Keene’s Win At Signal Mountain Carries Added Significance

Over the course of his storied career in amateur golf, Richard Keene has amassed a truckload of trophies in the past five decades. He has lost count of the total number of tournaments won, a figure that is well north of three dozen including a trio of Tennessee Mid-Amateur titles.

Despite his impressive résumé, few of Keene’s previous accolades can compare to the importance of Sunday’s capturing of the Senior Flight at the Signal Mountain Men’s Invitational considering his journey over the past year.

Almost one year ago to the day, golf suddenly took a back seat on the 67-year-old Keene’s list of priorities. Instead, he found himself inside a cardiac ICU unit, recovering from a six-bypass open heart procedure.

“It’s the first time I’ve won since my surgery, which was a year ago Wednesday,” Keene said. “Without a doubt, it makes you look at things differently. Three-foot putts aren't as hard as they used to be.”

Keene drained an eight-foot par saving putt on the final hole to record a closing round of 1-under 70 on Sunday at Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club, finishing his three days at 1-over 214 to win by four shots over Brent Henley and Shonn Weldon.

Entering the final round owning a one-shot lead over Henley and Weldon, Keene birdied 4 and 5 to maintain a single stroke edge over Weldon at the turn while Henley was four back. The lead grew to three after Keene birdied 13 while Weldon carded a bogey, and an even-par back nine by Keene slammed the door on any comeback attempts from his playing partners.

“Richard is tougher than a two-dollar steak when he’s got a lead,” Henley said. “He just doesn’t make mistakes.”

After being given an initial timetable of at least six months before returning to golf activities, Keene was back chipping and putting mere weeks following his surgery. His comeback has been an arduous journey, but Sunday’s win provided a special sense of gratitude and accomplishment.

“It means a lot because I came from a pretty dark spot following my surgery,” Keene said. “Golf is not life or death. This sounds corny, but I've seen life or death when you wake up with your legs wrapped up, your arms wrapped up, and tubes coming out everywhere.

“Going through that has really helped my attitude, because there's worse things that can happen to you. It's all about perspective. I hit shots now that if I hit them five years ago, I'd have blown the top of my head off. But don’t get me wrong - I still want to win.”

The weekend was made even more memorable when Keene’s 20-year-old daughter, Olivia, accompanied him for Saturday’s round, allowing them to share the significance of his return to competitive golf.

“She came up and rode around with me, which was special,” Keene said.

The win provided Keene with his fourth title in the long-standing event that began in 1937, adding to his Championship Flight win in 1993 along with Senior victories in 2016 and 2021.

Henley and Weldon both closed with final round 73s to complete their 54 holes in 5-over 218. Rick Mays finished fourth at 6-over 219 after shooting 72 on Sunday, while Jay Potter placed fifth at 9-over 222 with a closing round of 73.

Vidrine Cruises To Championship Flight Victory

Keoni Vidrine had planned to make a detour on his way to Signal Mountain for Saturday’s second round play that he’s now glad never materialized.

Vidrine was unhappy with his putting performance during Friday’s opening round, so he decided to swing by his storage building to snag his putter from his college days for the remainder of the tournament.

Thankfully, those plans fell by the wayside due to an early Saturday tee time coupled with a late departure from home. Needless to say, Vidrine’s current putter has earned the right to remain in his bag for the foreseeable future.

After shooting 66 while recording eight birdies in his second round of the Championship Flight to forge a three-stroke lead, Vidrine continued his torrid play to open Sunday’s round. Birdies on his first three holes coupled with early struggles by his closest challengers enabled Vidrine’s advantage to quickly swell to eight shots, and he coasted home with the victory after leading by as many as ten strokes.

Vidrine carded a final round 69 that featured six birdies – including converting a 15-footer at 18 for a final exclamation point – to close at 8-under 205, six shots clear of runner-up Andrew Weathers.

“After those early birdies there was no stress, which is nice for a change,” Vidrine said. “Obviously, it's always good to be on that side of things in a tournament instead of the other way. I'll certainly take it.”

Over the past year, Vidrine has found himself leading several golf tournaments entering the final round but was unable to finish on top. But Sunday’s quick start on the heels of Saturday’s electric performance enabled him to cruise to the comfortable win despite bogeying three of four holes down the stretch.

“Mentally for me, it was great to get off to a good start,” Vidrine said. “It gave me a cushion, and I maintained the same mindset throughout the round. I wasn't planning on backing down at all, just playing my game and taking advantage of my length with my driver like I always do. My golf swing is in a good state where I'm pretty sure I know where my golf ball is going when I make contact, and I made my fair share of putts this weekend.”

However, Vidrine is glad he never followed through with intended equipment change in swapping putters.

“It was very frustrating how I putted that first day,” Vidrine said. “But I didn't change putters because I woke up late and had an 8:10 tee time. I’m glad it worked out like it did.”

Weathers put together a bogey-free round of 66 on Sunday with five birdies to finish at 2-under 211. This was on the heels of shooting a 5-under 31 on Saturday’s front nine that was later undone by a 41 on the back nine that made his climb back into contention too steep to overcome.

Rich Spangler finished third at 1-under 212 after posting a final round 69, while Seth Brandon, Peyton Ogle and Brandon Cissom tied for fourth with totals of 1-over 214.

Josh Coley placed seventh at 2-over 215, one shot ahead of five-time champion Michael Morrison who compiled a three-day total of 3-over 216.

For complete results, go to Signal Mountain results.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com