Uselton Claims State Senior Amateur Championship; Fly Wins 4th Straight Super Senior

As Clay Uselton stood on the 18^th tee at Memphis Country Club on Thursday afternoon, he briefly allowed his mind to wander away from the task at hand.

Holding a three-shot lead in the 54th Tennessee Senior Amateur Championship, Uselton’s emotions took over as he reflected back on his childhood and his half-century journey through the game of golf.

“I about started crying on 18 because I started thinking how I'm 62 and I played in my first TGA event when I was 12 years old,” Uselton said. “I qualified for the Tennessee State Junior somewhere in Nashville, and then my dad drove me up to Fox Den where I stayed with a host family. For 50 years I've played in TGA events, and it’s pretty dang sweet to win, because people don't understand how much good golf there is in Tennessee.”

But Uselton’s competitive mindset snapped back into gear after his sentimental lapse, knowing he still had some unfinished business on his way to shooting a final round of 71, finishing with a 54-hole total 8-over 218 to win by three over Hubie Smith.

“I said to myself, ‘Dude, you’ve got to hold it together. You’ve still got a hole to play,’” Uselton said. “But when I hit a good tee shot down the right side, I knew it was over then.”

The former University of South Carolina golfer and Tullahoma native had a fair measure of success in his earlier days, winning the 1985 Tennessee Match Play Championship and a pair of Tennessee State Four-Ball titles in 1999 and 2003. Uselton also finished runner-up in the 2001 Tennessee State Amateur, tied for 5^th in his best showing among his trio of U.S. Mid-Amateur appearances and qualified for a pair of U.S. Amateurs.

But when his two sons came along in 1999 and 2000, Uselton turned his focus to being a father and tabled his competitive golf aspirations. One of his sons, Jack, went on to play collegiately at Belmont University and captured the 2019 State Four-Ball championship.

“This is my first individual TGA tournament in probably over 20 years,” Uselton said. “I’ve played in a couple of state senior four-balls, but that’s it.”

Knowing how difficult Memphis Country Club had played the previous two days, Uselton felt like the setup suited his strengths.

“I've played all over. I played Oak Hill, the Crump Cup in Pine Valley. But these have to be the fastest greens I’ve ever played,” Uselton said. “But it's a ball striking course, so that's where I always felt like it was an advantage whenever I played a really hard golf course.”

Entering the day in a four-way tie atop the leaderboard, Uselton made an early statement by birdieing the opening hole. After a double bogey on No. 6, Uselton made the turn in even par with another birdie on the 9^th to grab a one-shot lead over Brentwood’s Smith, who started the day as a co-leader along with Todd Burgan of Powell and Lookout Mountain’s Zeb Patten.

“I was coming straight down the hill so no way was I thinking about making it. But it hit a great putt, and it went in from about 12 feet,” Uselton said of his birdie on No. 9. “On any other course, you're thinking birdie, but I’m just hoping I could two-putt from above the hole.”

Burgan started his round at 4-over through his first four holes to damage his hopes of winning, while Patten shot 41 on his opening nine to fall out of contention before rallying with nine pars on his inward nine.

With the war of attrition down to Smith and Uselton, the momentum swung decisively in Uselton’s favor on holes 10 and 11. Smith carded a double bogey to open the back nine, giving Uselton a three-shot advantage, and the lead swelled to four following a birdie by Uselton at No. 11.

Smith was able to trim the deficit to two with three holes remaining, but a costly double bogey on 16 allowed Uselton to cruise to the victory with pars on his last two holes.

Smith finished second at 11-over 221 following a final round 74, while Patten and defending champion Steven Mann tied for third at 13-over 223.

Mann, who will be competing along with Burgan at the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah starting on Saturday, made a valiant charge. Trailing by five shots entering the day, the Franklin resident shot 3-under through his first 12 holes to move within three of Uselton. However, four bogeys over his final six holes ended his hope of a repeat title.

John Harrington of Lakeland recorded a 70 on Thursday - the lone round of par or better during the tournament - to finish in a tie for fifth at 15-over 225 with Pat Danehy of Memphis.

A pair of Franklin natives – Pat Chisholm and Ken Lee – both closed at 16-over 226 to earn a seventh-place tie.

Fly Four-Peats in Super Senior Division

After winning his fourth consecutive Tennessee Super Senior Amateur title, Buzz Fly was asked to pick a favorite.

That’s a tall task for the veteran Memphis golfer who now has eight TGA titles to go along with a pair of Tennessee Super Senior State Open wins. It’s like asking an adoring father which of his children is his favorite.

“They’re all special, but it's very satisfying to come from four shots back on one of my favorite golf courses in the state,” Fly said. “I think it's underrated, but it has stood the test of time even though it's relatively short. Winning here at Memphis Country Club and how difficult it was playing is about as good as it gets.”

Fly was frustrated after posting a second round 80, but he recognized he didn’t need to chase down those ahead of him. If he played his game, he knew the golf course would never allow anyone to run away from the competition.

“I’ve never come back from being four down like this,” Fly said “So this is really satisfying to know that the golf course was playing so difficult and I was able to put together a solid round and give myself a chance to win.”

Starting with two groups behind him, Fly opened with six straight pars before a hiccup at the par 3 7^th hole, which he double bogeyed to push him five shots behind second round co-leader David Apperson.

But in the span of three holes, Fly suddenly found himself in a four-way tie for the lead. Fly had consecutive birdies on 9 and 10 while Apperson reeled off three straight bogeys on holes 6 thru 8 to join Barry Stafford of Memphis and Jackson’s Danny Green at 14-over.

Fly gave back a shot at No. 13 with a bogey, then immediately responded with a six-footer for birdie on 14 to force a tie with Green. The TPC Southwind member then logged three straight pars starting at 15 that gave him a two-shot advantage at the time.

“I knew I was even for the day after the birdie at 14, but I hadn’t looked online at the scores,” Fly said. “I'm just trying to mind my own business and keep my head down. I made good par putts on 15, 16, and then 17 before I checked the scores. That’s when I found out I had a two-shot lead right at that time.”

A bogey on the last cut Fly’s margin to a single shot over Apperson, who had two holes left to force a playoff. However, a bogey on No. 17 ended the comeback hopes for Apperson, also a Memphis resident.

Fly’s final round of 71 was the best score posted over the three days of competition, his final score of 15-over 225 two better than Apperson’s 17-over 227 following his final-round 77.

Danny Green also shot 77 on Thursday to close with an 18-over 228, good for third place while Fred McCord of Collierville posted a 74 to finish fourth at 19-over 229.

Doug Harris of Nashville and Kingsport’s Tony Green tied for fifth at 21-over 231, two shots better than Ed Link of Memphis, Tom Provow of College Grove and Stafford, all who finished at 23-over 233 to earn a tie for seventh.

For complete results, go to State Sr Am/Super Sr Am results

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com