Flat Creek Country Club

The Atlanta Amateur Players Tour made the trip south to Flat Creek Club in Peachtree City, Georgia on Sunday, November 8 for one of the fall’s deepest Atlanta amateur golf tournaments. A field of 34 players competed across five divisions plus the Mid-Am Net and Senior Net games, with players flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.

Flat Creek’s Homestead and Old Mill nines played to a par of 72, and the scoring split neatly between the two ends of the course. The par-4 7th was the hardest hole on the property, surrendering not a single birdie all day and playing nearly a shot and a half over par. At the other end, the par-5 15th gave up 17 pars and a pair of birdies and was the gentlest hole in the rotation.

In Division 1, Erik Benson of Atlanta posted the low round of the day, an even-par 72 that was never seriously threatened. Benson went out in even-par 36 and came home in even-par 36, signing for 13 pars, a lone bogey and three birdies — every one of them at a par 5, at the 1st, the 8th and the 15th. The eight-shot margin was the largest of the day. Braxton Shaw of Alpharetta took runner-up honors, three behind after six holes and still within four through twelve before Benson pulled clear over the closing stretch. Shaw opened with a birdie at the par-5 1st and played the back nine in 3-over 39. Collin Burckle of Roswell finished third.

Division 2 produced the tightest finish of the morning. Caleb Smith of Williamson and Charles Long of Monticello were dead level after six holes, level again with three to play, and it took a birdie at the par-4 17th from Smith to settle it. Smith turned in 3-over 39, came home in 1-over 37 for a 4-over 76 and won by a single stroke. Long matched him nearly shot for shot, going out in 2-over 38 and playing the last six holes in even par, with his lone birdie coming at the par-5 15th, and posted a 5-over 77. Carlos Mojica, visiting from the Upstate South Carolina chapter and playing out of Glenville, North Carolina, was third at 9-over 81 after a round built on ten pars. Seven of the eight players in the division finished within seven shots of the lead.

Division 3 belonged to Geoffrey Robbins of Sugar Hill, but only after a long chase. Robbins was two behind Craig Carroll after six holes and still two adrift with three to play, having gone out in 8-over 44. He answered where it mattered most, playing the inward half in 3-over 39 with a birdie at the par-3 14th, and his 11-over 83 held by one. Carroll, of Macon, produced the shot of the day in the division — an eagle 3 at the par-5 13th, the only eagle recorded anywhere in the field — and tied for second at 12-over 84 with John Perron of Dallas, Georgia, who also signed for 84. Three players finished within two strokes of the title.

Joshua Williams of Columbus won Division 4 by six, and he did it from behind. Williams trailed both Richard Gunn and Robert Kidd after six holes, but a birdie at the par-5 8th helped steady an outward 10-over 46, and he played the back nine in 7-over 43 for a 17-over 89. Tyrone Prather of Fort Valley was the last man standing, still within one with three holes to play, and finished in a three-way tie for second with Gunn and Kidd, of Columbus and Dallas respectively.

Division 5 went to Jacob McCoy of Hapeville, who birdied the par-4 3rd on his way to an outward 41 and signed for a 15-over 87.

McCoy made it a clean sweep in the Mid-Am Net, completing the double-dip with a net 2-under 70 — the only net number under par all day — to win by two. Williams added a second result of his own, taking second with a net even-par 72 after leading his gross division. Burckle and Jeff Sweat of Alpharetta tied for third at net 2-over 74, with Sweat in front of the eventual winner through fifteen holes before McCoy’s closing margin held.

The Senior Net finished all square at the top, with Long and Mojica both signing for net even-par 72. Long led the group from the opening holes and Mojica sat two back at every checkpoint, the pair finishing a stroke clear of Robbins and Gunn, who tied for third at net 1-over 73. Long’s net title made him a double-dip winner alongside his runner-up finish in Division 2. Four of the nine players finished within two of the lead.

Next up in the Atlanta chapter — a trip to Whitewater Creek Country Club on Sunday, November 15. Space is limited and registration closes November 9. The chapter then heads to Eagle Watch Golf Club for an Elevated Event on Monday, December 7, with registration closing November 30.