2027 NSH – Saddle Creek

The Nashville Amateur Players Tour returned to Saddle Creek Golf Club on Sunday, October 18, 2026, for one of the fall’s premier Nashville amateur golf tournaments. A field of 75 players competed across five divisions, with a pair of net games running alongside them, as players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.

Saddle Creek has recently changed out its putting surfaces to TifEagle Bermuda, and the new greens were firm all day. Coupled with thick rough that made simply locating a golf ball a difficult task — even a yellow one — the course asked for position off the tee and gave very little back around the hole.

The weather was no part of the defense. An early-morning start in the high 40s had the first groups bundled up, but the day warmed into the high 60s and low 70s, and by midday the conditions were as good as the fall offers.

Division 1 belonged to Matt Mitchell. The Burns, Tennessee player posted an even-par 72, the low round of the day by anyone in the field, and he built it on the back nine. Mitchell turned in 2-over 38 and came home in 2-under 34, with three birdies on the card — at the par-3 5th, then back-to-back at the par-5 12th and the par-3 13th — against just three bogeys and a dozen pars. The race was tight early: through six holes Jeff Richter was level with him and John Hipp was a single stroke back. By the twelfth, Mitchell had put five between himself and Hipp, six on Richter and seven on Daniel Hickson, and the division was settled. Hipp, in from the East Tennessee chapter and playing out of Christiana, Tennessee, finished in 2nd, closing 1-under over his last three holes with a birdie at the par-5 18th. Hickson of Murfreesboro and Richter of Spring Hill shared 3rd at 9-over 81. Mitchell’s margin of victory was seven strokes.

Division 2 produced the tightest finish of the day among the gross divisions, and Chris Phillips of Nashville had to earn it. Phillips opened in 6-over 42 and trailed three different players at the turn — through twelve holes Vic Wolaver was three ahead of him, Tim Ewing two ahead and Branden Mortensen one ahead. Phillips then came home in even-par 36, birdieing the par-5 12th and the par-3 13th in succession and adding another at the par-3 17th, and by the fifteenth he had moved a stroke clear of all three. He signed for 6-over 78 and a one-shot win. Wolaver of Lynnville and Ewing of Chapel Hill tied for 2nd at 7-over 79, Wolaver with birdies at the par-4 2nd and the par-5 12th, Ewing with his at the par-5 9th and the 12th. Mortensen of Eagleville took 4th at 8-over 80 to round out the money positions, grinding out ten pars and playing his inward nine in 3-over 39. Four players finished within two strokes of the lead.

Division 3 was the biggest contest of the day at 24 players, and Don Weiss Jr of Dickson held off a crowded chase. Weiss went out in 5-over 41 and still had company at the twelfth, where both Mark Hussain and Sid Pomeroy sat a single stroke behind him. His birdie at the par-4 14th was the separator; by the fifteenth the margin was four, and Weiss closed out a 9-over 81 and a two-shot win. Pomeroy of Brentwood finished 2nd at 11-over 83, with a birdie at the par-3 7th and a 4-over 40 on the way home. Three players tied for 3rd at 12-over 84 — Eric Hawley of Cane Ridge, Hussain of Murfreesboro and Matt Love of Greenbrier — to round out the money positions. Hawley birdied the par-3 5th, Love the par-3 13th, and Love recovered from an 8-over 44 start to play the back nine in 4-over 40. Seven players finished within five strokes of the lead.

Division 4 went to Stephen Geltch of Nolensville, who had the busiest afternoon of anyone in the field — he won this division and the Senior Net as well. Geltch did it the hard way. Through six holes he was four behind both Chris Woods and Tyler Hahn and three behind Jason Prins, having made the turn in 9-over 45. The inward nine was a different round: 5-over 41, with the last six played in 3-over, and by the twelfth he had drawn level with Prins and Woods. Three strokes clear by the fifteenth, Geltch signed for 14-over 86 and a three-shot win. Prins of Murfreesboro was 2nd at 17-over 89, picking up a birdie at the par-4 16th. Woods of Thompson’s Station and Hahn of Smyrna tied for 3rd at 18-over 90, Woods with the lone birdie of his round at the par-4 6th.

In Division 5, Joe Smolira of Nashville won by a single stroke with a 28-over 100, and the lead changed hands on the closing stretch. Smolira led by four over Rachel Guthrie after six holes, but Guthrie and Michelle Martino had both cut it to one by the twelfth, and through fifteen Martino was actually a shot in front. Smolira finished the better of the three over the last three holes to take it. Guthrie of Brentwood placed 2nd at 29-over 101, and Martino of Clarksville was 3rd at 30-over 102.

The Mid-Am Net went to Hipp, whose day in Division 1 was only half the story. The East Tennessee visitor returned a net 2-under 70 and led from the front, two clear of Thomas Jones II of Dickson, who posted a net even-par 72. Jones was never further than four back and closed to within three by the twelfth, but Hipp never surrendered the lead. Alex Garcia of Franklin and Madison Murphy of Charlotte, Tennessee tied for 3rd at net 8-over 80, with Murphy the closest of the chasers over the final stretch, a single stroke adrift through fifteen holes.

The Senior Net was the closest finish of the day. Geltch completed his double with a net 2-under 70, one stroke better than Wolaver’s net 1-under 71 — and he needed every bit of that inward nine, because Wolaver had been six and seven strokes to the good through six and twelve holes respectively. Mortensen and Weiss tied for 3rd at net even-par 72 to round out the money positions, both of them having also led Geltch at the halfway point. Four players finished within two shots of the top of the board, and Geltch’s one-stroke win made him the only player to take two titles on the day.

The par-5 opening hole played a shot and a half over par and surrendered only three birdies in 75 plays. The par-5 18th was the one real scoring hole on the property, yielding eight birdies — including Hipp’s — and playing three-quarters of a shot over par.

Several players turned in results in more than one contest. Beyond Geltch’s sweep of Division 4 and the Senior Net, Weiss backed up his Division 3 win with a share of 3rd in the Senior Net, Wolaver was runner-up in both Division 2 and the Senior Net, and Mortensen placed in both as well.

The chapter raised $80 for Folds of Honor on the day, with David Smith taking the raffle.

The Nashville chapter’s 2027 season rolls on from here, with the points race still very much alive after a Sunday at Saddle Creek that produced the low round of the day, a one-shot finish in Division 2 and a two-title afternoon from Nolensville.