |
Kurt Duryea | 73 | 75 | 148 |
Tim Steward | 73 | 75 | 148 |
Keith Haywood | 73 | 77 | 150 |
Jerry Irwin | 73 | 79 | 152 |
Dennis Austin | 73 | 79 | 152 |
Robbie Hurst | 75 | 83 | 158 |
First flight | |||
Rick Barthel | 79 | 73 | 152 |
Wilton Page | 77 | 76 | 153 |
Allen Mangham | 78 | 75 | 153 |
Andy Jenkins | 76 | 77 | 153 |
Jerry Kemp | 78 | 77 | 155 |
Gary Smith | 79 | 79 | 158 |
Charley Estes | 79 | 79 | 158 |
Bob McClain | 79 | 80 | 159 |
Steve Perry | 77 | 85 | 162 |
David FItzgerald | 79 | 83 | 162 |
Carter Gable | 78 | 88 | 166 |
Ron Wheeler | 76 | WD | |
Second flight | |||
Frank Toland | 80 | 75 | 155 |
Randall Doss | 81 | 76 | 157 |
Ricky Hurst | 82 | 77 | 159 |
David Medders Sr. | 80 | 79 | 159 |
Tim Hill | 80 | 80 | 160 |
Steve Williams | 82 | 78 | 160 |
Steve Smith | 80 | 81 | 161 |
Mike Thompson | 81 | 82 | 163 |
Frank Cobb | 82 | 81 | 163 |
Third flight | |||
Greg Thrower | 88 | 82 | 170 |
Robbie Robertson | 85 | 86 | 171 |
Steve Borrelli | 87 | 85 | 172 |
Lee Clark | 87 | 85 | 172 |
Lamar Ward | 84 | 90 | 174 |
Jim Landers | 89 | 91 | 180 |
Terry Thompson | 101 | 98 | 199 |
Sammy Wynn | 102 | 101 | 203 |
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