Gillis, another Scott Hamilton Golf Academy player, edged in playoff

It was a near miss and yet another feather in the cap for Cartersville Country Club’s Scott Hamilton Golf Academy and his group of talented professional players this past week. Tom Gillis, one of the Scott Hamilton Golf Academy affilliated players, narrowly lost in a playoff Sunday to Jordan Speith at the John Deere Classic.

The tournament was played on the TPC Deere Run course, July 9-12, in Silvis, Illinois. Gillis earned his spot in the two-man playoff by firing rounds of 66-65-69-64 (20-under), but lost on the second playoff hole. The win by Speith was his fourth of the 2015 PGA Tour season and his fifth overall. Speith, who turns 22 in two weeks, trails only Tiger Woods (6) in PGA Tour victories for a player under 22 since 1940.

Results for other players at the John Deere Classic affilliated with Scott Hamilton Golf Academy included: T41 — Jim Renner (-8) T69 — Boo Weekley (+2)

T72 — Harris English (+3) SH Academy players Steven Bowditch and Chris Kirk missed the cut at Deere Run.

Acworth’s Jason Bohn, a former affiliate of the SH Academy, tied for 12th with rounds of 68-68-69-64.

On the web.com Tour, SH Academy player Hunter Hamrick tied for 45th at the Albertson’s Boise Open played at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho. Hamrick finished sixteen shots behind champion Martin Piller who won by six shots. SH Academy players Kelvin Day, Brent Witcher, and Mark Silvers missed the cut in Boise.

This week (July 16-19), many of the top professionals will be at The Open Championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. The regular PGA Tour event will be the Barbasol Classic. It is being played at Grand National Golf Club on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Auburn/Opelika, Alabama. The web.com Tour event is the Stonebrae Class in Hayward, California.

Scott Hamilton is the longtime Director of Golf at Cartersville Country Club. He works with many prominent professional golfers with his teaching and instruction through Scott Hamilton Golf Academy.

Bartow Sports Zone tracks the players affiliated with that organization each week. Photo courtesy: www.dow.com