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- Updated: September 13, 2024
Sunny King first-time tandem Burgess-McCullum shoot 17 under to lead after one round. LeCroy-Hughston, also making their first SKCC run, tied with reigning champions Bussey/Montenegro at one stroke back.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
SILVER LAKES — Two new teams have emerged to challenge the reigning Sunny King Charity Classic champion.
Garrett Burgess and Taylor McCullum teamed to shoot a 17-under-par 55 at Silver Lakes to lead after Friday’s first round.
Jacob LeCroy and Harrison Hughston, who haven’t played together in a competitive tournament since they were Donoho School teammates, stand one stroke back, tied with reigning champions Layton Bussey/Jesus Montenegro.
The 45th Sunny King will continue Saturday, with the leaders playing their second round at Cider RIdge. Between Friday’s first round and Sunday’s third and final round, the field of 210 two-man tandems will all take their turns at Anniston Country Club, Cider Ridge and Silver Lakes.
Burgess and McCullum are making their first appearance together in the Sunny King.
“I don’t know that we’ve only only played in one or two events, team wise,” Burgess said. “We’ve played around the state in various places with other friends and whatnot, but as far as competitively, I don’t know that we’ve ever really played any competitive golf as a team together,”
Burgess, who teamed with Cypress Hathorn to win the 2013 SKCC, said he was “kind of on the ropes” about whether he would play in the Sunny King this year.
McCullum, a Pelham real estate man and an ACC member, reached out.
“We kind of lucked up,” Burgess said. “He was like, ‘You have a partner?’ I said no, and he was like, ‘Let’s play.’”
They produced combustible golf Friday, birdieing the first hole and the final 16. Their one birdie miss was No. 2.
“We hit pin-high, and it started left, so it ended up being about a 20-footer,” Burgess said. “We just kind of hit a bad putt altogether.
“We originally read it to go left, and it ended up going right. We didn’t realize that until I missed my first putt, and Taylor missed it by about two or three inches on the right side.”
Otherwise, the two stayed out of trouble, with Burgess doing most of his work off of the tee and from the fairways. Outside of Burgess’ 30-foot putt on the first hole, McCullum sank most of the putts.
“Taylor didn’t have to do much from the tee or from the fairway, but he was the one that hit most of the putts for the day,” Burgess said. “We had seven or eight holes where I don’t think we had outside of, maybe two foot.
“It was a fairly lax day, for the most part.”
LeCroy and Hughston played together on Donoho’s state-championship team of 2018 and runner-up team of 2019. Burgess was their coach.
This year’s Sunny King marks their first as a team, and they shot 16 under to tie the reigning champions for second through Friday.
They went on to play collegiately, LeCroy at South Alabama and Hughston at Montevallo. Hughston called their connection for the Sunny King “cool.”
“Jacob is my best friend coming out og high school,” Hughston said. “I really wouldn’t be the golfer I am today without him. That’s for sure. He was always there to do it just a little bit better than me, when I was a junior.
“I owe a lot to him, so it’s fun to team up with him for sure.”
LeCroy teammed with Jacob Harper to win the 2019 SKCC and would love win another one, with Hughston.
“I love it,” LeCroy said. “We’ve never gotten to play a bunch, like any type of two-mans or anything, just because we were always gone for school or whatever it might be. During the summers, we’d always be playing actual amateur golf, trying to better ourselves.”
As for the reigning champions, Bussey and Montenegro shot 28s on the front and back nines, including eagles on the par-5 ninth and 16th holes.
“It’s our best start, so far, at Silver Lakes,” Bussey said. “I think the best we had done was 15 last year and maybe 13 the year before.
“This (scramble) has historically been our worst format, so I’m really happy with our start.”
Championship – Grand Highlander
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Burgess/McCullum | 55 | 55 |
| LeCroy/Hughston | 56 | 56 |
| Bussey/Montenegro | 56 | 56 |
| Brooks/Rogers | 57 | 57 |
| Cole/Wigington | 58 | 58 |
| Daugherty/Wilborn | 58 | 58 |
| Calvert/Wells | 59 | 59 |
| Hollinsworth/Carr | 59 | 59 |
| Reaves/Reaves | 60 | 60 |
| FIte-King | 60 | 60 |
| Waugh/Harris | 60 | 60 |
| Brown/Travis | 60 | 60 |
| Parmer/Harrell | 60 | 60 |
| Lipscomb/Johnson | 60 | 60 |
| Svensen/Rothwell | 61 | 61 |
| Howard/Murphree | 62 | 62 |
| Edwards/Jenkins | 61 | 61 |
| Poole/Clark | 62 | 62 |
| Cunningham/Third | 63 | 63 |
| Robinson/Entrekin | 63 | 63 |
| Clay/McGatha | 63 | 63 |
| Woodard/Thomas | 63 | 63 |
| Cameron/Ghee | 63 | 63 |
| Chandler/Chandler | 64 | 64 |
| Knight/Gee | 64 | 64 |
| Key/Cotney | 64 | 64 |
| Messer/Turner | 64 | 64 |
| Huckaby/Jones | 65 | 65 |
| Davie/Goggans | 65 | 65 |
| Wright/Morrow | 65 | 65 |
| Gibson/Brown | 66 | 66 |
| Whitlow/Dillon | 67 | 67 |
| Okins/Cunningham | 68 | 68 |
| Suco/Walker | 69 | 69 |
| Hurst/Chandler | 70 | 70 |
First-Toyota Tacoma
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Autaullah/Ledbetter | 59 | 59 |
| Miller/Gregerson | 60 | 60 |
| Boozer/Boozer | 60 | 60 |
| Askew/Broome | 61 | 61 |
| McNeely/Hughston | 61 | 61 |
| Chandler/Crumly | 61 | 61 |
| Winfrey/Waits | 62 | 62 |
| Hunter/Key | 62 | 62 |
| Hollingsworth/O’Connor | 63 | 63 |
| Dyar/Dyar | 63 | 63 |
| Hubbard/Hubbard | 64 | 64 |
| Gardner/McElroy | 64 | 64 |
| Romine/Romine | 64 | 64 |
| Black/Steward | 65 | 65 |
| Munroe/Munroe | 65 | 65 |
| Tyson/Morris | 65 | 65 |
| Archer/Young | 65 | 65 |
| Svensen/Romano | 66 | 66 |
| Rollins/Borrelli | 66 | 66 |
| Estes/Carden | 67 | 67 |
| Stout/Lambert | 67 | 67 |
| Oliver/Oliver | 67 | 67 |
| Huff/Lindsey | 67 | 67 |
| Boyd/Wood | 67 | 67 |
| Couch/McKenzie | 67 | 67 |
| Webber/Reeves | 68 | 68 |
| Mize/Glover | 68 | 68 |
| Williams/Peters | 70 | 70 |
| Smith/Key | 71 | 71 |
| Woodfin/Van Sandt | 71 | 71 |
| Prickett/Jackson | 72 | 72 |
| Jones/Jones | 75 | 75 |
Second – Honda Accord
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Tabor/Daugherty | 58 | 58 |
| Chapple/Bonner | 62 | 62 |
| Bowen/Slick | 64 | 64 |
| Calkins/Calkins | 64 | 64 |
| Cates/Bates | 65 | 65 |
| Blackwell/Clonts | 66 | 66 |
| Whitman/Slick | 66 | 66 |
| Owens/Jones | 66 | 66 |
| Jones/Thornton | 67 | 67 |
| Pearce/Jenkins | 67 | 67 |
| Hood/Stringer | 68 | 68 |
| Haywood/Drummond | 68 | 68 |
| Lett/Lett | 68 | 68 |
| Howell/Howell | 68 | 68 |
| Towns/Snow | 68 | 68 |
| Franklin/Chandler | 68 | 68 |
| Carter/Smith | 68 | 68 |
| Northcutt/Swindle | 69 | 69 |
| Gardner/Patty | 69 | 69 |
| McCaig/Caldwell | 69 | 69 |
| Vines/Mann | 69 | 69 |
| Duckett/Gore | 69 | 69 |
| Ray/Ray | 70 | 70 |
| Lilly/Dunn | 70 | 70 |
| Black/Benefiel | 72 | 72 |
| Martin/Ayers | 73 | 73 |
| Millican/Cash | 73 | 73 |
| Wiginton/Shatus | 73 | 73 |
| Monroe/Morrison | 74 | 74 |
Third – Acura MDX
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Pritchett/Elders | 64 | 64 |
| Jenkins/Gaines | 66 | 66 |
| Vera/Vera | 66 | 66 |
| Gregerson/Good | 67 | 67 |
| Okins/Flowers | 67 | 67 |
| Harrell/Coker | 67 | 67 |
| Price/Price | 68 | 68 |
| TenEyck/Hill | 68 | 68 |
| Masters/Hancock | 68 | 68 |
| Whitlow/McQuagge | 68 | 68 |
| Strickland/Tillman | 69 | 69 |
| Ingram/Bullard | 69 | 69 |
| Turner/Turner | 69 | 69 |
| Copus/McCauley | 69 | 69 |
| Wakefield/Edwards | 69 | 69 |
| Chandler/Ray | 70 | 70 |
| Bedwell/Bedwell | 70 | 70 |
| Ledbetter/Ledbetter | 70 | 71 |
| Humphries/Pilkington | 71 | 71 |
| Primm/Sexton | 72 | 72 |
| Scott/Lawson | 72 | 72 |
| Miller/Miller | 73 | 73 |
| McKinney/Lowry | 72 | 72 |
| Pool/Pollard | 73 | 73 |
| White/White | 73 | 73 |
| Kirkpatrick/Owens | 73 | 73 |
| Moore/Hollingsworth | 74 | 74 |
| Johnson/Merritt | 74 | 74 |
| Clough/Miller | 74 | 74 |
| Turner/Gaines | 74 | 74 |
| Murphree/Hechart | 75 | 75 |
| Tant/Tant | 77 | 77 |
Fourth – Ford Mach E
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Jinks/Gray | 64 | 64 |
| Hayes/Raph | 65 | 65 |
| Harper/Ray | 66 | 66 |
| Brown/Thompson | 67 | 67 |
| Haywood/Bonilla | 68 | 68 |
| Carden/Pollard | 68 | 68 |
| Wright/Wright | 69 | 69 |
| Wright/Wilkins | 69 | 69 |
| Whaley/Whaley | 69 | 69 |
| Turner/Foster | 70 | 70 |
| Cotton/Willingham | 70 | 70 |
| Rudledge/Ray | 70 | 70 |
| Collins/Britt | 70 | 70 |
| Price/Kirby | 71 | 71 |
| Greenwood/Ortiz | 71 | 71 |
| Jones/Wooten | 71 | 71 |
| Reaves/Johnson | 72 | 72 |
| Caben/Kurecka | 72 | 72 |
| Gibson/Newman | 72 | 72 |
| Clutter/Fellows | 72 | 72 |
| Clark/Hollis | 72 | 72 |
| Robinson/Brewer | 74 | 74 |
| Bussey/Bussey | 74 | 74 |
| Dawson/Beuckens | 75 | 75 |
| Moody/Arnold | 75 | 75 |
| Smith/Stroud | 76 | 76 |
Fifth – Toyota Tundra
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Barnwell/Jones | 66 | 66 |
| Gendron/Johnson | 67 | 67 |
| Milligan/Miles | 67 | 67 |
| Kline/Kline | 67 | 67 |
| Muncher/Coker | 68 | 68 |
| Johnson/Encinias | 69 | 69 |
| Mosley/Williams | 69 | 69 |
| Taylor/Haynes | 70 | 70 |
| McKenzie/Dickson | 70 | 70 |
| Whitaker/Stewart | 70 | 70 |
| Williams/Stephens | 70 | 70 |
| Sumner/Sumner | 71 | 71 |
| Mathison/Busby | 71 | 71 |
| Johnson/Parker | 72 | 72 |
| Lyons/Underwood | 72 | 72 |
| Young/Cassady | 72 | 72 |
| Waldrop/Rainey | 72 | 72 |
| Gaddy/Kelley | 72 | 72 |
| Bryant/Cobb | 72 | 72 |
| Parrish/Skelton | 73 | 73 |
| Alderman/Alderman | 73 | 73 |
| Cobb/Ray | 73 | 73 |
| Dyar/Hamilton | 75 | 75 |
| Cochrum/Rogers | 76 | 76 |
| Black/Dover | 76 | 76 |
| Watson/Jones | 77 | 77 |
| Parris/Rankin | 77 | 77 |
| Dorroh/Dorroh | 77 | 77 |
Sixth – Honda Odyssey
| TEAM | RD. 1 | TOTAL |
| Bowman/Cobb | 68 | 68 |
| Jordan/Criss | 68 | 68 |
| Vernon/Nunnally | 69 | 69 |
| Tinney/Peacock | 69 | 69 |
| Joiner/Baker | 70 | 70 |
| Jones/Littleton | 71 | 71 |
| Martin/Martin | 71 | 71 |
| Brown/Winn | 71 | 71 |
| Newton/Butler | 71 | 71 |
| Yates/Goodson | 71 | 71 |
| Hamlet/Whitten | 72 | 72 |
| Sprayberry/Sprayberry | 72 | 72 |
| Wells/Wells | 72 | 72 |
| McQuagge/Williamson | 72 | 72 |
| Fillingim/Cates | 73 | 73 |
| Lindsey/Lindsey | 73 | 73 |
| Adams/Shell | 73 | 73 |
| Reaves/Burns | 74 | 74 |
| Forbus/Roberts | 74 | 74 |
| Cash/Freeman | 75 | 75 |
| Wright/Wright | 76 | 76 |
| Varner/Stokes | 76 | 76 |
| Huckaby/Holt | 77 | 77 |
| Whitlow/Whitlow | 77 | 77 |
| Carter/Slay | 78 | 78 |
| Mittelmark/Adams | 79 | 79 |
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