From Tee to trophy

A day short of his 26th birthday, Brown scores his first victory on the Calhoun County Golf Tour, winning the Etowah County Open.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

GLENCOE — Big things are happening in Tee Brown’s life.

The Twin Bridges assistant pro turns 26 Monday, has a daughter due in November, and those aren’t even the biggest things.

“A lot’s changed for me in the last year,” he said. “I gave my life to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ back in December, and it freed me up on the golf course..

“I know if I go out there and shoot 79, I don’t have anything to worry about. I’ve got always Him to turn to for everything.”

As of Sunday, add Brown’s first-ever Calhoun County Tour victory. He shot a 5-under-par 66 on The Links at Briarmeade and finished at 8-under 133, edging first-round leader Zach Contris by two strokes to win the Etowah County Open.

Brown becomes the six different winner in six Tour events the Tour’s third first-time winner this season, joining Andrew Weathers and Harrison Hughston.

Tour points leader Gary Wigington, coming off of his victory at Cider Ridge three weeks ago, shot 71-72—143 and finished 10th in the Championship A Flight. John Rollins, 20 points behind Wigington in second place headed into the Etowah Open, won the Championship B Flight at 72-65—137.

The Tour heads to Pine Hill next week, and Rollins won their in 2023. The Tour also added Cherokee Pines to the schedule this season, in two weeks, and Rollins is a member.

Brown became the focus at Briarmeade. He and J.B. Bailey entered Sunday’s final round four strokes back of Contris, who shot an 8-under 63 on Saturday.

With four bogeys and a birdie, Contris shot 3 over on the front nine Sunday. Brown was even for the front but had closed to within one stroke.

He learned a lesson from 2023, when he made the turn in a three-way tie for the lead then “kind of folded” on the back nine, he said. Ty Cole won last year but did not play at Briarmeade this weekend.

Sunday was different for Brown.

“When we turned, I think I was one down, and, at that point, I just stopped thinking about results,” he said. “I just tried to hit good golf shots and good putts.”

Brown turned on the birdie spigot from there, with five en route to a 31 on the back nine.

In the rather-be-good-than-lucky scheme of things, he was both. A good bounce on 10 helped him birdie the hole.

“I hit it up the right side and caught a tree and kind of gave it a little left kick onto the front edge of the green,” he said. “I was able to two-putt that and make a ride there.”

Brown doesn’t often play on the Calhoun County Tour. He lost his amateur status when he became a course pro, and his work at Twin Bridges keeps him busy most weekends.

The open format at Brairmeade gives him the chance to play a Tour event.

The former Etowah High School and Snead State Community College golf is plenty familiar with the Tour, which counts the Gadsden City Championship at Twin Bridges as one of its points events reach season. He called the chance to win a Tour event “kind of sweet.”

“It’s so fun to compete against these guys,” Brown said. “They’re all great players. It’s just fun.

“This where I started playing as a kid, and I just love to compete. I’ve been playing since I was in diapers, and this is the first win I’ve had in a long, long time. I can’t stress enough how good it feels.”

Brown’s victory at Briarmeade sets the stage for play in the Alabama Open this week.

“This is huge for me, to just roll off of this momentum,” he said.

Final-round scores

CHAMPIONSHIP A FLIGHT
PLAYER	RD. 1	RD. 2	TOTAL
Tee Brown	67	66	133
Zach Contris	63	72	135
Scott Smith	70	66	136
Brennan Clay	69	68	137
Chad Calvert	70	68	138
J.B. Bailey	67	73	140
Chad Hare	69	71	140
Nick Ledbetter	70	70	140
Corey Watson	69	72	141
Gary Wigington	71	72	143
Clay Calkins	69	75	144
Billy Thompson	70	77	147
CHAMPIONSHIP B FLIGHT
John Rollins	72	65	137
Jeremy McGatha	72	70	142
Chris Sanford	72	74	146
Robert Fleming	73	73	146
Grant Hockman	73	73	146
Devon Downs	72	75	147
Jeremy Burns	73	74	147
Jeff Noah	74	73	147
Randy Lipscomb	74	74	148
Chris Sprayberry	72	79	151
Caden Wood	73	78	151
J.D. Berndt	74	78	152
Bumper Jones	74	81	155
Dylan Jackson	73	85	158
FLIGHT 1
Andrew Brooks	76	66	142
Jeff McRae	76	69	145
Neal Keener	74	72	146
Craig Colvard	73	74	147
Matt Rogers	75	75	150
Jay Boatwright	76	74	150
Maverick Smith	77	74	151
Jason Shields	77	77	154
Hunter Fordham	76	78	154
Mark Sawyer	78	76	154
Robin Wood	77	77	154
Lee Vinson	77	81	158
Craig Graves	78	80	158
Luke Haynie	77	84	161
FLIGHT B
Blake Grisham	79	75	154
Jared Chapman	80	75	155
Bob Eaton	80	75	155
Scott Moates	79	79	158
Dre Davenport	80	79	159
Steve Teague	79	81	160
Michael McDowell	80	80	160
T.J. Daugherty	82	78	160
Greg Hare	80	81	161
Bill Gilchrist	82	79	161
Phillip Eades	80	84	164
Eric Ray	82	84	166
Don Sutton	79	88	167
Tyler Tidmore	79	WD
FLIGHT 3
Paul Allen	83	78	161
Lamar Carter	84	78	162
Joey Miller	84	79	163
Tim Fulmer	84	81	165
Greg Davenport	85	81	166
Mike Underwood	86	82	168
Stanley Hawkins	84	85	169
Craig Kiker	84	87	171
Jason Gilley	84	87	171
Pat Patterson	85	90	175
Adam Fuller	86	90	176
Alexander Allen	85	92	177
Benji Turley	83	WD
FLIGHT 4
Shane Chappel	88	81	168
John Estes	88	85	173
Jay Shields	89	84	173
Casey Downs	87	87	174
Hunter Clough	92	82	174
Russell Spencer	89	90	179
Alex Grisham	90	93	183
Jesse Rawls	89	96	185
Gary Singleton	105	94	199
Dani Bone	100	104	204
Billy Page	91	WD	91
Beau Billingsley	105	WD	105

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