In an effort to preserve the future of the Chattanooga Men's Senior Metro Golf Tournament, changes were announced recently for the date and site of the event for 55-over participants.
The tournament will now be held at the Brainerd Golf Course on Tuesday and Wednesday (Oct. 15-16). It had originally been scheduled for a Thursday and Friday (Oct. 10-11) at Bear Trace.
"We moved it from Bear Trace because of the current problem with their greens,'' CDGA president Richard Keene said. "And we changed to a Tuesday-Wednesday morning format, mainly because we didn't want to conflict with any football-type situations.''
The tournament was held two years ago at Valleybrook with 25 competitors, and was won by David Lawson. It was canceled last year due to trouble with the greens at Moccasin Bend, and low number of entries.
In an effort to get more golfers involved this year, at the request of some of the senior players, the entry fee has been dropped from $100 (including carts) to $75 (including carts).
"We take the entry fee monies and put it all back in prizes anyway,'' CDGA treasurer Mike Jenkins said. "So we responded to what we were hearing about the entry fee possibly being too high. If the players would rather pay less money and play for lesser prizes, that's fine with us. We just want good participation.
"Brainerd is in good condition and accessible to everybody. We will be pleased if we get around 40 golfers competing this year with at least 10-to-12 of the better area seniors.''
Jenkins said the field for Oct. 15-16 already includes Rick Crawford, Lex Tarumianz and Ronnie Law.
"And we also understand David Lawson plans to defend his title,'' Jenkins said.
Tarumianz recently qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur.
The winner of the Men's Senior Metro will receive the Wes Brown Trophy. Keene and Jenkins are the co-tournament directors.
"If we fail to get a good field, we'll reconsider whether we want to keep the tournament on the CDGA schedule'' Jenkins said. "If there is not enough interest for a separate tournament, we'll probably revert to having a Senior Division within the regular Men's Metro, and award the Wes Brown Trophy to the lowest 36-hole score in the Metro among players Age 55 or older. That way everyone would be playing the same tees, and the senior players would be able to compete for both the senior title and the regular title at the same time.
"Still, that's not our preference. It would be OK for the better players, but most of the seniors want to play up-tees. However, we're not going to beat our heads against the wall to keep a tournament going. We're just trying to see if there is a market out there. If so, we'll continue. If not, we won't. It's totally up to the area senior players.''
BATTLEFIELD 4-BALL THIS WEEKEND: All the points leaders in the Pro Golf Superstore/Chattanoogatpc.com Amateur Rankings will be playing this weekend in the Battlefield 4-Ball.
Andrew Black, who leads the rankings for player-of-the-year with 238 points, will be paired with Harry Hartman. Kevin Law, in second place at 227.92, will play with his father, Ronnie Law, and third-place Philip Guess (222.00) will be paired with his buddy, Mike Craig.
Mike Miller and Ken Maples won the event last year, but Miller turned professional several weeks ago.
"I'm not sure who Ken will be playing with, but I'm sure he'll be in the field,'' Battlefield pro Craig Byassee said. "It's going to be a really strong field.''
Saturday will be qualifying with the entire field playing from the white tees (6,301 yards). The low 20 and ties will play the back tees (6,528) on Sunday.
The tournament will have two flights. First place in each is $1,000.
Next up on the chase for player-of-the-year honors will be the Chattanooga TPC on Sept. 26-29 at Council Fire Golf Club.
The championship will be determined from competition in 12 local events, four state events and six national and regional events. The winner will receive a piece of crystal and a $500 gift certificate to the Pro Golf Superstore.