Jack Hall
KENNESAW, Ga. — Jack Hall of Savannah
posted
a 2-under-par 68 in the final round to claim
his
first Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship. The
34th annual state mid-amateur competition
took
place at Marietta Country Club, May 15-17.
Hall, who finished at 5-under-par 205 (70-67-
68)
overall, earned the victory by one stroke over
Christian Raynor of Kennesaw, who came in
at
4-under-par 206 (68-69-69) to earn runner-
up
honors.
Hall began the final round sharing the lead
with
Raynor after he turned in a 3-under-par 67 in
the second round on Saturday. That day Hall
posted seven birdies, two bogeys and a
double-
bogey. To open Sunday's final round, Hall
made
par on one and two, then made his birdie
putt on
three before making bogey on four. After a
par
on five, bogey on six and par on seven, Hall
capitalized again with a birdie on eight to
make
the turn at even-par. He made par on 10 and
11,
added birdies on 12 and 14 then made par
the
rest of the way to seal the deal.
Coming down the final few holes, Hall was so
focused on his own game he was under the
impression he was tied with Raynor rather
than
having a one-stroke advantage. According to
Hall, the turning point of the round came on
the
184-yard par 3 15th hole.
"Christian had about 15 feet for birdie and I
had
about a 60-footer for a two-putt par. I
knocked it
about 10 feet behind and made it coming
back.
That's when the round turned around. Off the
tee
on 16 Christian missed a little to the left and I
was able to capitalize and make par there.
That's when I had a one-shot lead, but didn't
realize it. I thought we were even. I forgot he
hit
it in the hazard on 16. I thought he made
par,
but he made bogey."
Marietta Country Club this year celebrates its
100 birthday, and this week's Georgia Mid-
Amateur Championship marked the third
GSGA-
sanctioned competition the club has hosted.
"It's a fantastic course; very hospitable," Hall
said about Marietta Country Club. "They made
this one exceptionally nice for us. The
clubhouse
is beautiful and the facilities are first class. All
of the employees were wonderful. We got to
use
these beautiful facilities on a beautiful
weekend."
This victory marks Hall's first on the GSGA
circuit since 2013 when he captured three
titles.
That year he partnered with Danny Nelson of
Savannah to win the Georgia Four-Ball
Championship at Champions Retreat Golf Club
in
Evans. He then won the Georgia Senior
Championship on the Deer Creek course at
The
Landings Club in Savannah. In the final GSGA
competition of the year, Hall teamed with
Chris
Hall of Mableton to win the Georgia Senior
Four-
Ball Championship at the Country Club of
Columbus.
Bobby Brent III of Columbus (72-69-69) and
Chad Branton of Cartersville (69-70-71) tied
for
third at even-par 210. Billy Mitchell of Roswell
(70-72-69) and Stan Gann, Jr., of Bonaire
(69-
72-70) tied for fifth at 1-over-par 211. Dave
Poteet of Suwanee finished seventh at 3-
over-
par 213 (71-74-68). Rounding out the top 10,
seven players tied for eighth at 4-over-par
214 -
2013 Georgia Mid-Amateur champion
Cameron
Hooper of Atlanta (73-71-70); 2004 Georgia
Mid-
Amateur champion Doug Hanzel of Savannah
(76-67-71); Michael Bugden of Newnan (75-
68-
71); Don Carpenter III of Athens (74-69-71);
Bill
Sharpe, Sr., of Albany (71-72-71); Cres Dodd
of
Calhoun (71-72-71) and Mike Combs of
Roswell
(69-71-74).
View results for Georgia Mid-Amateur
ABOUT THE Georgia Mid-Amateur
Entries: Open to male amateur golfers
age 25 or
older as of the first day of the
championship
Field: 144 players; non-exempt players
enter
through one of seven statewide 18-hole
qualifiers
Format: 54 holes of stroke play; field
cut to the
low 70 and ties after 36 holes
View Complete Tournament Information