E.A. Sports Today

Put to a test

Players given true tournament challenge in opening round of Oxford City Championship; includes first-round scores

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD – The new management team at Cider Ridge Golf Club wanted to give the players in their first Oxford City Championship a true tournament challenge.

Consider them challenged.

Only three players posted a score of par or better during Saturday’s opening round. The two best players on the Calhoun County Tour – Ty Cole and Gary Wigington – got the best of it, with rounds of 69 and 71, respectively, but after Caleb McKinney’s even-par 72 no one else in the 130-player field was in red numbers.

“I thought the golf course played good today,” new Cider Ridge director of golf Jammie Lett said. “It represented what this place is – it is a championship golf course. We had the best players here and if you look at it, I thought it played like a championship golf course.

“We set it up for what we thought the good players would enjoy. I wanted everybody to see the golf course and enjoy it. It was a built to be a championship course and that’s what I thought it was.”

Between the 111 championship division players and 19 senior flight players, the course Saturday played to an overall stroke average of just under 13 over par. The round yielded 154 birdies, two eagles (by Chase Hollingsworth and Peyton Bradley, both at No. 9) and 462 doubles and others.

The most challenging hole of the day was the 426-yard par-4 second, which played to a stroke average of 5.02 and yielded no birdies. The easiest was the 155-yard par-3 eighth and it still played almost a half-shot over par.

The course was set up to play at 6,480 yards, but is expected to play at 6,319 on Championship Sunday. The difference likely be moving up the six holes that Saturday were played from the tips. 

“We’re going funzies tomorrow,” Lett said.

At least one player in the field actually welcomed the challenge.

“I was pleasantly surprised they played it longer, the longest we ever played this golf course,” Cole said. “You didn’t have all the backups. For the first round it was a pleasant surprise playing it a little farther back than what’s typical on this tour because this is one of the few golf courses that has the ability to stretch it.”

Cole contributed to the difficult of the second hole with a double bogey, but he offset it with five birdies. Wigington was 2-over through six holes, but made three birdies over his last 10. McKinney had three birdies and three bogeys.

Josh Poole will be the fourth player in Sunday’s final group. He shot 73 and was 1-under through 11, then went bogey-bogey-double over the next three holes, but got it back with two birdies coming home..

Lance Evans and Tee Brown are tied for fifth at 74. Evans posted his score out of the first group of the day and stayed atop the leaderboard for some four hours until Cole and Wigington, playing in the same group, posted.

Gary Austin holds a three-shot lead in the Senior Division after an opening-round 73.

Oxford City Championship

Championship Flight
Ty Cole6969
Gary Wigington7171
Caleb McKinney7272
Josh Poole7373
Lance Evans7474
Tee Brown7474
Jeremy Willis7575
Corey Ray7575
Michael Rich7575
Andrew Brooks7676
Scott Martin7676
Kevin Daugherty7676
Tanner Wells7676
Daniel Black7676
Nick Pollard7676
Chris Leonhardt7676
Flight 2
Dustin Travis7777
Dalton Chandler7777
Shannon Page7777
Daily Thomas7777
Billy McCroskey7777
Chip Howell7878
Maverick Smith7878
Logan Forrester7878
Landon Straub7878
Kilgore Knight7878
Dre Davenport7979
Chase Hollingsworth7979
Sawyer Edwards7979
Jonathan Pate7979
Drew Anderton7979
Ethyn Roberts7979
Billy Thompson7979
Mason Dennis7979
Lamar Carter7979
Flight 3
James Lett8080
Caleb Bowen8080
Jeremy McGatha8080
Landon Winfrey8080
Mark Guyther8080
Greg Schultz8080
Jake Goggans8181
Ryan Limbaugh8181
Nate Pearce8181
Jay Esty8181
Zac Mangum8282
Craig Duncan8282
Timmy Woodard8282
Brennan Clay8282
Walker Cobb8282
Jason Payne8282
Danny Whittaker8282
Justin Graveman8282
Flight 4
Clayton Chandler8383
Jeff Bain8383
Maurice Dates8383
Peyton Bradley8383
Jared Waits8383
Hunter Carr8484
Mike Lett8484
Keaton Borrelli8484
Chance Harris8585
Sean Kline8585
Graham Morrow8585
Sean Hayes8585
Bailey Masters8585
Eric Ray8585
Clay Calkins8686
Lenn Coffey8686
Flight 5
Houston Black8787
Wesley Jenkins8787
Tyler Dopson8787
Zac Carrizales8888
Tyler Romine8888
Bradley Elliott8989
Chase Thomas8989
Cain Hollingsworth8989
Drey Reeves8989
Matt Rogers9090
Heath Waldrop9090
Greg Rainey9090
Brad Baird9090
Jason Romine9090
Marcus King9191
Chris Reaves9191
Kolby Slick9191
Rex Brooks9191
Hogan Page9191
Ethan Davis9191
Flight 6
Gage Miller9393
Trey Stone9393
Landon Holley9494
Randy Watson9494
Will Brown9494
Bradley Young9494
Tyler Teneyck9595
Frankie Hanvey9696
Robert Daniel9797
Marc Gaines9797
Eddie Burks9999
Ricky Carden100100
Adam Benefiel101101
Jesse Junior101101
Kelly Rogers102102
Chad Moore103103
Ethan Page103103
Flight 7
Jim Ramey104104
Alex Whaley105105
Ken Renfroe110110
Austin Elliott111111
Warren Sewell117117
Senior Championship
Gary Austin7373
Steve Minton7676
Jerry Irwiin7676
Rich Etter7878
Charlie Estes7979
David Sanders8282
James Beavers8484
Steve Templeton8484
Mike Thompson8585
Keith Haywood8585
Senior flight 2
Bobby Vinson8686
Lee Waldron8686
Tim Steward8686
Frank Toland8686
Jerry Kemp8686
Lamar Ward8888
Dennis Austin8888
Bruce Collins8989
Ron Fleming106106

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