Winning feeling

Hughston wins Wilfred Galbraith Invitational, bags first Calhoun County Tour victory and first victory since his senior year at Donoho.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

That winning feeling came with memories for Harrison Hughston … the 65 he shot at Pine Hill to finish off his second high school Calhoun County championship, edging Donoho teammate best friend Jacob Lecroy.

It came with the promise of more to come, but those memories sustained Hughston for five years. That included his college playing career, at Montevallo, so Sunday’s new winning memories came with a rush of emotions.

“Everyone works hard, but I put a lot of work into it to win,” he said, choking back tears.

Hughston shot a 6-under-par 64 to win the Wilfred Galbraith Invitational on his native Anniston Country Club course.

Clutch par saves on Nos. 15 and 16 and an eagle on 17 made the difference as he went 73-68-64—205 over three rounds to edge another former Donoho golfer, Freeman Fite, by two strokes. Lecroy and Brennan Clay tied for third, five strokes back of Hughston.

Hughston finished it off with a two-foot putt and a big hug from Lecroy, who played in his group. As Hughston waited out Fite’s play on No. 18. the prospect of a sweet, long-awaited victory settled over him.

Hughston stopped as words competed with emotions for expression.

Surgical injuries to both knees caused him to miss three playing semesters at Montevallo. He just had his best Montevallo season this spring, with a second-place finish at the Gulf South Conference Conference championship and a tied-seventh finish at an NCAA South/Southeast Regional.

That winning feeling was so close that he could grasp for it. Sunday, he got to hold it in the form of the Wilfred Galbraith Invitational trophy.

He’s about to move to Wyoming, so winning at home felt good.

“I moved to college, and I started working here,” he said. “I worked here for two or three years, and now I’m a non-member.

“This is where I learned to play golf, and membership means so much to me. It will always be my home. It’ll always be a place I come back to, and I’ll walk in that pro shop. To be able to have my name on that trophy? I can’t overstate how much that means to me.”

Perhaps the second-happiest human to see Hughston win was Lecroy, who came into Sunday’s final round with aspirations of his own. The defending champion, Lecroy shot a Saturday-best 67 to join a five-player pack in second place, two strokes behind leader Taylor McCollum.

Lecroy couldn’t recapture the momentum of his Saturday flirtation with a 30 on the back nine. Once things settled into a two-man showdown between Hughston and Fite, Lecroy became Hughston’s supporter.

They’ll team up for the Sunny King Charity Classic in September, so it had the added effect of team building.

“He was golfing it today way before I started golfing it, and was staying patient, which was great, and he’s my best friend,” Lecroy said. “After 11, I knew I was out of it, so I’m sitting there rooting for him.

“I was upset with myself, but there’s no one else in the entire world I would rather win. … I knew it meant a lot to him.”

Hughston birdied No. 9 to move into a tie with Fite at 2 under for the tournament, and that stalemate continued until Hughston eagled 17.

It took par saves on 15 and 16 for Hughston to stay in the tie. He hit an 8-footer on 15 and a 15-footer on 16.

“We won’t talk about the golf shots that got me there, but really, what’s going to stand out, what I’ll remember, are those two putts,” he said. “The one on 15 moved over 13 inches, and the one on 16 also moved about, like, a foot.

“I’ve worked really hard on my putting. Historically, it’s been kind of a weakness of mine.”

As for the eagle on 17, he credited a favorable far-right pin position. He drove the right rough then hit a 6 iron that left him a 6-foot, uphill putt.

Audible cheers erupted from the No. 17 gallery as Fite’s group readied to tee off.

Fite had just missed an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 16. He went on to par 17 and 18 and finish 72-69-66—207.

“I played well,’ Fite said. “I just couldn’t get anything to go on the last five or six holes, but it happens.”

Championship flights

CHAMPIONSHIP A FLIGHT
PLAYER	RD. 1	RD. 2	RD. 3	TOTAL
Harrison Hughston	73	68	64	205
Freeman Fite	72	69	66	207
Jacob Lecroy	74	67	69	210
Brennan Clay	71	70	69	210
Taylor McCollum	71	68	73	212
Gary Wigington	72	70	72	214
Chip Howell	73	68	73	214
Jaylon Ellison	70	73	72	215
Tanner Wells	73	74	78	225
Layton Bussey	75	74	76	225
Clay Calkins	73	76	77	226
Hunter Carr	74	73	80	227
CHAMPIONSHIP B FLIGHT
Kevin Daugherty	79	74	70	223
Adam Sanders	76	74	73	223
Dalton Chandler	76	76	73	225
John Rollins	74	78	74	226
Jeff Chapman	74	76	78	228
Ryan Howard	76	74	82	232
Vance Lewis	76	78	78	232
Trey Rouse	75	79	79	233
Jeff Bain	76	78	80	234
Ryan Huff	78	77	80	235
Chance Harris	75	78	83	236
CHAMPIONSHIP C FLIGHT
Jeremy McGatha	74	82	73	229
Wes Couch	74	85	73	232
Greg Shultz	80	80	75	235
Timmy Woodard	81	78	77	236
Rusty Whitlow	80	79	77	236
Chad Key	78	78	81	237
Dustin Travis	79	81	77	237
Ott Chandler	77	81	81	239
Cypress Hathorn	80	81	80	241
Chandler Wilborn	78	81	85	244
Lewis Lecroy	80	86	79	245
Benji Turley	79	82	87	248
Tim Turner	77	88	85	250
Austin Elliott	81	90	81	252

Remaining flights

SENIOR FLIGHT
NAME	RD. 1	RD. 2	TOTAL
David Sanders	74	77	151
Don Springer	71	81	152
Mike Thompson	77	84	161
Ted Heim	84	83	167
Don Whitlow	102	97	200
FIRST FLIGHT
Tyler Huckaby	72	72	144
Tanner Tabor	72	72	144
Chase Hollingsworth	73	71	144
Carson Chandler	76	75	151
Houston Black	72	79	151
Mike Wiedmer	77	76	153
Mark Durden	77	79	155
Wyatt Cotney	75	80	155
Blake Grisham	76	79	155
Keaton Borrelli	76	80	156
Bob Eaton	74	83	157
Jake Goggans	76	82	158
Billy Thompson	76	83	159
Hank Smith	77	90	167
SECOND FLIGHT
Taylor Jones	80	75	155
Zach Mangum	78	77	155
Dre Davenport	78	78	156
Graham Morrow	79	79	158
Zach Goss	78	80	158
Taylor Morrow	80	79	159
Matt Rogers	80	82	162
Kyle Glover	79	83	162
Trey Stone	80	83	163
Cain Hollingsworth	80	83	163
Taylor Vera	78	86	164
Aaron Gregerson	80	85	165
THIRD FLIGHT
Andrew Gunnels	82	77	159
Matt Hunter	83	77	160
Henry Pritchett	82	79	161
Cam Hurst	83	78	161
Rob Svensen	81	81	162
Joe Hedgepeth	82	84	166
Chase Thomas	83	85	168
Kolby Webb	81	88	169
Scott Watson	82	89	171
Eric Stringer	82	89	171
Colin Read	82	WD
FOURTH FLIGHT
Don Hill	85	76	161
Zach Limberis	85	77	162
Kenneth Willingham	85	85	170
Sean Kline	85	85	170
Devin Williams	86	85	171
Lamar Carter	85	87	172
Cody Smitherson	86	87	173
Tim Wilcox	85	89	174
John Carpenter	86	88	174
Ted Gregerson	86	89	175
FIFTH FLIGHT
Bradley Elliott	87	81	168
Tyler Teneyck	90	81	171
Jason Payne	89	83	172
Heath Waldrop	88	87	175
Matt Greer	90	86	176
Greg Rainey	89	92	181
Adam Benefiel	91	92	183
Keith Hutcheson	87	97	184
Dylan Parker	87	100	187
SIXTH FLIGHT
Charlie Smith	95	81	176
Kolby Slick	92	90	182
Mark Gaines	92	97	189
Scott Jimmerson	97	95	192
Marlee Hedgepeth	95	99	194
Chase Arnold	98	102	200
Clay Culbert	107	94	201
Judson Miller	105	104	209
Shane Boman	107	111	218
Isaac Scroggins	113	112	225

Related Posts

• 
  ‘Pretty cool’
• 
  Every word
• 
  Media day

You must be logged in to post a comment Login