Cotton States: Churchman, Gjesteby reach championship match
Cory Churchman (left) + Andreas Gjesteby
MONROE, La. — Thirty-two players are down to the final two at the W.E. Cole Cotton States Invitational. Sunday's 18-hole championship match will feature University of North Texas junior Cory Churchman and Baylor University senior Andreas Gjesteby.
Churchman, the Abilene, Texas native who held the first-round lead during stroke play qualifying, eventually took the No. 8 seed but stormed his way through the first four rounds to reach the final, including a 1-up victory over Ross Bell III on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals.
Gjesteby, of Norway, earned the No. 2 seed after rounds of 71 and 68 in stroke play. He mowed through his four opponents, never reaching the 17th hole during any of his matches. His closest match came in the semifinals when he defeated University of Arkansas golfer Zach Coats 3-and-2.
Tomorrow's 18-hole final will begin at 8:30 a.m. local time at Bayou DeSiard Country Club in Monroe, Louisiana.
ABOUT THE Cotton States Amateur
Originally played in 1949 as the Bayou
DeSiard Labor Day Golf Tournament, the
tournament's
name was changed to the Cotton States
Invitational in 1951 by the club's young head
professional, W. E. "Winnie" Cole. He felt that
the
name better reflected the main states that the
tournament's players originated from (and a
move
to
mid-summer made the name a necessity later
anyway). Little did Cole know that 27 years
later, in
1978, the event would be renamed again,
forever to
be known as the W. E. Cole Cotton States
Invitational Golf Tournament.
Past champions of this highly competitive, yet
festive
tournament include Don January and Hal
Sutton. Gil
Morgan, David
Toms and many other PGA Tour players have
also
competed. The tournament field field is limited
to 96
amateur
participants
having a verified USGA Handicap Index not
exceeding 0.0. Long a match play event, the
format was changed in 2021 to 72 holes of
stroke play.
View Complete Tournament Information