Ty one more

Steady wins the race again for Cole, who wins Wilfred Galbraith Invitational, makes it three wins in three tries on the 2026 Calhoun County Golf Tour.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

ANNISTON — Five points events remain on the 2026 Calhoun County Golf Tour, but reigning champion Ty Cole is rapidly growing his lead.

The seven-time champion shot even-par 70 Sunday at Anniston Country Club and, as he often does, outlasted the field for a one-stroke victory over Taylor McCullum in the Wilfred Galbraith Invitational.

Cole shot 72-67-70–209 over the tournament’s three rounds. McCullum, who either led or tied for the lead through two rounds, went 69-70-71—210.

Tanner Wells took third at 71-68-72—211.

Cole bagged his third Wilfred Galbraith title.

Most significantly, he has played in three of the county tour’s four points events this season and won all three in which he played. That gives him 900 points with the majority of the Tour’s points events still to play.

Cole entered the weekend with a 45-point lead over Dustin Travis, who finished tied with Jacob LeCroy for sixth at 72-72-71–215.

Cole is on pace to surpass 2019, when he won five events in seven starts. 

Winning three of the Tour’s first four events marks a first for Cole. He won three in a row after Dalton Chandler and Freeman Fite won the first two in 2016.

As of now, it seems the only thing that can stop Cole’s run in 2026 is Cole’s own schedule. He missed the Gadsden Country Club Invitational two weeks ago and appears likely to miss the RTJ-Silver Lakes Championship June 1-14.

“If I play good at the State Am, I won’t be at Silver Lakes,” Cole said. “If I make the cut at the State Am, I’ll be down there.

“I hope I miss Silver Lakes, because that means I played good at the State Am.”

As always seems to be the case, Cole stayed near the top of the field all weekend and passed toward the end Sunday. He chipped in on No. 9 then made a 20-foot putt on No. 14.

“When I made the putt on 14, I thought, ‘OK, you’ve got a chance as long as he (McCullum) doesn’t go crazy with birdies,’” Cole said.

Cole’s 30-foot uphill putt on 16 got hit back to even on the day. 

He and McCullum went into No. 18 tied. Cole two-putted for par, and McCullum three-putted.

McCullum’s drive went left edge of the fairway, and his approach left him a long putt from right of the pin. His putt curved short of the hole and rolled about 10 feet out.

Cole drove the right edge of the fairway on 18, giving him an ideal angle to approach the pin, which was placed in the upper left-hand corner of the green. He plopped about 20 feet right of the hole, and his first putt left him an 18-incher for par.

“However long I’ve been coming here, I’ve never seen the pin there,” Cole said. “It’s a great pin. When you’re right of it, it’s just so fast. Even as slow as the greens have been all week, that putt is just so fast. I don’t think they could put that pin there if the greens were at their normal speed. You couldn’t play it. Every putt would end up in the fringe or off the green. 

“He hit a putt that just kept going, kept going. When I saw that, there was no way I was hitting it hard. To just barely get it there was my goal.”

McCullum came up just short after leading through two rounds for the second time in the years. He lamented missing a 4-foot putt on No. 10 after skipping the water to get it that close. 

“I had so many opportunities that I missed,” McCullum said. “I let Ty hang around, and he’s won so many tournaments. It came down to, he just beat me.”

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