JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- Augusta State head
men’s golf coach Josh Gregory won two more matches Saturday
in the Atlanta Amateur Match Play Championship at Rivermont Golf
& Country Club.
With the pair of victories, Gregory advances to the final match,
slated for Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. Gregory will face one of the
state of Georgia’s most decorated amateurs, David Noll of
Dalton, Ga. Noll claimed the 2005 Atlanta Amateur Championship.
Gregory, in his seventh season at the helm of the Jaguar
men’s golf program, advanced to the semifinals by besting
defending champion Greg Bradford of Talking Rock in his morning
match and eliminating Chris Hall of Kennesaw in the afternoon.
Gregory came away with a 1-up victory over Bradford in the
quarterfinals before meeting Hall in the semis. Hall jumped out to
an early 3-up advantage posting birdies on holes one, four and five
but Gregory closed that gap, winning the last three holes of the
outward nine to make the turn all square. After a double bogey at
the 10th, Gregory answered with birdies at 11 and 12 to take his
first lead of the match. Hall won the 14th hole to square the match
and after exchanging pars at 15, Gregory regained the lead on the
16th, draining a 30-foot birdie putt to take a 1-up lead. Gregory
claimed victory -- 2 & 1 -- when Hall fell victim to a costly
three putt of his own on No. 17.
Gregory and Noll are certainly no strangers to each other, having
just met in the second round of match play at the 2008 U.S.
Mid-Amateur Championship in August at Milwaukee Country Club.
Gregory won that match, 2 and 1.
In the round of 64 on Friday, Gregory won the last three holes of
his morning match to eliminate Anders Albertson of Woodstock, Ga.,
then dispatched LaGrange’s Chad Griffith 3 & 2 in the
afternoon to move on to the quarterfinals.
Entries were open to male amateur golfers who are Georgia residents
and members of a GSGA Member Club. Notable former champions include
Charlie Yates (1931), Tommy Barnes (1936), Dan Yates (1942), Gene
Dahlbender (1946-47, 1957-59, 1962), Bobby Jones’ son, Robert
T. Jones, III, (1948), Charles Harrison (1952-54, 1961, 1965,
1967-1969, 1973, 1977), Larry Mize (1979) and Danny Yates
(1981-82).
Founded in 1916, the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) received
its official charter on June 24, 1924. Since that date, the GSGA
has grown to one of the largest state amateur golf associations in
the country, with over 365 member clubs and 85,000 individual
members. With a mission to promote and preserve amateur golf in the
state of Georgia, GSGA offers a computerized handicapping service,
course rating and measuring, and annually conducts a full schedule
of statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups.
Other services include a summer-long junior sectional program,
award-winning Golf Georgia magazine, membership recognition and
rewards programs and a charitable foundation administering two
college scholarship programs.
For more information, visit www.gsga.org.