2027 ETN Lake Tansi

The East Tennessee Amateur Players Tour opened its 2027 season on Sunday, October 11th at Lake Tansi Golf Course for a premier amateur golf tournament. A field of 39 players competed across five divisions, with two net games running alongside, as the chapter’s 2027 run of Chattanooga amateur golf tournaments and East Tennessee stops got underway. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.

Division 1 belonged to Ramsey Kimbrough of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, who posted a 1-over 73 — the low round of the day by any player in the field — and won by four shots. Kimbrough made the par-5 5th the centerpiece of his round, holing out for eagle after picking up a birdie at the par-4 4th, and he turned in even-par 36. The back nine asked more of him, but he answered where it mattered most: a birdie at the par-4 17th, the hardest hole on the golf course all day, carried him to 1-over 37 coming home and a 1-under closing three holes. That 17th gave up only two birdies in 39 trips and played nearly a shot and a half over par, which makes Kimbrough’s the most valuable swing of the afternoon.

Runner-up honors in the division went to Bryan Moody of Allardt, Tennessee, visiting from the Nashville chapter, whose 5-over 77 was the second-lowest number anyone turned in. Moody went out in 5-over 41 and then flipped the switch, birdieing the par-4 11th and riding thirteen pars to an even-par 36 on the inward half — the only player among the day’s leaders to bring a nine home in regulation figures on the way to a top-two finish. Three players finished within seven shots of the lead.

Division 2 went to Jody Barrett of Dickson, Tennessee, who opened his round with a 4-over 40 and a birdie at the par-4 10th on the way to a 6-over 78 and a three-shot win. Barrett’s 2-over 38 on the second nine, built on ten pars across the round, was enough to hold off a division where the top four were separated by six strokes. Vic Wolaver of Lynnville, Tennessee, also in from the Nashville chapter, took second at 9-over 81, matching Barrett’s 4-over 40 start before signing for 5-over 41 on the way in with nine pars on his card.

Division 3 produced the tightest finish of the day. Brandon Howard of Speedwell, Tennessee broke through at 10-over 82, winning by a single stroke. Howard’s round was a grind at both ends — 6-over 42 out, 4-over 40 in — and his lone birdie came at the par-3 12th, the most generous hole on the property, which surrendered five birdies and thirteen pars across the field. Travis Millard of Rossville, Georgia pushed him to the last, going out in 8-over 44 and then making up ground with a 3-over 39 back nine that included a birdie at the par-5 14th, finishing one back at 11-over 83. Gene Christian of Abingdon, Virginia was third at 13-over 85 to round out the money positions, in a division where five players finished within five shots of the winner.

Division 4 was won by Correy Garland of Piney Flats, Tennessee, and the shape of his 11-over 83 was one of the more striking cards of the day. Garland made the turn in 11-over 47, then came home in even-par 36 — a nine that included a birdie at the par-4 17th, the hole that bloodied the rest of the field, and an even-par run over the closing six holes. That inward half turned a difficult morning into a three-shot victory. Russell Tays of Grimsley, Tennessee claimed runner-up honors at 14-over 86, and he followed a similar script: 10-over 46 going out, 4-over 40 coming back, with a birdie at the par-4 16th. Behind them the division bunched up, with four players sitting together on 94.

In Division 5, Roger Vaughn of Jamestown, Tennessee took the title with a 21-over 93, a six-shot win. Vaughn was 9-over 45 at the turn and picked up his birdie at the par-3 6th. Aaron Smith of Chattanooga finished in 2nd.

The Mid-Am Net game was a runaway. Correy Garland backed up his Division 4 title with a net 4-under 68, the best net number posted anywhere on the property, and he won the contest by five clear strokes to complete the double-dip. Brandon Howard made it two trips to the podium of his own, taking second at net 1-over 73 to go with his one-shot win in Division 3. Only three players in the ten-man contest finished within seven of Garland’s number, which is the clearest measure of how far clear that 68 stood.

Senior Net came down to a single shot, and it belonged to Jody Barrett, whose net even-par 72 made him the second player of the day to win twice. Barrett’s 6-over 78 in Division 2 and his net 72 in the senior game completed the double-dip and left him with the only pair of wins on the board alongside Garland. Vic Wolaver finished one back at net 1-over 73 for runner-up honors, the second time the two Nashville-area visitors had traded places on the same leaderboard, and six players in the contest finished within seven shots of the top.

Taken together, the opener produced two multiple winners, a one-shot finish in both Division 3 and Senior Net, and a low round of 1-over 73 that no one else got within four of. The 17th proved to be the hole that defined the scoring — only two birdies against a stroke-and-a-half average over par — and the players who solved it, Kimbrough and Garland, both ended the day in the Winners Circle.

Next up in the East Tennessee chapter — the Island Pointe Breezy Shootout, an Elevated Event, on Sunday, November 1st. Space is limited and registration closes October 28th. One week later the tour heads to Bear Trace at Harrison Bay on Sunday, November 8th, with registration closing November 5th.