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**truebluefan** · 03-09-2008, 08:58 PM

Jennings Mill Country Club, Athens, Georgia
Purse: $525,000

**truebluefan** · 04-16-2008, 09:21 AM

Nationwide Tour alum Brandt Snedeker maskes Masters run
Brandt Snedeker, who became 2007 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year one year after winning two tournaments on the Nationwide Tour and earning his TOUR card, made a valiant run at the 72nd Masters last week. He finished tied for third, four shots back of champion Trevor Immelman of South Africa. With his ever-smiling demeanor, the 27-year-old Snedeker no doubt earned legions of new fans at Augusta. "The patrons" gave him a standing ovation after he putted out on the 18th green on Sunday. Earlier in the week, he was asked about how his Nationwide Tour experience prepared him for the PGA TOUR. "It was fantastic," he said. "I give the Nationwide Tour a bunch of credit for turning me from an amateur golfer to a professional golfer. I would not be here today without those two years I spent learning about myself and my golf game."

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**truebluefan** · 04-18-2008, 10:16 AM

ATHENS, Ga. -- Rich Barcelo, Michael Putnam, Geoffrey Sisk, Greg Owen of England and Argentina's Sebastian Fernandez each fired 6-under-par 66s Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the seventh stop on the 2008 Nationwide Tour schedule.

Barcelo, a 32-year old Las Vegas resident, grabbed the clubhouse lead by two in the morning session, but then a host of players from the afternoon wave closed the gap. Barcelo got to 6 under after a trio of birdies to open the back nine, but played the final six holes in even par.

Fernandez and Putnam finished within minutes of each other in the afternoon and were quickly followed by Sisk and Owen, who helped jam the top of the leaderboard.

Alex Prugh, also playing in the afternoon, is alone in sixth place, one shot back. Nine others are logged together at 4 under par. The par-72 Jennings Mill Country Club course played to a scoring average 73.006, with 63 players in the field of 156 posting par-or-better scores.

The five-way tie for the lead is the most players to share a first-round lead since last year's Oregon Classic, where eight players were tied after 18 holes, matching the Tour record.

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**truebluefan** · 04-19-2008, 10:49 AM

ATHENS, Ga. -- Brendon Todd figures he knows the Jennings Mill Country Club course as well as anyone. Four years at the nearby University of Georgia provided plenty of opportunities for the four-time Bulldog All-America to play the course, which is host to the Athens Regional Foundation Classic this week.

Todd's back-to-back 68s have put the 22-year-old atop the leaderboard at the halfway point of the $525,000 Nationwide Tour event. His 136 total is one stroke better than David Branshaw (69), Greg Owen (71) and Michael Putnam (71).

Bill Lunde (69) is alone in fifth place, two shots back. Sebastian Fernandez (73), Bubba ****erson (67), Joe Daley (69), Robert Damron (69), Fran Quinn (71) and Rich Barcelo (73) are three shots behind the leader.

"I think having a game plan that you know is going to work on this golf course is the key because there are four or five holes out there you can play multiple ways," said Todd. "You've got to have the ability to step up on the tee and not worry about it. I've seen a bunch of guys making mistakes just by hitting the wrong clubs on the tees."

Todd hasn't made many mistakes, especially on the greens where he has needed only 26 putts in each of his first two rounds.

"I had a lot of putts that I felt like I hit really well from inside 20 feet that didn't go in," said Todd, a Tour rookie who is making his first start of the year. "But then, I had this ridiculous 60-footer down a ridge (for birdie) and poured that one in.

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**truebluefan** · 04-19-2008, 08:41 PM

ATHENS, Ga. -- The stage for Sunday's final round of the Athens Regional Foundation Classic is set up for a possible showdown between a 22-year-old hometown rookie with nothing to lose contrasted against a 36-year-old veteran from England with everything to regain.

Brendon Todd and Greg Owen share the 54-hole lead at 10-under 216, two shots better than Darron Stiles and Bubba ****erson. Leading money-winner Jarrod Lyle is joined at 7 under par by Geoffrey Sisk, Joe Daley and Michael Putnam.

Tom Johson and Henrik Bjornstad round out the top 10 and are four shots back heading into the final 18 holes at Jennings Mill Country Club.

"These young kids are hungry for something they've never had," said Own after a 3-under 69. "I'm desperate just to get back to where I was."

Complete article

**truebluefan** · 04-20-2008, 11:52 PM

The stage for Sunday's final round of the Athens Regional Foundation Classic is set up for a possible showdown between a 22-year-old hometown rookie with nothing to lose contrasted against a 36-year-old veteran from England with everything to regain.

Brendon Todd and Greg Owen share the 54-hole lead at 10-under 216, two shots better than Darron Stiles and Bubba ****erson. Leading money-winner Jarrod Lyle is joined at 7 under par by Geoffrey Sisk, Joe Daley and Michael Putnam.

Tom Johson and Henrik Bjornstad round out the top 10 and are four shots back heading into the final 18 holes at Jennings Mill Country Club.

"These young kids are hungry for something they've never had," said Own after a 3-under 69. "I'm desperate just to get back to where I was."

Todd, a four-time All-America with the Georgia Bulldogs, is in his rookie season on Tour and needed a sponsor's exemption to get into the field. He began the week just hoping to make the cut. He's done better than that, grabbing the second-round lead by one and then holding his position with a 2-under 70.

"I've already got the hard part out of the way. I already made the cut," said Todd, who has conditional status on Tour this year but failed to get into any of the first six events. "The goal was to make a check so I could get into more tournaments. One goal down, now a new one for the weekend. This is just icing on the cake for me."

Todd rolled in a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 second hole to reach double figures and join Owen, who closed the one-stroke deficit with a birdie-eagle start of his own. The pair each played even par the rest of the way, each countering three bogeys with three birdies.

"This is 10 times better than any of the events I've played in before," said Todd, who hasn't ventured too far off the mini-tours since finishing up his degree last spring. "I can't really compare it because I haven't played in front of any big crowds. It's nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd and get the big cheers."

Owen is hoping to hear the cheers again, having spent four years on the European Tour before joining the PGA TOUR for three seasons starting in 2005. After making only 11 cuts in 29 starts last year, Owen fell to No. 157 on the money list and landed on the Nationwide Tour for the first time.

"I know I can play with the big guys. I still feel I'm a quality player," said Owen. "It's been a while but it's still going to mean a lot to me. I know I have the experience and I know these guys are doing it for the first time."

The last time Owen was in a similar position came at the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational, where he held a one-stroke lead with two holes to play. The English-born Florida resident suffered a heartbreaking double bogey on the penultimate hole, missing two putts inside of three feet. He then lipped out a par putt on the final hole of regulation that could have forced a playoff with champion Rod Pampling.

"Yes, it lingers," Owen admitted. "It matters. It hurts a lot. I outplayed the whole field that day until that silly mistake on 17. The thing is, if I wasn't in a position to win nobody would have cared if I did that on the back nine."

Most of the attention will be on the final pairing to see if youth or experience wins out. Todd, with nerves of steel, leads the field in putting this week.

Owen, calling on personal history, is No. 1 in greens in regulation.

Lurking behind them are ****erson, former U.S. Amateur champion seeking his first professional win and Stiles, currently No. 3 on the Tour's money list thanks to a rain-shortened "unofficial" win at the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship.

Third-Round News & Notes: Sunday's pairings will return to twosomes off the first tee. The first tee time is at 8:15 a.m. ... Casey Wittenberg, the only player to make the cut in all seven Nationwide Tour events this year, shot a 2-under-par 70 and stands at 5-under 211. Wittenberg is tied for 11th heading into the final round. ... Saturday's third-round scoring average was 71.810.

**truebluefan** · 04-20-2008, 11:53 PM

Robert Damron made a 14-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff Sunday with England's Greg Owen to win the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, his first victory since the PGA Tour's Byron Nelson Classic.

After birdieing the final two holes of regulation to force the extra session, Owen came up short on a 12-foot birdie putt to give Damron the title in the Nationwide Tour event.

"It sounds bad to say that I hit it terribly, but I really did," said Damron, who earned US$94,500 to move to No. 7 on the money list.

"I flirted with trouble all week long but I came out smelling like a rose. A hot putter makes up for a lot of mistakes. I can't count the number of putts I made over 20 feet this week, maybe five or six. I made tons from 10 to 20 feet."

Damron shot a 66-under 66 to match Owen (71) at 11-under 277. Casey Wittenberg (67) was a stroke back, and Roger Tambellini (67) and Vance Veazey (68) at 9 under.

David Hearn of Brampton, Ont., finished at 2-under 286.

Much of the attention was on 22-year-old rookie Brendon Todd, a four-time All-American at Georgia who had the second-round lead and shared the 54-hole lead with Owen at 10 under par. But Todd closed with an 8-over 80 to tie for 25th.

That left the stage to Damron, who charged through the pack, reeling off five birdies in a six-hole stretch to make the turn at 10 under.

"I didn't think I'd have much of a chance to win today," said Damron, who started the day five shots off the pace. "I thought I'd get 2 or 3 under, make a nice check and go about my business. I just hit that stretch that gets momentum going. When I made the turn I figured I had a good chance."