Feeling ‘normal’
- Updated: August 11, 2024
Birmingham’s Robillard prevails in State Match Place at ACC, but six-time Calhoun County Tour champion Cole finds encouragement in runner-up finish after swearing off alcohol.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
ANNISTON — Ty Cole keeps the main thing the main thing these days, and he found victory in his second-place finish in the Alabama Golf Association’s State Match Play Championship on Sunday.
The “49-year-old fat man,” as he called himself, stood 2 up on a 20-something recent former pro Nick Robillard going into No. 15 in Sunday’s finals match.
A perennial contender and the defending player of the year on the Calhoun County Golf Tour, Cole lost by one hole to a volunteer assistant coach and recent-former UAB player.
In the biggest picture of all, Cole felt exhausted after playing 96 holes of golf in four days at Anniston Country Club, but he felt something familiar. Something good. Something he hasn’t felt in awhile.
“I played. I battled,” he said. “It’s probably the first tournament all year I’ve played where I kind of felt normal from all the getting rid of the alcohol, and all of that.
“There was still the little bit of feeling uneasy, but … probably 75 percent of the time, I felt normal, and that’s the first time since March that I’ve felt that normal on a golf course.”
Cole had his big picture while playing in his third-ever AGA state tournament, and Robillard had his.
The Birmingham resident came through two rounds of stroke-play qualifying as the No. 8 seed and rallied Sunday, winning holes 15-17 to erase a two-hole deficit.
Robillard birdied 15 to close within one. Cole missed a 4-foot par putt on 16. The two went into No. 17 tied.
Cole had misadventures on his first two shots but made a miraculous third shot, angling from the wrong side of the trees on the right side of the fairway to plop within 20 feet of the pin, on the far side of the green.
Cole missed his putt, and Robillard made his to take a one-hole lead.
Both parred No. 18, and Robillard raised his arms in victory then shook Cole’s hand.
“What a long week, and Ty was playing some great golf,” Robillard said. “It was like I just couldn’t seem to get a break to go my way. I just tried to stay in it and … keep fighting, keep fighting.
“Obviously, I hit a lot of great shots. Putts started to fall, and it feels so good.”
Robillard won his first event back in amateur golf and first in nine months, after knocking his way around mini-tours. His victory at ACC marked his first victory in an AGA event.
Robillard finished his college career at UAB in 2022. He joined Stonegate Investment Group, LLC, as an analyst in February. He calls golf “just my fun hobby now.”
“I was kind of joking with my buddies,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m just going to sign up. Maybe I’ll win my first AGA championship.
“I’m extremely honored. I’m so happy. My family and my office were all super supportive of me playing in this, and it’s been an awesome week.”
Cole has played through midlife changes this year. After winning the Anniston City Championship on April 28 at Cane Creek, he opened up publicly about swearing off alcohol.
At the time, he wasn’t sure how the change would impact him. Would he instantly play better, or would the lack of what golfers call “loose juice” on the course make him confront his on-course anxieties more for a time?
Until this week, something felt different. The six-time county champion enters next week’s Calhoun County Championship fifth in total points and fourth when factoring top-four finishes.
The champion is determined through top-five finishes. On that count, he’s 185 points behind leader Brennan Clay going into the season’s final points event.
The fact that Cole played the four-day State Match Play a week before the County Tour’s climactic event, which counts points-and-a-half, might say something about how he sees his chances. He played two rounds of stroke-play qualifying and two matches each, on Saturday and Sunday.
He emerged from stoke-play qualifying as the 14th of 16 seeds to make the cut then went on an upset run, beating the Nos. 3, 6 and 7 seeds before falling by one hole to the No. 8 seed.
On Sunday, he saved par on No. 9 after teeing right of the trees and hitting a tree on his second shot, maintaining a 2-up lead. After Robillard closed within one on No. 10, Cole hit a 20-foot putt to eagle No. 11 to reclaim a 2-up lead.
Cole led by two holes going into No. 15.
“I just gave out of gas in the last five, six holes,” he said. “My clubs felt like they weighed about 50 pounds apiece.”
HIs face red from much time in the sun over four days, and his body spent, Cole found his usual humor when an AGA intern placed his medal over his neck and adjusted his collar, so that the medal would wear “like a tie.”
“I didn’t know we were on a first-name basis,” he joked.
Hoping to reach the day when a new, post-alcohol normal feeling settles in on the course, Cole found plenty to like in his State Match Play finish.
“I’m just going to take that and build on it,” he said. “I mean, I’m not supposed to be here. I’m 49 years old, and I move up to the senior division next year.
“To play this many holes, I mean, I’m not supposed to be here. I’ll take it.”
Senior Match Play
Birmingham’sChris Hummel won the AGA Senior Match Play championship, winning Sunday’s finals match against Brewton’s Robbie Cotten 2 & 1.
Anniston’s Ott Chandler, Kevin Daugherty, Chip Howell and Gary Wigington advanced to the round of 16 through stroke-play qualifying, and Wigington reached the quarterfinals before falling 1 up to tip seed Shawn Pritchett (Montgomery)
Photo gallery by Joe Medley
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