Kennedy takes early lead at Georgia Mid-Am hosted by Cartersville Country Club
One round of the 54-hole 2017 Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship is in the books and several players with local connections are in the heat of the battle.
The 2017 Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship began Friday at Cartersville Country Club with 18 holes of stroke play each day through Sunday.
Players at age 25 or older were eligible for this Georgia State Golf Association Championship and the field of 144 qualifying players will be cut to the low 70 and ties after Saturday’s round.
Jon Kennedy shot a 6-under par 66 Friday to take a one shot lead over four players, including Cartersville Country Club member Cres Dodd of Calhoun, David Noll of Dalton, David Denham of Athens, and Christian Raynor of Kennesaw.
Chad Branton (photo right) of Cartersville is tied for seventh after firing an opening round 69. Chase Jones, also of Cartersville, is tied for thirteenth after a first round 70. Robbie Van Gorder, another Cartersville Country Club member also shot an under-par 71 and is tied for seventeenth.
A total of 370 players entered this year’s championship. 29 players were exempt from qualifying and the remaining 115 spots were filled by players who qualified in one of seven, 18-hole qualifiers in April and May. The qualifiers were held in Savannah, Flowery Branch, Columbus, Warner Robins, Alpharetta, Hampton, and Cartersville.
The tournament length for Cartersville Country Club is 7,006 yards and plays to par 72. This is the fifth GSGA-sanctioned championship hosted by Cartersville Country.
John Engler, Jr., of Augusta shot 6-under par to win the Georgia Mid-Am Championship last year on his home course Augusta Country Club. Engler shot a 1-over par 73 Friday and is tied for 27th.
L-R: Bill Faith, Scott Davenport
Players with local connections in the event are shown at the top of the following graphic. The bottom section of the graphic shows the top of the overall leaderboard. Tee times for Saturday may be found on the live GSGA link.
Tournament scoring may be followed live online at — http://www.ghintpp.com/gsga/TPPOnlineScoring/Default.aspx?ID=804
