Golfweek No. 1 Vance Welch, Carolinas Golf Association Hall of Famer, Paul Simson and Ironman athlete Walker Taylor were all favored to take home the championship heading into Wednesday’s final round. With hundreds of wins and championship pedigree between the three men, it seemed like it was a lock for the winner to emerge from the final group.
Not so fast.
The winds were howling throughout the final round, making the East Course at Grandover Resort play even trickier than expected. With driver taken out of the hand on many holes throughout the week, the options off the tee ramped up with the winds.
Early in the round, it looked as though Simson was going to coast to yet another victory. Two under on the front nine, Simson opened up a six-shot advantage over Welch and a four-shot swing over Taylor.
The final round proved to be an onslaught for the favorites as Simson erased his front nine work to finish with a final round 75, good for a T3 finish at 2 over. Taylor matched Simson’s tournament total (+2), unable to keep bogeys off of his card for a 77.
For Welch, his front nine, 43, became insurmountable as he posted a birdie-free 81 to slide from the 36-hole lead to a ninth-place finish (+6).
Surviving the gauntlet that became the East Course were two men who lurked just off stage all week.
Sherrill Britt was consistent all week, hanging inside the top five, and teed off in the penultimate group in the final round just two shots off of the leaders. Mike Combs began the day five back but knew he had a chance thanks to the windy conditions.
“It had to be gusting to 30 miles an hour,” Combs told Golfweek.
It was so windy that Combs’ ball rolled away from the hole on No. 9 when he was busy fixing his pitch mark.
“It rolled five feet further from the hole because the wind was blowing that hard. It was pretty funny.”
Saving par despite Mother Nature trying her best to thwart it, Combs really gained momentum with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11.
The boost proved to be huge as he took the clubhouse lead at 1 over for the tournament after carding a 1 under 71.
All Combs could do was wait as the final two groups made their way in. Throughout the nervous 20 or so minutes, Combs couldn’t help but think of the shots he left out on the course as he was sure Britt was going to birdie the par 5 18th.
“ I just assumed all of those guys were going to birdie (18) and leapfrog me,” he said. “I was sweating it out.”
With Britt making par on the last, the duo made their way to No. 10 for a sudden-death playoff.
Combs held the tee first and decided to apply the pressure. Nailing a driver down the fairway of the par 4, he left himself a sand wedge into the green.
Britt stuck to his game plan despite Combs finding the fairway. Pulling a 3 wood into the left rough, Britt hit a great wedge to the front of the green but had about 25 feet remaining for birdie.
With the door open, Combs slammed it shut, sticking his wedge to three feet.
With Britt in for par, Combs stood over his putt to win. Then, he backed off.
“I still felt the nerves a little bit,” Combs told Golfweek. “So much so that I backed off the putt once. I regrouped and said ‘Darn it, let’s go’ and confidently stroke this into the back [of the hole].”
Finding the bottom of the cup, Combs pulled off the unlikely. Often the bridesmaid but never the bride at Golfweek championships, the Georgia native and Home Depot executive secured his first Golfweek win with the birdie.
The win catapults him from No. 15 in the Golfweek Senior Amateur Rankings to inside the top 5.
Super Seniors (65-69)
Combs wasn’t the only playoff victor on Wednesday. South Carolina’s Bob Edens (+4) came out on top after a four-hole playoff battle against Randy King.
Legends (70-74)
Charley Yandell completed his wire-to-wire win with a final round 75. Posting a tournament total of 4 over, 220, Yandell cruised to a five-shot victory over Allen Pete (+9).
Super Legends (75+)
Like Yandell, Frank Costanzo went wire-to-wire in his win in the Super Legends division. Back-to-back sub-age rounds of 73 set Costanzo up with a five-shot cushion. His final round 78 was plenty good to hold onto a four-stroke victory and a tournament total of 8 over 224.
