Tag: Cartersville Country Club

Team Arkansas taps into special bond to win team title at Golfweek International Senior Invitational

Team Arkansas rallied past Team Ireland and two Georgia star-powered teams.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Team Arkansas played lights-out golf over the final 36 holes at the Golfweek International Senior Invitational at Cartersville Country Club to pull off a come-from-behind victory over Team Ireland and two Georgia star-powered teams.

Arkansas team captain, Gordy McKeown, has known his teammates Stan Payne and Wes McNulty for more than 40 years. The three were taught how to play by McKeown’s father, George, at Pine Bluff Country Club in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. George played in four majors, became a life member of the PGA of America in 2000 and was inducted into the Arkansas Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2014, George passed away at the age of 76. Not only did McKeown lose his father, but Payne and McNulty lost the man who introduced them to competitive golf.

“For us to get to travel to a great golf course like this and play together and then win,” Payne said to Golfweek. “That’s just a testament to him.”

Team Arkansas used a simple approach for Saturday’s final round, relying on lessons taught to them since their youth by George more than 40 years ago.

“We knew the golf course was playing extremely difficult,” McNulty told Golfweek. “The greens are the defense of this golf course and we all knew if we hit it on the greens and two-putt we’d have a chance to win. I think our scores showed it–none of us took it low-low any day but we all kept it around par and that’s what you had to do today. And it’s a testament to this golf course. It’s a beautiful golf course. It’s a gem.”

Ahead of the final round, Arkansas lurked just one shot behind the 36-hole leaders Team Ireland. With individual leader and eventual champion, Joe Lyons leading the way and his teammates Karl Bornemann and John Reynolds playing well, it seemed as though one shot is all Ireland was going to need to pull away from the field.

Arkansas had plenty of momentum thanks to a 5-under team total of 139. McNulty (3 under) and Payne (2 under) counted while McKeown’s 1 under 71 made him the odd man out. The combined rounds catapulted Team Arkansas into a tie for second and in prime position to overtake Team Ireland who had commanded the lead for 36 holes.

Saturday’s final round brought cool temperatures and wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour, making the pristine greens of Cartersville Country Club even more important to find in regulation.

Even par through the turn as a team, Arkansas made their move on the back nine. Five birdies and an eagle combined for Payne and McNulty not only gave Team Arkansas the lead, but a four-shot victory to take home the team title.

“We were sitting in Whataburger last night and we were talking about George, Gordy’s dad,” McNulty said. “And did he envision that for us – I think he did. He wanted us to play golf at a high level and do these things together.”

”That was his biggest thing,” McKeown chimed in. “He wanted all of us to do it together.”

Perhaps with a bit of help from George, Team Arkansas, who has over 13 USGA starts between them, takes home a team win and a bond that will last a lifetime.

Ireland’s Joe Lyons holds on for wire-to-wire victory at Golfweek International Senior Invitational

The 51-year-old Irishman picked up his second win in the United States and his first as a senior.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Joe Lyons entered Saturday’s final round at Cartersville Country Club with a three-stroke lead. Six under through 36 holes, the Irishman was confident in his ability to close, but knew it would be a tall task given the strength of the field and venue.

“One of the big selling points for us [Team Ireland] coming across is that it’s a WAGR-ranked event,” Lyons told Golfweek. “Our events aren’t so highly ranked. WAGR is important nowadays and we don’t have so many WAGR-ranked events across the pond.”

With the field rating being second only to the U.S. Senior Amateur, everyone in attendance knew it would be a battle for the ages.

Paired with Utah’s Shane McMillan and Oklahoma’s Michael Hughett, the trio traded blows throughout the day but never caught up to Lyons until the back nine. Just past the halfway mark, the pressure cooker that is playing for a championship, made for some fantastic golf.

On the par-3 13th, all three men found the bottom of the cup in two, covering each other’s birdies from well beyond 20 feet. McMillan’s putter would stay hot on No. 14, making birdie from 60 feet, giving him a share of the lead with four holes to play.

On the par-4 17th, McMillan dropkicked his drive left, nestling up against a tree. Taking an unplayable, he came away with a double to fall one back of Lyons heading to the final hole. Meanwhile, Hughett made a late charge. Calmly in control of his game, the Oklahoman clawed his way into a tie with Lyons at 4 under as they trekked to the 18th tee box.

All three men missed the fairway on the par-5 18th, leaving it anyone’s ball game.

“Probably the best shot I hit this week was my second shot into 18,” Lyons said. “I was in hardpan but there was Bermuda [grass] around the ball, I had to dig for it. I was hitting rescue and I knew I had to miss it left, I couldn’t miss it right.”

From about 235 yards out, Lyons ripped his 3-hybrid pin-high, just left of the greenside bunker, leaving himself a straightforward up-and-down opportunity to make birdie and win the championship.

McMillan double-crossed his second shot, making bogey while Hughett knocked his third shot to 12 feet for his potential tournament-winning birdie.

Lining up his pitch shot from around 25 yards out, Lyons did this:

Nearly making an eagle, Lyons tapped in for birdie, leaving the pressure on Hughett to force a playoff.

“I actually thought I holed it,” said Lyons. “I thought Michael (Hughett) might hole his [birdie putt] afterwards. I won’t say I was wishing him any bad luck or anything but my heart definitely slowed a little once he missed.”

With a 54-hole total of 5-under 211, the 51-year-old Irishman picked up his second win in the United States and his first as a senior.

Aside from taking home the trophy, Lyons’ favorite part of the week? The Southern hospitality shown by Cartersville Country Club and their volunteers.

“Hats off to everybody at Cartersville. The staff, the volunteers…the welcome we received was unbelievable and the golf course is really so well presented. The greens were amazing. It was a great week all-around.”

Joe Lyons, Team Ireland lead 2023 Golfweek International Senior Invitational

Rain made Cartersville Country Club in Georgia play longer than it did in the first round.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Joe Lyons and his fellow countrymen are 18 holes away from a  wire-to-wire victory at the Golfweek International Senior Invitational.

Lyons maintained his three-stroke lead at 6 under despite a second-round 2-over 73. Off and on rain made Cartersville Country Club play longer than it did in round one, making scoring a premium. The wet conditions allowed Lyons to lean on his knowledge from back home and adapt it to the Bermuda grass he’s not fully accustomed to.

“I’m not all that new to Bermuda,” Lyons told Golfweek. “I have an idea. I still wouldn’t say I’m entirely comfortable on it [Bermuda grass]. Basically, I’m just hitting bunker shots out of the rough and trying to convince myself.”

One thing Lyons is a bit more familiar with? Leading.

“It’s always hard when you’re you’re out on your own in front. I’ve won events back home potter to post. It’s a difficult thing to do because you’re sleeping on the lead. You know the stats are not good for people following a low round but I’m very happy with today’s round.”

With a history of being able to close out championships, Lyons has a simple game plan for Saturday’s final round, albeit a difficult game plan to execute.

“Just try to play like yesterday.”

Giving chase are Utah’s Shane McMillan and Oklahoma’s Michael Hughett, both at 3 under. Behind them are two members of the ‘Georgia Mafia’, Bob Royak (2 under) and Mike Combs (1 under). Wes McNulty (1 under ) hopes to help Team Arkansas erase Ireland’s one-shot lead.

Three more players are in a tie for seventh at even par and another six players are within seven shots of Lyons, making every shot count come Saturday.

On the team side, Ireland holds a slight one-shot lead after a second-round charge from Team Arkansas.

All three players from Arkansas carded sub-par rounds, with McNulty (69) and Stan Payne (70) acting as the counting scores. Gordy McKeown carded a 1 under 71 to move inside the top 10 at 1 under for the championship.

Bob Royak’s Georgia team (even), one of five in the field, is three back of Ireland. South Carolina (1 over) and California (2 over) round out the top five. Five more teams are within eight shots of the lead.

With cool, breezy and sunny conditions anticipated for Saturday, plenty of scoring opportunities should make the final round a fun one.

Live scoring can be found on Golf Genius (GGID: 23GWISI).

Big names highlight the field at Golfweek International Senior Invitational

There are 28 teams from the United States, three from Europe and one from Canada.

CARTERSVILE, Ga. – Ninety-six of the world’s best senior amateur golfers are set to duke it out for team and individual glory at Cartersville Country Club.

Twenty-eight teams from the United States, three teams from Europe and a team from Canada have descended on CCC. Among them are some of the biggest names in the senior amateur game.

Reigning Walker Cup captain Mike McCoy is captaining Team Iowa alongside teammates Terry Cook and Joe Palmer. Doug Hanzel (Georgia), Jon Lindstrom (Colorado) and Bob Royak (Georgia) are the top three ranked seniors in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). The field boasts 10 of the top 50 WAGR seniors and two of the top 20 European seniors.

This week, it’s not just about the golf legends. Former NFL quarterbacks Stan Humphries and Billy Joe Tolliver are also teeing it up this week. Tolliver and Humphries, who played in Super Bowl 29 with the then-San Diego Chargers, both are feeding their craving for competition as they tee it up with the best in the game.

Nine Europeans have made the trip across the pond to test their game against a stacked field of Yanks.

Leading the charge is Team Scotland, who have No. 4 ranked WAGR European senior Ronnie Clark and are captained by No. 20 ranked Derek Patton.

Team Ireland, Germany and Canada are all vying for the upset to take home the International crown.

As the Golfweek senior amateur season begins to come to a close, the Golfweek Player of the Year race is just heating up. With 16 players inside the top 100 of the Golfweek player rankings, individual PoY points are on the line, making this week just that much more important.

Golfweek No. 1 Bob Royak has less than a 900 point lead on Doug Hanzel. No. 3 ranked Rusty Strawn, No. 6 Jon Lindstrom and No. 10 Mike Combs can all make a huge jump in the rankings this week with a strong finish or even a win.

Combs (1990 Public Links), Hanzel (2013 Senior Am), Royak (2019 Senior Am), Strawn (2022 Senior Am) and Mike McCoy (2013 Mid-Am) are the five USGA championship winners in the field this week with another near countless amount of USGA championship starts among them as well as their fellow competitors.

Play begins Thursday, Oct. 5 at 8 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available on Golf Genius (GGID: 23GWISI).