Weathers, Baird Claim Chattanooga TPC Crowns

By his own admission, Andrew Weathers had not been playing a ton of golf lately. But you surely couldn’t tell based on his weekend performance at the 30^th Chattanooga Tournament Players Championship.

The former McCallie School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout overcame his layoff plus the cold, blustery conditions at Council Fire Golf Club on Sunday to earn his first TPC title by defeating Chris Wells, 2 & 1, in the Regular division final.

“It feels good to get back into a tournament atmosphere and even better to win one,” Weathers said. “There’s a lot of big names on the board who have won this tournament and I’m proud to have my name alongside them.”

Weathers, who recently joined Council Fire, sealed the match with a gritty par on No. 17. After tugging his tee shot at the par 3 left into the hazard, Weathers got up-and-down capped with a bending 15-footer that tumbled in the right side of the cup.

“That putt probably broke five feet,” Weathers said. “I felt like I had to make it because Chris had a short uphill putt.”

Well’s attempt at birdie to extend the match missed, giving Weathers another trophy in addition to the Chattanooga Men’s Metro title he captured in 2017.

After dropping the opening two holes to Wells, Weathers rallied to pull even with birdies at Nos. 3 and 5.

“Those birdies were huge because I gained some confidence seeing those putts fall,” Weathers said.

After Wells won at Nos. 6 and 7 to again go 2-up, another birdie on the 8^th hole trimmed the gap in half for Weathers.

The back nine provided a series of highlights and near misses for Weathers. After winning No. 10 to move to all square, an eagle at the next hole gave him his first lead. Weathers lasered a 5-iron from 197 yards to five-feet and converted to go 1-up.

Weathers was dialed in with his iron play, missing makeable birdie tries at 13 and 14 that could have extended his lead.

“I didn’t let those misses discourage me. I knew I was hitting good shots and they would fall eventually,” Weathers said.

A chip-in for par at No. 15 increased his lead to 2-up with three holes remaining, and Weathers seemed poised to close the match on the next hole when Wells’ approach found the hazard. But Wells steadied himself with a perfect lob for bogey, and Weathers left the door open with a three-putt bogey of his own.

With the match apparently headed to the final hole after Weather’s errant tee shot on 17 and his opponent safely on the green in birdie range, Wells was unable to convert after seeing Weathers rally for his unlikely par.

Wells, who plays out of Creeks Bend and played collegiately at LSU, was pleased with his performance despite the outcome.

“I think I played really good, but Andrew was just better today,” Wells said. “I was pleased how I was hitting the ball given the conditions. It was really tough out there. The silver lining to finishing runner-up was that LSU beat Auburn last night.”

In his semifinal match earlier Sunday, Wells had three birdies in his first six holes to take an early 3-up lead over The Ooltewah Club’s Richard Spangler. After Spangler cut the margin to one, Wells won three straight holes starting with No. 11 before wining the match, 5 & 4.

Weathers won his earlier match against Cody Godfrey, 1-up. Godfrey was 2-down with four holes remaining but was able work back to all square heading to No. 18. Weathers hit a difficult bunker shot to six-feet, which he converted for birdie. Godfrey ran his eagle attempt well past the hole, and was unable to salvage his birdie try.

In the Senior division, Tom Baird defeated Richard Keene, 2 & 1, to earn his first TPC title.

Baird had three birdies on the front nine to take a 4-up lead thru ten holes. Keene rallied to cut the deficit in half with a birdie at No. 13, but could get no closer as the participants halved the next four holes.

“It feels really good to win,” Baird said. “Anytime you beat Richard Keene, you’ve done something. I had a few shaky moments, but I hung in there.”

Having won the Senior TPC and Tennessee Super Senior Match Play on consecutive weekends, Baird has found a formula for success lately.

“Match play for some reason makes me focus more on every shot,” Baird said. “Harry Hill really pushed me in my first match, and I was glad to survive that one. It’s nice to win one of these against a solid field.”

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Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com