Senior Golfers Burgan, Mann Pulling Double-Duty This Week

Hopefully Todd Burgan had his favorite playlists and some podcasts he’s been meaning to get to lined up for this week, because the Powell resident is going to need something to help pass the time on his adventurous odyssey.

The six-time Tennessee Golf Association winner – including four State Mid-Amateur titles - covered roughly 400 miles from the Knoxville area to arrive at Memphis Country Club, the site of this week’s Tennessee Senior and Super Senior Amateur championships where he will be competing for the first time in the senior division.

Then after the conclusion of play on Thursday, Burgan will hightail it 350 miles eastbound headed for The Honors Course and the 69^th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship that kicks off with the first of two stroke play rounds on Saturday.

Whenever Burgan has completed his play at The Honors Course – the event runs all the way through Aug. 29 – then he’ll have only a short jaunt back home to complete his 850-mile loop.

Mind you, this week comes on the heels of a 10-hour round trip to Pinehurst, N.C. and back for another recent tournament, the North & South Amateur.

“Those tournaments kind of fell right on top of each other this year,” Burgan said. “That's not ideal, but it is what it is. I'd like to have maybe two or three days in between, but that's okay. We'll go straight from Memphis to The Honors.”

When asked if he thought about foregoing the State Amateur in order to be able to focus on the USGA event, Burgan didn’t flinch.

“I've never thought about dropping out,” Burgan said. “This is my first year playing senior amateur golf, so I've got a small window to try to win the State Senior Am over the next five or six years. Hopefully my back and my body will hold up.”

Burgan isn’t the only golfer competing in Memphis this week with the same conundrum. Defending champion Steven Mann of Franklin will also be pulling double-duty this week and traversing the state.

“It’s not the best timing for sure,” said Mann, who won his first TGA title at Rarity Bay Golf & Country Club last year.

Burgan has some familiarity with The Honors Course having competed in the John T. Lupton Memorial a number of times. He’s hoping to arrive in Ooltewah in time to get in nine holes on Friday afternoon in order to gauge the speed and firmness of the greens.

Playing three rounds at the historic Memphis Country Club should also bode well for Burgan’s short-game preparation ahead of what awaits him at The Honors Course.

“Memphis is a great golf course, too,” Burgan said. “There can't be much better prep for the U.S. Senior Am than to play 54 holes on those slick greens.”

Founded in 1905, the par 70 Donald Ross designed MCC has hosted numerous USGA and Tennessee Golf Association events. The course has played host to nine State Amateurs and the 1988 Tennessee Senior Amateur.

With the first round scheduled for Tuesday, the field will be cut Wednesday to low 30 scores plus ties in the Senior division after 36 holes, while the Super Senior participants will be trimmed to the low 15 scores plus ties for Thursday’s final round.

Buzz Fly of Memphis is going after his fourth straight championship in the Super Senior Division.

Cleveland’s Joe Markham Jr. is seeking his first TGA championship having won the Tennessee Senior State Open earlier this summer. Other participants with Chattanooga area connections competing in the Senior Division are Zeb Patten, Bob Rice, Tom Schreiner, Scott Patton and Gary Davis, while Tom Baird and Neil Spitalny are in the Super Senior field.

For live scoring, go to State Sr. Am/Super Sr. Am.

Women’s State Four-Ball Championship Also This Week: A busy week of amateur golf across the state will also feature the Tennessee Women’s Four-Ball Championship on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Brae Course at Heatherhurst Golf Club in Fairfield Glade.

The 36-hole stroke play event will feature both Championship and Senior Divisions. Caroline Caudill of Clarksville and Karson Adkins of Savannah won last year’s event by 12 strokes with an 8-under 134.

USGA Mid-Amateur Qualifiers: Nashville’s Tyler Leroy birdied the last two holes on the Fairvue Course at Gallatin’s Tennessee Grasslands Golf & Country Club to shoot 2-under 70 on Monday to seize the third and final spot into the U.S. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

With Brentwood’s Jerre Maynor Jr. and Hunter Hawkins of Fort Payne, Ala. safely in the clubhouse at 2-under with their berths secure, it appeared that a playoff would be necessary to determine the final spot. But Leroy’s birdie-birdie finish vaulted him into a tie as co-medalist, eliminating the trio at 1-under that included Nashville’s Scott Hudson and Douglas Harris along with Jeff Reuter from Humboldt.

Among Chattanooga-area players, Andrew Weathers posted a 1-over 73, Mitch Brock shot 3-over 75 and Taylor Smith finished at 4-over 76.

The 2024 U.S. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will take place Sept. 21-16 at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia.

Nine women were competing for two spots into the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship to be staged at Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, Mass. on Sept. 7-12.

Atlanta’s Hanley Long and Caroline Ludwikowski of Clarksville both shot 7-over 79 to nab the qualifier slots. Chattanooga’s Ciara Smith barely missed by one stroke, shooting an 8-over 80.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com