Junior and amateur golfers from across the Mobile and Baldwin County area are keeping busy this week, with a major statewide championship underway in Point Clear and a new invitational tournament crowning its first champion at the Country Club of Mobile.
The 76th annual Alabama State Boys Junior Championship, conducted by the Alabama Golf Association, opened Tuesday at Lakewood Golf Club’s Dogwood Course and is scheduled to run through Thursday. The three-day, 54-hole event will determine the 2021 Alabama State Boys Junior champion, with only the overall title on the line. Entrants range from as young as 12 to 18 years old.
Lakewood is also the site chosen for the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, which is set to be contested on the Point Clear course in September, giving the club back-to-back turns hosting high-profile golf in the same year.
First-round tee times Tuesday began at 7:40 a.m., with the final groups going off at 2:15 p.m. A large contingent of players from the local coverage area is in the field, including Jackson Spybey of Loxley, Brody Quattlebaum and Stephen Baker of Fairhope, Cole Komyati of Spanish Fort, Zackery Coker of Orange Beach, Thomas Crane and Ken Brown of Mobile, Abe Solomon of Fairhope, A.J. Nobles of Bay Minette, Blake Cornell of Daphne, and dozens of other area juniors, among them Braxton Bonner, Buddy Kinsey, Coleman Boothe, Eli Kinsey, Emory Walker, Hank Miner, Harper Walker, Jack Thompson, Jack Tobias, John Daniels, John Stubbs, Luke Ferguson, Max Johnston, Michael Crocker, Miles Jackson, Miles Miller, Nathan King, Noel Hand III, Pierce Guy, Reid Larson, Scotty Cooper, Thomas Carey, Timothy DeLong, Trip Duke, Tyler Bjorgum, Tyler Chesser, Wells Lambert, Weston Enfinger, Will Howard and Will Middleton.
At the Country Club of Mobile, Matt Ritchie held off the field and a stretch of severe weather Sunday to win the inaugural Woody Woodall Invitational. Ritchie closed with a 2-under-par 68 in the final round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament, which was created to honor longtime club professional Woody Woodall. Woodall served as director of golf at the Country Club of Mobile for more than 33 years, was inducted into the Dixie Section PGA Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, and died in 2019.
Ritchie’s three-round total of 206 was one stroke better than runner-up Michael Johnson, who shot a final-round 70 to finish at 207. Robert Nelson, who carded a 67 on Sunday, and Eric Howle, who shot 71, tied for third at 208. Braxton Gillespie rounded out the top five at 210 after a closing 69.
Vincent Cave and Wilson McDonald, each shooting 72 in the final round, tied for sixth in the 48-player field at 211. Bart Barnes (67) and Russ Etherton (66) tied for eighth at 213, and Conner Elder took 10th at 214 after a 72. In the senior division, Nelson claimed the title, with Richard Jeffers taking second at 217, nine shots back.
“Friday we kind of lucked out and had a little rain delay and Saturday we got it in, but of course [Sunday] it monsooned out here for two hours,” Ritchie said. “I was really hot on the front nine — I was 3-under through seven — and anytime you have a two-hour rain delay it throws a wrench in the system.”
Elsewhere on the local golf scene, Sheldon Statkewicz, who played college golf at Spring Hill College and recently won the Mobile Metro championship at Azalea City Golf Course, is set to make his professional debut this week at the Alabama Open. Statkewicz had qualified for the U.S. Amateur and opted to retain his amateur status through that event before turning pro. He is scheduled to tee off at 9:10 a.m. Friday at Twin Bridges Golf Course in Gadsden in the opening round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament. Other area golfers in the Alabama Open field include Steven Setterstrom, Drew Mathis, Jeffrey Darst and Phillip Darst of Mobile, Mike Genovese of Loxley, Todd Bailey of Daphne, Matthew Stinebaugh and Robert Oppliger of Fairhope, Gregory Jones of Mobile and Matt Luther of Mobile.
In Lite Scratch Tour standings, the tour’s Regular and Senior divisions are set as players await the next stop, July 24-25 at Magnolia Grove Golf Course in Mobile, part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Conner Elder currently leads the Regular Division, followed by John Wright, Austin Hynson, Patrick Doggett, Haymes Snedeker and Michael Johnson, with Preston Rich and Jay Friday tied for seventh ahead of Matt Ritchie and Will Daigle. In the Senior Division, Danny Spybey holds the lead over Robert Nelson, Emile Vaughn, George Walker, Kurt Wielkens, Davis Sellers, Jefferey Darst, Richard Jeffers, Wayne Gardner and James Prim.
The Jimmy Green Junior Golf Tour also wrapped up three recent tournaments in the area: the Huffman Golf Academy Junior Open at GlenLakes Golf Club in Foley, the Terry Thompson Chevrolet Open at Lakewood Golf Club in Point Clear, and the Bay Business News Classic at Heron Lakes Country Club in Mobile. At GlenLakes, age-group champions included Jackson Spybey (boys 16-18), Kylie Johnston (girls 16-18), Thomas Crane (boys 13-15) and Addison Spears (girls 13-15), among others. At Lakewood, winners included Manton Davidson (boys 16-18), Ashford Madden (girls 16-18) and Ken Brown (boys 13-15). At Heron Lakes, Davidson and Johnston again topped the 16-18 divisions, with Brown and Spears again winning their age groups. More tournaments on the Jimmy Green Junior Golf Tour are planned in the coming days.