Kearney Share First-Round Lead at Georgia Senior Championship Leaders card 3-under 67 on opening day

DAHLONEGA, Ga. (August 25, 2010) – Past champion Larry Clark of Kingston and Jack Kearney of Peachtree City both carded 3-under-par 67 to share the lead after the first round of the 24th Georgia Senior Championship, taking place at Achasta Golf Club, August 25-27. Another past champion, Spencer Sappington of Milton, trails the leaders by a stroke after posting a 68. 

Former GSGA Senior Player of the Year Don Marsh of Johns Creek and past Georgia Senior Open champion Rocky Costa of Alpharetta are tied for fourth at 69, the only other players to score under par in the opening round. Four competitors – Ken Benson of Alpharetta, Rick Farage of Warner Robins, Walter Hope of Gainesville and Curt Knorr of Dunwoody – are tied for sixth at even-par 70. Eight players are tied for 10th at 71.

Defending champion Jimmy Thomas of Johns Creek posted a 77 and is currently tied for 63rd.

Clark and Kearney both collected several birdies on their opening-round scorecard. Clark, who won this title in 2006 at Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta, had six birdies, including four on the back nine. Kearney carded five birdies, three on the back. Interestingly, the only hole they both birdied was the 507-yard 14th.

There was just one eagle on the day, and that belonged to Bob McClearen of Alpharetta. He tallied a 2 on the 300-yard 13th hole. He is among the group tied for 10th at 71.

Achasta Golf Club is playing to 6,334 yards.

The Georgia Senior Championship is conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association. Entries were open to male amateur golfers at least 55 years old as of August 25, 2010, who belong to a GSGA Member Club. The field of 144 was determined by the lowest USGA Handicap Indexes. 

Second-round tee times get underway at 8:00 a.m. Thursday. The Championship format is 54 holes of stroke play over three days. After 36 holes of play, the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader. 

Score updates -- including a full leader board and individual player scorecards -- are available on the Georgia State Golf Association web site, www.gsga.org. Scores will be updated on the web site after nine and 18 holes on Thursday. Live, hole-by-hole scoring will be available during Friday’s final round.

Founded in 1916, the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) received its official charter on June 24, 1924. Since that date, the GSGA has grown to one of the largest state amateur golf associations in the country, with over 355 member clubs and 85,000 individual members. With a mission to promote and preserve amateur golf in the state of Georgia, GSGA offers a computerized handicapping service, course rating and measuring, and annually conducts a full schedule of statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups. Other services include a summer-long junior sectional program, award-winning Golf Georgia magazine, membership recognition and rewards programs and a charitable foundation administering two college scholarship programs.


Georgia State Golf Association
24th Annual Georgia Senior Championship
Achasta Golf Club, Dahlonega
August 25-27, 2010

First Round Results
Par 70

Place Name Total To Par
T1 Larry Clark, Kingston 67 -3
T1 Jack Kearney, Peachtree City 67 -3
3 Spencer Sappington, Milton 68 -2
T4 Don Marsh, Johns Creek 69 -1
T4 Rocky Costa, Alpharetta 69 -1
T6 Rick Farage, Warner Robins 70 Even
T6 Walter Hope, Gainesville 70 Even
T6 Curt Knorr, Dunwoody 70 Even
T6 Ken Benson, Alpharetta 70 Even
T10 Bill Blalock, Atlanta 71 1
T10 Ken Walters, Kennesaw 71 1
T10 Wally Adams, Vidalia 71 1
T10 Bill Leonard, Kennesaw 71 1
T10 Bob McClearen, Alpharetta 71 1
T10 Fred Atterberry, Dahlonega 71 1
T10 Glen Vaughn, Dallas 71 1
T10 Donnie Crump, Atlanta 71 1
T18 Randy Bowman, Summerville 72 2
T18 Nick Kirkland, Snellville 72 2
T18 Frank Costanzo, Savannah 72 2
T18 Mark Wiesner, Roswell 72 2
T18 Richard Tatum, Atlanta 72 2
T18 Phil Pavoni, Macon 72 2
T24 John Cochran III, Duluth 73 3
T24 Bill Ploeger, Columbus 73 3
T24 Don Russell, Atlanta 73 3
T24 Stephen Klein, Atlanta 73 3
T24 Ron Hunter, Jasper 73 3
T24 Brian Johnston, Duluth 73 3
T24 Larry Kloock, Cummimg 73 3
T24 Joe Brogdon, Macon 73 3
T32 Alan Thielemann, Woodstock 74 4
T32 Bill Evans, Columbus 74 4
T32 Dan Rhoads, Flowery Branch 74 4
T32 Eddie Register, Sugar Hill 74 4
T32 Dave Wilder, Braselton 74 4
T32 Kent Blevins, Lebanon 74 4
T32 Ernie Venet, Moultrie 74 4
T32 Joe Dorner, Albany 74 4
T32 Bob Young, Dunwoody 74 4
T32 Jim Planche, Lawrenceville 74 4
T32 John Holle, LaGrange 74 4
T32 Jim Kamis, Marietta 74 4
T32 Scott Northey, Roswell 74 4
T32 Darrel Beck, Columbus 74 4
T46 Mike Cooper, Albany 75 5
T46 Mike Jackson, Martinez 75 5
T46 Pete Livezey, Atlanta 75 5
T46 Glenn Kavanagh, Powder 75 5
T46 Weldon Wintter, Acworth 75 5
T46 Bob Lutz, Dacula 75 5
T46 Tom Hoffecker, Lilburn 75 5
T46 David Dougherty, Lagrange 75 5
T46 Gerry Grogan, Gainesville 75 5
T55 John Barry, Marietta 76 6
T55 Dave Sexton, Suwanee 76 6
T55 Charles McKeever, Dunwoody 76 6
T55 Bill Clanton, Albany 76 6
T55 David Nichols, Roswell 76 6
T55 Thomas Rood, Savannah 76 6
T55 Jack Benson, Roswell 76 6
T55 Bill McCauley, Atlanta 76 6
T63 Mark Baxter, Atlanta 77 7
T63 Gary Stroup, Helen 77 7
T63 Frank Perry, Fayetteville 77 7
T63 Joe Ingram, Gainesville 77 7
T63 Neil Monroe, Sharpsburg 77 7
T63 Bernie Tibbs, Newnan 77 7
T63 Paul Rose, Claxton 77 7
T63 Jimmy Thomas, Johns Creek 77 7
T63 Jeff Williams, Atlanta 77 7
T63 Dan Trotter, Cataula, 77 7
T63 Mark Lemons, Eatonton 77 7
T63 Bradley Virgil, Marietta 77 7
T75 Pete Malcolm, Duluth 78 8
T75 Claude Weaver, Toccoa 78 8
T75 Martin Horsky, St. Simons 78 8
T75 Gil Campbell, Cumming 78 8
T75 Jim Lester, Columbus 78 8
T75 Doug Cole, Lawrenceville 78 8
T75 Danny Ives, Cumming 78 8
T75 Jud Cuttino, Savannah 78 8
T75 Wally Gramling, Dahlonega 78 8
T75 Ladell Norton, Rome 78 8
T75 Randall Rozier, Mcdonough 78 8
T75 Marvin Davenport, Hiawassee 78 8
T87 Dennis Hanson, Macon 79 9
T87 Rob Lauer, Newnan 79 9
T87 Tom Toombs, Perry 79 9
T87 Larry White, Atlanta 79 9
T87 Earl Johnson, Lawrenceville 79 9
T87 Edsel Davis, Macon 79 9
T87 Richard Ward, Braselton 79 9
T94 Bill Newsom, Clarkesville 80 10
T94 Ron Holtzman, Roswell 80 10
T94 Terry Prillaman, Dawsonville 80 10
T94 Jim Duncan, Newnan 80 10
T94 John Ball Jr., Powder Springs 80 10
T94 Ron Ford, Dunwoody 80 10
T94 Christopher DeMarco, Acworth 80 10
T94 Paul Wolfe, Grayson 80 10
T94 John Minkley, Atlanta 80 10
T94 Darryl Harris, Woodstock 80 10
T104 Martin Ball, Rome 81 11
T104 Erik Daniels, Atlanta 81 11
T104 Curtis Wagner, Peachtree City 81 11
T104 Charles Speakman, Columbus 81 11
T104 Don Lieb, Savannah 81 11
T104 Doug Faulkner, Martinez 81 11
T104 Jeff Smith, Greensboro 81 11
T104 Berney Armstrong, Valdosta 81 11
T104 Barry Peets, Lilburn 81 11
T104 Don Chambers, Fayetteville 81 11
T114 Jackson Moore, Marietta 82 12
T114 Robert Mory, Roswell 82 12
T114 Ron Savastano, Roswell 82 12
T114 Joe Walcher, Cumming 82 12
T114 Thomas Hall, Albany 82 12
T114 Andy Higgins, Braselton 82 12
T114 Bruce Connors, Sharpsburg 82 10
T121 Dave McCarty, Johns Creek 83 13
T121 Bill Hubbard, Dawsonville 83 13
T121 Randy Berry, Roswell 83 13
T121 Larry Hines, Sharpsburg 83 13
T121 Mits Ogawa, Columbus 83 13
T121 Steve Martin, Johns Creek 83 13
T127 Dale Holland, Dawsonville 84 14
T127 Bob Fowler, Atlanta 84 14
T127 Karl Simon, Lawrenceville 84 14
T127 Rick G Conley, Marietta 84 14
T131 George Bullard, Martinez 85 15
T131 Stacy Webb, Statesboro 85 15
T131 Lanny Bailey, Dalton 85 15
T131 John Williams, Marietta 85 15
T131 Murray Calhoun III, Columbus 85 15
T136 Joe Adamczak, Johns Creek 86 16
T136 Jim Weeks, Savannah 86 16
T138 Andy Robinson, Columbus 87 17
T138 Randy Jackson, Gainesville 87 17
T138 Dave Barwick, Suwanee 87 17
T138 Alan Crowell, Norcross 87 17
142 Bruce Wood, Duluth 88 18
143 Bob Bertrand, Alpharetta 89 19
144 Bruce Jennings, Dalton 91 21


Results - Georgia Senior Championship