Tech Golfer Anders Albertson One Stroke Off Lead at Georgia Amateur Championship

From Staff Reports

Georgia Tech freshman Anders Albertson of Woodstock carded a 69 in third-round action of the 2011 Georgia Amateur Championship and is one stroke off the lead heading into the final round on Sunday at Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta. He has a three-day score of 69-69-71 for an overall tally of 1-under-par 201. 

”This is my first time playing this course and I am very impressed with the greens. It is a real good test anytime you get to play brand new greens and these are firm and fast, so it has been real fun to play.”

David Noll, Jr., of Dalton finished the third round at even-par 70, giving him a 54-hole total of 2-under-par 208 (71-67-70) and a one shot advantage over Albertson.

Noll, the four-time reigning GSGA Player of the Year, turned in two birdies and two bogeys on Saturday’s round, and will look to capture his second amateur championship of his career since winning the annual event in 2003. 

Noll and Albertson kept the third round exciting as the two players traded the top spot on the leaderboard. Going into the 18th-hole, the two players were tied at 2-under-par overall. Noll sunk his putt to save par and finished at 2-under, but Albertson missed an eight-foot putt and tapped in for bogey and a 1-under-par total. Overall, Noll is happy with the way he has been playing with the near-perfect conditions of the golf course this week.

"I think the greens were at least a foot faster today,” Noll said. “It was difficult out there, but I played pretty solid. I was a little shaky with the putter, but it was by-and-large due to the quicker greens today. I would have liked to have shot a couple under today. I definitely left a couple out there, which would have given me more of a cushion for Sunday, but overall it was good.”

The defending champion and first-round leader, Lee Knox of Augusta, was one of five players to turn in red numbers on day three, finishing at 1-under-par 69 to bring his 54-hole total to 1-over-par 211 (67-75-69). Knox will begin the final round only three strokes back of the leader and hopes to repeat as champion.

Joining Noll and Albertson towards the top of the leaderboard are seven players within five strokes of Noll’s lead. Doug Hanzel of Savannah is tied for third with the defending champion Knox at 1-over-par 211.  A trio of players, Franco Castro of Savannah, who plays golf at LSU, second-round leader and Darton College’s head golf coach Bill Jones, III, and 2011 Georgia Mid-Am Champion Mark Strickland of Woodstock are tied for fifth at 2-over-par 212. Tied for eighth is Jeff Knox of Augusta, a two-time Georgia Mid-Am Champion, and the reigning Georgia Public Links Champion William Mitchell of Roswell, at 3-over-par 213. 

The Georgia Amateur Championship is conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association and brings together 144 of the state's best male amateur golfers for the prestigious state title first won by Bobby Jones in 1916.

The Championship format is 72 holes of stroke play over four days. After 36 holes, the field was cut to the low 70 players and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader. The cutline fell at 10-over 150 with 73 players advancing.

An online leader board, featuring all competitors’ complete scorecards, is currently available at www.gsga.org. Sunday’s round will feature live, hole-by-hole scoring for several of the leading groups as well as nine-hole updates for all the other groups.

Georgia State Golf Association
90th Annual Georgia Amateur Championship
Cherokee Town and Country Club, Atlanta
July 7-10, 2011

Third Round Results
Par 70

Place    Name    Rd. 1    Rd. 2    Rd. 3    Score    To Par
1    David Noll  Jr., Dalton    71    67    70    208    -2
2    Anders Albertson, Woodstock    69    69    71    209    -1
T3    Doug Hanzel, Savannah    70    68    73    211    1
T3    Lee Knox, Augusta    67    75    69    211    1
T5    Mark Strickland, Woodstock    73    67    72    212    2
T5    Bill Jones III, Albany    69    68    75    212    2
T5    Franco Castro, Alpharetta    71    69    72    212    2
T8    Jeff Knox, Augusta    75    68    70    213    3
T8    William Mitchell, Roswell    72    69    72    213    3
T10  Cameron Simmons, Acworth    73    70    71    214    4
T10    Ridge Purcell, LaGrange    68    74    72    214    4
T10    Chris Chuck, Roswell    72    74    68    214    4
T10    Patrick Garrett, Powder Springs    71    72    71    214    4
T10    Kris Mikkelsen, Atlanta    70    75    69    214    4
T15    Carter Collins, Statesboro    71    71    73    215    5
T15    Chad Wilson, Calhoun    71    71    73    215    5
T15    Harold Wyatt, Atlanta    75    67    73    215    5
T18    Zach Estep, Lawrenceville    72    73    71    216    6
T18    Gus Wagoner, Duluth    69    72    75    216    6
T18    Chris Waters, Athens    72    74    70    216    6
21    Seth Reeves, Duluth    72    72    73    217    7
T22    Jack Hall, Sea Island    75    72    71    218    8
T22    Mark Sweeney, Monroe    71    73    74    218    8
T22    Brent Whitehead, Marietta    75    73    70    218    8
T22    Matt Russell, Dunwoody    69    74    75    218    8
T22    Zachary Healy, Norcross    71    73    74    218    8
T27    Jay Degenhart, Savannah    71    70    78    219    9
T27    Michael Garretson, Acworth    78    72    69    219    9
T27    Patrick  Kenney, Acworth    71    79    69    219    9
T27    Ryan Parnell, Atlanta    71    73    75    219    9
T27    Greyson Sigg, Augusta    73    71    75    219    9
T32    Cason Hammock, Columbus    74    74    72    220    10
T32    John Stembridge, Norcross    70    78    72    220    10
T32    Patrick Grahek, Alpharetta 74 76 70 220 10
T32    Rich Grote, Kennesaw    72    76    72    220    10
T32    Michael Hinnant, Suwanee    73    76    71    220    10
T37    Lee Dennis, Athens    75    71    75    221    11
T37    Michael Standard, McDonough 71 74 76 221 11
T37    Brendan Gillins, Savannah    74    71    76    221    11
T37    Nate Gahman, Leesburg    73    72    76    221    11
T37    Brent Cooper, Atlanta    70    74    77    221    11
T37    Grant Cagle, Gainesville    73    74    74    221    11
T37    Dylan Freeman, Athens    73    73    75    221    11
T37    Mitch Greer, Perry    73    73    75    221    11
T45    Taylor Smith, Covington    72    77    73    222    12
T45    Jonathan Klotz, Columbus    74    74    74    222    12
T45    Jeff Amershadian, Suwanee    74    70    78    222    12
T45    David  Sullivan, Woodstock    75    74    73    222    12
T45    Rob Mcrae, Augusta    75    74    73    222    12
T50    Bryn Powers, Carrollton    73    71    79    223    13
T50    Zach Lindsey, Kennesaw    73    72    78    223    13
T50    Justin Cho, Norcross    71    74    78    223    13
T50    Mike Cromer, Peachtree Corners    75    73    75    223    13
T50    Alan Fowler, Gainesville    73    73    77    223    13
T55    Dan Whigham Jr., Atlanta    74    76    74    224    14
T55    William Anderson, Atlanta    72    76    76    224    14
T55    Buster Bruton, Dallas    75    71    78    224    14
T55    Bob Royak, Alpharetta    76    73    75    224    14
T55    Coleman Tidwell Jr., Macon    73    74    77    224    14
T55    Gavin Shane Harper, Twin City    77    73    74    224    14
T55    Ted Moon, Lilburn    75    74    75    224    14
T55    John Quirk, Atlanta    79    68    77    224    14
T55    Blaine Woodruff, Acworth    71    74    79    224    14
T64    Taylor Welborn, LaGrange    73    73    79    225    15
T64    Zane Goldthorp, Tucker    78    72    75    225    15
T64    David Yowell, Marietta    70    78    77    225    15
67      Jeff Belk, Marietta    77    72    77    226    16
68      Ray Perez III, Norcross    73    76    79    228    18
69    Scott Weeks, Savannah    76    72    81    229    19
T70    Grant Leroux, Atlanta    73    76    81    230    20
T70    Don Marsh, Johns Creek    75    72    83    230    20
72    Joey Maziar, Atlanta    73    76    83    232    22
73    Richie Wiltfang, Brunswick    76    73    84    233    23


Final Round Pairings
Tee    Time    Name    Score
1    8:00 AM    Dylan Freeman, Athens    221
                      Lee Dennis, Athens    221
1    8:10 AM    Cason Hammock, Columbus    220
                      Michael Hinnant, Suwanee    220
                      Patrick Grahek, Alpharetta    220
1    8:20 AM    Greyson Sigg, Augusta    219
                      John Stembridge, Norcross    220
                      Rich Grote, Kennesaw    220
1    8:30 AM    Michael Garretson, Acworth    219
                      Patrick  Kenney, Acworth    219
                      Jay Degenhart, Savannah    219
1    8:40 AM    Mark Sweeney, Monroe    218
                      Matt Russell, Dunwoody    218
                      Ryan Parnell, Atlanta    219
1    8:50 AM    Jack Hall, Sea Island    218
                      Brent Whitehead, Marietta    218
                      Zachary Healy, Norcross    218
1    9:00 AM    Zach Estep, Lawrenceville    216
                      Gus Wagoner, Duluth    216
                      Seth Reeves, Duluth    217
1    9:10 AM    Harold Wyatt, Atlanta    215
                      Chad Wilson, Calhoun    215
                      Chris Waters, Athens    216
1    9:20 AM    Patrick Garrett, Powder Springs   214
                      Ridge Purcell, LaGrange    214
                      Carter Collins, Statesboro    215
1    9:30 AM    Chris Chuck, Roswell    214
                      Kris Mikkelsen, Atlanta    214
                      Cameron Simmons, Acworth    214
1    9:40 AM    Franco Castro, Alpharetta    212
                      Jeff Knox, Augusta    213
                      William Mitchell, Roswell    213
1    9:50 AM    Doug Hanzel, Savannah    211
                      Bill Jones III, Albany    212
                      Mark Strickland, Woodstock    212
1    10:00 AM  David Noll  Jr., Dalton    208
                     Anders Albertson, Woodstock    209
                     Lee Knox, Augusta    211

10  8:00 AM   Mitch Greer, Perry    221
                     Grant Cagle, Gainesville    221
10  8:10 AM   Michael Standard, McDonough    221
                     Nate Gahman, Leesburg    221
                     Brendan Gillins, Savannah    221
10  8:20 AM   Brent Cooper, Atlanta    221
                     Jeff Amershadian, Suwanee    222
                     Jonathan Klotz, Columbus    222
10  8:30 AM   Taylor Smith, Covington    222
                     Rob Mcrae, Augusta    222
                     David  Sullivan, Woodstock    222
10 8:40 AM    Alan Fowler, Gainesville    223
                    Zach Lindsey, Kennesaw    223
                    Justin Cho, Norcross    223
10 8:50 AM    Mike Cromer, Peachtree Corners    223
                     Bryn Powers, Carrollton    223
                     Buster Bruton, Dallas    224
10 9:00 AM    Coleman Tidwell Jr., Macon    224
                     William Anderson, Atlanta    224
                     John Quirk, Atlanta    224
10 9:10 AM    Blaine Woodruff, Acworth    224
                     Bob Royak, Alpharetta    224
                     Ted Moon, Lilburn    224
10 9:20 AM    Dan Whigham Jr., Atlanta    224
                     Gavin Shane Harper, Twin City    224
                     Taylor Welborn, LaGrange    225
10 9:30 AM    David Yowell, Marietta    225
                     Zane Goldthorp, Tucker    225
                     Jeff Belk, Marietta    226
10 9:40 AM    Ray Perez III, Norcross    228
                     Scott Weeks, Savannah    229
                     Don Marsh, Johns Creek    230
10 9:50 AM    Grant Leroux, Atlanta    230
                     Richie Wiltfang, Brunswick    233
                     Joey Maziar, Atlanta    232