When the Tennessee Golf Association kicked off its 2024 schedule of events in early May with the 4th Tennessee Mid-Amateur Four-Ball tournament, Mother Nature had other plans for the weekend.
An afternoon monsoon soaked the Towhee Club in Spring Hill during the opening round, making the course unplayable for the remainder of the tournament. Only one-third of the groups were able to complete their rounds, and the tournament was rescheduled for this weekend with ideal weather conditions expected.
A pair of golfers from Jackson Country Club, Aaron Ingalls and Jeff Reuter, had taken advantage of a morning tee time back in May to post a score of 10-under 60 before the storms arrived to grab an early lead. Unfortunately, that impressive showing was wiped away as the tournament will start afresh on Saturday.
Trying to find an open date became a challenge given the fact most weekends were already booked with various state, local and national events over the course of the summer. Plus, competing with high school and college football presented additional challenges.
Ingalls and Reuter are back hoping to continue their mastery of the par-70, 6,513-yard Towhee Club and reclaim the title they won in 2022, but last year’s winning tandem are not in the field. Lucas Armstrong of Church Hill and Payne Denman of Knoxville are unable to pursue a repeat as champions as Denman is busy with his new gig as a golf assistant with the University of Tennessee’s men’s team that is hosting a tournament this weekend.
In fact, last year’s champions as well as the trio of teams that tied for second four strokes back are missing from this weekend’s roster.
A total of 42 teams will be vying for the winner’s trophy in the two-day event. Teams with connections to the Chattanooga area include the duo of Andrew Black and Bill Tarver along with Nathan Frazier paired with Keoni Vidrine.
Lookout Mountain’s Wallace McKinney will go to battle with Mac Keith of Brentwood, Council Fire Club’s Brendon Wilson is combining with Corey Rochelle of Lawrenceburg and Hunter Clary of Council Fire will pair with Jay Rhoten of Nashville.
For complete results and live scoring, go to State Mid-Am Four-Ball
Upcoming TGA Events: Three days following the conclusion of the State Mid-Amateur Four-Ball, the Tennessee Mid-Amateur Championship will take place at Jackson Country Club. Taylor Mottern, the women’s golf coach at Sewanee, will seek to defend his title at the event slated to run next Wednesday through Friday.
The Tennessee Women’s Senior and Mid-Amateur Championships will be Sept. 17-18 at Franklin Bridge Golf Club, with the season concluding with the Tennessee Senior and Super Senior Match Play Championships concluding the schedule at Shelbyville’s River Bend Country Club on Sept. 24-27.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com