Back on course
- Updated: May 22, 2021
Burnett back in the game after 16-year break, eager to return to the form that made him one of the county’s best players
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Back in the day Greg Burnett was one of the best players in the county, part of that pipeline of players that came out of Indian Oaks. In two-man events he and Gary Wilborn were the team to beat. In stroke play events he was always in contention.
Then life happened, as it usually does. Between raising three boys and other obligations golf fell down on the priority list.
It was an “unbelievably hard,” but necessary, call to step away, but the 55-year-old retired Anniston firefighter has returned to the course this year with basically the same set of clubs he put in the garage 16 years ago, eager to regain his past form.
And he’s jumped into it with both feet, playing in a regular game at Cane Creek Golf Course that’s soon to be three times a week and even wading into playing tournaments.
His start in the City of Anniston Championship at Cane Creek this weekend is the second tournament he’s entered since dusting off the clubs in January. He played in the County Tour’s season opener at Twin Bridges – two days after fracturing his left foot that’s still affecting his game – and is playing in the senior division here this weekend.
He shot 89-81 at Twin Bridges to finish T-57 in his first tournament in 16 years and he shot 77 here Saturday, which has him third in his flight behind David Sanders (70) and Ted Heim (75).
Gary Wigington leads the Championship Flight after posting a 68 in the last game of the day, one shot ahead of Chad Calvert. Three players – Brennan Clay, Justin Graveman and Ott Chandler – are tied for third at 70.
“I’m in my fifth month starting back,” Burnett said proudly. “I just had a lot of stuff going on, so I just set the clubs down and got involved in other things.
“To start, it was unbelievably hard (to give it up). This is my life; it was my life. That’s all I did was come out and practice, hit balls. The first couple years was real hard. Then I got so busy with family. But I’ve got time now to play.”
“It’s good to see him back out playing,” said Chandler, who became Wilborn’s Sunny King Classic partner — and won it twice — after Burnett put his game on hold.
When Burnett says he set them down, he’s not kidding. He probably only touched a club three times in the last 16 years, and those were when he took his son to hit balls on his birthday.
He dusted them off five months ago. He has the same Mizuno blades he was playing when he was a scratch thirty-something. The only thing that’s changed in his bag is a Taylor-Made SIM driver his buddies talked him into buying a month ago to replace the one he had been playing that at one time was gamed by Tour pro Boo Weekley.
As expected, it’s taken his short game a while to get back to form, but he says it’s coming around, even if it is a little slower than he’d like. Playing from the white tees Saturday that could have made him eligible for the players flights, he had three birdies that offset his bogeys and 10 pars. A couple big holes elevated his score – an 8 on 8 and a double-bogey 6 on 10.
“My touch from 100 (yards) in, I used to be spot on,” Burnett said. “My chipping and putting, that’s what got me under par a lot. I’ve never been one just to stripe every fairway, every green. I’m always subject to miss a green, but I could chip and putt with the best of them. That’s what left me the most, but that’s even coming back.
“And it’s frustrating since I’ve come back. I think I’m expecting too much too quick. Seventy-seven to me is sickening. That’s bad. I want to be back where I was. Whether I am or not, I don’t know, but I’m gonna try.”
After a three-putt bogey on 9, Wigington played the back nine in 3-under to move atop the leaderboard. He went through The Hollow in 2-under, including a long birdie on 12, and birdied 18 to take sole possession of the lead. Calvert had seven birdies in his round, three in his last five holes, and played the last 10 holes in 5-under.
Among the players at 70, Clay played a bogey-free round; Graveman birdied five of his last seven holes on the front, including 7-8-9; Chandler made six birdies and played The Hollow in 3-under, but fell into the tie for third with a three-putt bogey on 18.
NOTES: Ty Cole drove the par-4 fourth and converted the eagle, one of five eagles in the round. The others were posted by Will Brown (No. 14), Josh Poole (No. 5), Zach Mangum (No. 18), Daily Thomas (No. 8) … Every hole was birdied at least once … Jeremy McGatha birdied the last three holes to shoot 73 … Wigington got up and down on all three greens he didn’t hit in regulation.
City of Anniston Championship
| CHAMPIONSHIP A | |||
| Gary Wigington | 35 | 33 | 68 |
| Chad Calvert | 37 | 32 | 69 |
| Brennan Clay | 35 | 35 | 70 |
| Justin Graveman | 32 | 38 | 70 |
| Ott Chandler | 36 | 34 | 70 |
| Ty Cole | 36 | 35 | 71 |
| Jonathan Pate | 38 | 34 | 72 |
| Daily Thomas | 33 | 39 | 72 |
| Caleb McKinney | 37 | 35 | 72 |
| CHAMPIONSHIP B | |||
| Chip Howell | 35 | 38 | 73 |
| Jeremy McGatha | 36 | 37 | 73 |
| Caleb Bowen | 38 | 35 | 73 |
| Josh Poole | 37 | 37 | 74 |
| Jeff Borrelli | 39 | 36 | 75 |
| Zack Mangum | 39 | 36 | 75 |
| Clay Calkins | 39 | 37 | 76 |
| Tyler Dopson | 38 | 38 | 76 |
| 1ST FLIGHT | |||
| Matt Rogers | 41 | 36 | 77 |
| Danny Whittaker | 40 | 37 | 77 |
| Sam Bone | 41 | 38 | 79 |
| Adam Johnson | 41 | 38 | 79 |
| Will Brown | 40 | 39 | 79 |
| Tyler Romine | 38 | 42 | 80 |
| Hunter Carr | 41 | 40 | 81 |
| 2ND FLIGHT | |||
| Mark Durden | 40 | 42 | 82 |
| Dan McClellan | 40 | 43 | 83 |
| Chris Reaves | 41 | 43 | 84 |
| Michael Ledbetter | 44 | 45 | 89 |
| Austin Elliott | 42 | 48 | 90 |
| Kelly Rogers | 43 | 48 | 91 |
| Kolby Slick | 46 | 46 | 92 |
| Keaton Borrelli | WD |
Senior
| David Sanders | 34 | 36 | 70 |
| Ted Heim | 38 | 37 | 75 |
| Greg Burnett | 39 | 38 | 77 |
| Ted Towns | 30 | 38 | 78 |
| Rocco D’Gomez | 42 | 41 | 83 |
| Danny Stephens | 44 | 41 | 85 |
| Dennis Moyer | 41 | 46 | 87 |
| Jim Sirmon | 43 | 47 | 90 |
Sunday pairings
8:02 a.m.: Colby Slick, Kelly Rogers, Austin Elliott
8:10: Michael Ledbetter, Chris Reaves, Dan McClellan, Mark Durden
8:18: Jim Sirmon, Dennis Moyer, Danny Stephens, Rocco D’Gomez
8:26: Ted Towns, Greg Burnett, Ted Heim, David Sanders
8:34: Starters Time
8:42: Starters Time
8:50: Sam Bone, Tyler Romines, Hunter Carr
8:58: Danny Whittaker, Matt Rogers, Will Brown, Adam Johnson
9:06: Starters Time
9:14: Starters Time
9:22: Zach Mangum, Jeff Borrelli, Clay Calkins, Tyler Dopson
9:30: Jeremy McGatha, Caleb Bowen, Chip Howell, Josh Poole
9:38: Ott Chandler, Ty Cole, Daily Thomas, Caleb McKinney
9:46: Chad Calvert, Brennan Clay, Justin Graveman, Gary Wigington
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