WOODSTOCK, Ga. (Oct. 16, 2011) - The Georgia State Golf Association team fell short in the opening round of the 38th Billy Peters Cup Matches to the Georgia Section PGA professionals at Capital City Club-Crabapple Course, 5 ½ - 2 ½. The state’s top amateurs earned just 2 ½ points in Sunday’s opening round, and looks to come-from-behind in Monday’s final-round singles matches against the state’s top 16 professionals in hopes of capturing their fifth-consecutive title. The GSGA has won four-straight matches in the biennial event.
The GSGA squad won two of the eight matches, halved another, and lost five to earn its 2 ½ points after the four-ball matches.
In the opening match of the day, the GPGA’s Stephen Keppler and Greg Lee defeated the GSGA’s Michael Standard and Dave Womack, both of McDonough, 1 up. In match two, the GSGA’s Billy Mitchell of Roswell and Mark Sweeney of Monroe halved their match with Jeff Hull and Clark Spratlin of the GPGA. Christian Raynor of Kennesaw and Scott Weeks of Savannah of Team GSGA fell to the GPGA’s Michael Parrott and Winston Trively, 3 and 2, in match three.
The GSGA senior team of Don Marsh of Alpharetta and Bill Leonard of Kennesaw defeated the GPGA’s Danny Elkins and Ted Meier, 1 up, earning the first GSGA win of the day. The other senior match point went to the GPGA’s Sonny Skinner and Craig Stevens as they defeated the GSGA’s Jack Hall of Sea Island and Doug Hanzel of Savannah, 1 up.
In match six, the GPGA’s Shawn Koch and David Potts defeated the GSGA’s duo of Chris Chuck of Roswell and Matt Russell of Dunwoody, 2 and 1. Team GSGA won its second match of the day as Chris Hall of Kennesaw and Adam Thomas of Baxley beat the GPGA’s Bill Murchison and Phil Taylor, 1 up.
In the final match of the day, the pros of the GPGA, Matthew Evans and Tim Weinhart, came out on top, 1 up, over the amateurs of the GSGA, David Noll, Jr., of Dalton and Mark Strickland of Woodstock, securing the GPGA’s round one lead.
The 16 singles matches will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning. The pairings will be determined on Sunday evening at the players’ banquet and posted at www.gsga.org. The event’s format awards one point to the team of a player that wins his match, with half-points going to those players whose matches end All Square after 18 holes of play.
The Billy Peters Cup Matches, formerly known as the GSGA-GPGA Challenge Cup, changed its name in 2007 to honor Peters’ contributions to the game. Peters, of Blakely, is a former president of the Georgia State Golf Association and honorary vice president of the Georgia Section PGA. He was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1993. This competition began in 1962 and was held annually until 1987 when it became a biennial event. The GSGA has captured the last four matches but trails in the all-time series 19 ½ – 16 ½.
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ABOUT THE Billy Peters Cup Matches
Biennial competition between an amateur team
representing the Georgia State Golf Association
(GSGA) and a professional team representing
the Georgia PGA Section (GPGA).
Entries: Teams from the GSGA and Georgia
Section, PGA; players determined by recent
performance in association events
Field: 16-man teams, including four seniors.
GPGA team includes one touring professional.
Format: One round of four-ball matches and
one round of singles matches
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